Part 2

There are other open doors which we should enter at once. We can hear the word of command: “Go up and possess the land.” How much good a little financial aid would do just now in the beginning of church enterprises, which, by God’s help, would grow into important centers of good for the race.

I believe so thoroughly in the comity of churches, that where the field is already occupied by other churches, and vigorously cultivated by them, and the religious needs of the people are met, I would not favor the establishment of another church, though its creed and polity were more to our inclination. But the field is so broad, and the destitution so great, that there is room for the expenditure of the largest sympathy and the most vigorous effort toward church enlargement. This missionary spirit was felt by the Association, and the session of most tender interest was the last, when the broad subject of missions was presented by eight speakers selected by the business committee. The meeting had a glow to it that was refreshing. Every one seemed to catch the inspiration and to respond heartily to it.

Our field agent, Dr. Roy, always welcome, and always charged with just the message which these churches and brethren need, brought to us again this year, vigorous words, wise counsels, and the kindest, most sympathetic spirit. Our association would hardly seem complete without him.

Thus another year of effort, of struggle and of self-denial for Christ, has left its record upon the churches, and has, we trust, made a record in heaven, which we shall be willing to meet.

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CONCERT EXERCISE.

[This Concert Exercise will be enlarged and published in separate form, and supplied gratuitously to any who may wish it for concert purposes, on application to Rev. G. D. Pike, 56 Reade street, New York.]

TEMPERANCE WORK IN MISSIONS OF A. M. A.

Singing. “Dare to do right. Dare to be true.”

Responsive Readings.

Leader. “Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations.” Lev. 10:9.

Girls. And the angel of the Lord said to the mother of Sampson: “Thou shalt bear a son. Beware and drink not wine nor strong drink; for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God to the day of his death.” Judges 13:3, 4, 7.

Boys. “We will drink no wine, for Jonadab, the son of Rachab, our father, commanded us, saying, ye shall drink no wine, neither ye nor your sons forever.” Jer. 35:6.

Leader. “It is not for kings to drink wine, nor for princes strong drink.” Prov. 31:4.

Girls. “Lest they drink and forget law and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted.” Prov. 31:5.

Boys. “Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength and not for drunkenness.” Eccl. 10:17.

Leader. “They shall not drink wine with a song; strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it.” Isa. 24:9.

Girls. “For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty; and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.” Prov. 23:21.

Boys. “Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.” I Cor. 6:10.

Leader. “Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babblings? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?” Prov. 23:29.

Girls. “They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.” Prov. 23:30.

Boys. “At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.” Prov. 23:32.

Leader. “But now I have written unto you, not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard; with such a one, no, not to eat.” I Cor. 5:11.

Girls. “Restore such an one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.” Gal. 6:1.

Boys. “Young men likewise, exhort to be sober minded.” Titus 2:6.

Leader. “And every man that striveth for the mastery, is temperate in all things.” I Cor. 9:25.

Girls. “Therefore let us not sleep as do others; but let us watch and be sober.” I Thes. 5:6.

Boys. “For they that sleep, sleep in the night; and they that be drunken, are drunken in the night.” I Thes. 5:7.

Leader. “Whether therefore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” 1 Cor. 10:31.

Prayer.

Singing.

POSITION SUSTAINED BY A. M. A.

Leader. What has been the attitude of the American Missionary Association since its organization in 1846 on the temperance question?

Girls. It has always taken a decided stand against the use and the sale of intoxicating drink.

Boys. Its missionaries have been instructed to advocate the cause of temperance, and to organize societies to promote total abstinence from the use of alcoholic drink.

Leader. Does the Association assist missionaries, or students, who refuse to abstain from the use of ardent spirits?

Girls. It is the rule of the Society in its work among the Indians, the Chinese in America, and the Negroes at the South, to employ only those who have good habits and settled convictions on all moral subjects, including that of temperance.

Boys. In its collegiate and normal schools, where there are large numbers of boarding students, all are required to observe habits of total abstinence.

TEMPERANCE WORK AMONG INDIANS.

Leader. Have the Indians been subject to peculiar temptations to intemperance?

Girls. Yes. On many of the reservations, our agents complain that whiskey is a great curse. At the Leech Lake Agency, six Indians were killed in drunken quarrels among themselves in six months.

Boys. Rev. Myron Eells, of Washington Territory, says he convicted quite a number of persons for selling liquor to the Indians, which aroused the fierce opposition of the whiskey ring, which had done its utmost to prevent his success.

Leader. What has resulted from efforts for their reformation?

Girls. So much was accomplished by Rev. Mr. Spees and his wife at Red Lake, that not a drunken Indian had been seen for many weeks.

Boys. At the Skokomish Agency, about 130 Indians took the temperance pledge. Since then those who came under the influence of the missionary abandoned the use of strong drink. The opposition, however, by the liquor sellers was such that they burned seven Indian houses by way of retaliation.

Leader. Do Indian youth readily accept temperance principles when brought into the training schools of the Association?

Girls. They do. Those brought to Hampton by Capt. Pratt gave up their tobacco and whiskey during the first year, held prayer meetings together, and pursued the industrial occupations required by the school without serious objection.

Boys. At the Green Bay Agency, within a few years, a great work has been done in the way of temperance reform, so that Mr. Wheeler, the missionary on the ground, says that a more temperate community of its size cannot probably be found in the State of Wisconsin.

Singing.

Address on the Work of the Association among Indians.

[See April AMERICAN MISSIONARY for 1883.]

TEMPERANCE WORK AMONG THE CHINESE.

Leader. Are the Chinese on the Pacific Coast exposed to temptations to intemperance?

Girls. Gen. C. H. Howard, writing from Sacramento, says: At their groceries, liquors are always to be found. The older persons have a prevalent habit of constantly smoking opium when in from their work.

Boys. The increase of traffic in opium in the United States has been very great during the past twenty years, which is no doubt partly accounted for from the presence of the Chinese.

Leader. Do Christian influences make the Chinamen better?

Girls. At an annual festival in Sacramento, a converted Chinaman said of the converts among his countrymen: “Oh yes, all much better men, do not steal, do not gamble, do not do any bad, no opium, some not even smoke cigars. We can tell, all other Chinamen watch Christian Chinamen. When he is converted and believes truth, it makes him good inside. He don’t want to go wrong anymore. If all Chinamen be Christians then no more trouble about ‘must go.’”

Boys. Among the 2,567 Chinese students in the schools of the American Missionary Association last year, religious work was very encouraging. About one in ten of those who came under the influence of the society are converted. These abandon their evil habits as readily as converts among other races.

Recitation. By a little girl. “Washee Washee.”

[See January MISSIONARY, 1883.]

TEMPERANCE WORK AMONG THE COLORED PEOPLE OF THE SOUTH.

Leader. Are temptations to intemperance common among the colored people?

Girls. Yes. More so now, than in the days of slavery. When slaves, it was not for the interest of their masters to furnish them strong drink as a beverage, and the Negroes had but little opportunity or money to purchase it for themselves.

Boys. They now have the privilege of working for wages, and most of the grocery stores as well as the saloons keep liquor, and are glad to get the Negro’s money for it.

Leader. Are there not laws in the different Southern States, prohibiting the sale of intoxicating drinks to minors and to drunken persons?

Girls. There are in quite a number of those States, but these laws are not often enforced.

Boys. In some States they have local option laws in which the counties can vote prohibition, and when temperance measures are carried it is largely the result of Negro votes.

Leader. Has the American Missionary Association found an open door for temperance work in its missions South?

Girls. It has. Some years the pupils in attendance have numbered 40,000, among whom were persons of all ages.

Boys. Not unfrequently the enthusiasm for establishing temperance societies has been very great. Middle-aged and gray-haired men and women have eagerly sought to enter the Bands of Hope established by the children, and when admitted have been lifted up from their vices and advanced in sobriety and usefulness.

Leader. Can you give some statements relating to the work in particular missions?

Girls. At Talladega, Ala., they have a Union Temperance Society, which holds monthly meetings full of interest. All the Sunday-school and all the College students are members. They keep the work lively among all their mission schools.

Boys. At Marion, Ala., there is a regular temperance catechising in the day-school against rum and tobacco, also in three mission Sunday-schools. For several weeks before Christmas, mass meetings are held in different churches, at which addresses are made on the subject.

Leader. Are the churches of the Association committed to the cause of temperance?

Girls. They are. Many of the churches have distinctive rules, requiring abstinence from the use as a beverage of intoxicating drinks, and forbidding the selling of such.

Boys. The churches and conferences of the Association are practically temperance societies. They hold temperance as an article of their faith and undertake to exercise discipline on that principle.

Leader. Are they peculiar in their treatment of the subject of temperance?

Girls. They differ from many churches South in this particular. A pastor in Savannah writes: “No one can tell the importance of these Congregational organizations here except those on the ground. Our church has taken an open bold stand against liquor drinking and liquor traffic. Our little temperance society has become a power in the city and surrounding country. It has provoked others to good works. Two other societies have been organized in the city and one at Belmont.”

Boys. At Childersburg, Ala., Rev. A. Jones had his church burned after giving a temperance lecture, but instead of surrendering, his people have rallied and they are building better than before.

Leader. What has been the success of the work for temperance in the Sunday-schools of the Association?

Girls. Among the 7,000 scholars in the Sunday-schools, a very encouraging work has been carried on year by year. Bands of Hope have been organized and temperance gatherings held and pledges signed by a very large number of children.

Boys. Mr. Curtis writes from Alabama as follows: “Temperance at Anniston booming. The whole country thoroughly aroused. Temperance taught in the Sunday-school. Band of Hope meetings, temperance prayer-meetings and mass meetings with lectures and discussions.”

Leader. Do those who go forth from the schools of the Association to teach and preach promote the cause of temperance?

Girls. They do. Over 150 who were converted to the cause of temperance while at Tougaloo, Miss., signed the pledge and did temperance work in connection with the teaching in the common schools, and in various other ways.

Boys. During a single year the total number of signers to the pledge obtained by the students connected with one of the institutions of the Association was 1,300. The teachers sent forth from the normal classes exert great influence, not only in the schools where they give instruction, but also among their friends and neighbors in the localities where they carry on their work.

Singing.

Recitation by a little girl. “_Question of Color._”

[See AMERICAN MISSIONARY for October, 1882.]

Address on Temperance Work of the A. M. A.

[See AMERICAN MISSIONARY, May, 1883.]

THINGS NEEDFUL.

Leader. What is needful in order that the American Missionary Association may succeed in its great work among the Indians, Chinese and Negroes?

Girls. Above all things it is desirable that those in its schools should give their hearts to the Lord Jesus Christ, in order that they may have a great teacher and helper to guide and assist them in all their efforts for the practice of Christian virtues.

Boys. They need also a larger number of well educated missionaries to go among them to instruct and encourage them in all that pertains to right living.

Leader. What two things can all those who have taken a part in this Concert Exercise do to assist the American Missionary Association?

Girls. Every one can pray that the Lord will send forth laborers and pour out his Holy Spirit upon the schools and churches established for the Indians, Chinese and Negroes in America.

Boys. Each one can contribute money for the support of missionaries and to help those who are studying to become teachers and ministers among three great races represented in the work of the Association.

Recitation by boy. “_Missionary Music._”

[See AMERICAN MISSIONARY, Feb., 1883.]

Singing. Jubilee Song, “_Rise and Shine._”

Collection.

Prayer.

Benediction.

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TEMPERANCE WORK IN CHURCHES.

BY REV. JOS. E. ROY, D.D.

Our Churches, Conferences and Associations are practically temperance societies. Many of the churches have distinctive rules requiring abstinence from the use as a beverage, and from the selling, of intoxicating drinks. As new churches are organized they are more and more inclined to start with a special, stringent rule. Other churches interpret, as requiring the same, the common law of their covenant, by which the members “promise to walk with the disciples in love, and denying all ungodliness and worldly lusts, to live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world.” All hold temperance as an article of their faith, expect to have it faithfully preached in their pulpits, and undertake to exercise discipline on that principle.

In connection with many of our churches, Bands of Hope were early organized; and these have done great good in bringing up the rising generation in the way of sobriety. Some of these have shown great effectiveness and great tenacity of existence. Some have gained property and have become permanent fountains of blessing.

In the old times the master’s will was a prohibitory law to his slaves. When that law was repealed, to many liberty seemed to imply freedom to drink as much whiskey as they pleased. Experience has been teaching them better. The means used for their moral elevation have taken effect upon the prevalence of this habit. But still liquor drinking is the devil’s best hold upon this people. And so perpetual vigilance is required to meet these satanic wiles, even within the precincts of the church. But our pastors have been faithful, and the churches have been ready to respond to right principle in the execution of discipline. In a rice-swamp region, where the whiskey shops seem to be the regular attendants of the old-time churches, standing hard by the same and finding the Sabbaths their best days of business, our church there has no such an annex, for it furnishes no such patronage.

In North Carolina, during the great canvass for prohibition in that State, one of our pastors was surprised to find laxity in principle and practice among his members on this subject. He took hold of the matter vigorously. Church meetings were held. Discussion ran high until stringent rules were enacted and the members brought into line to vote for the prohibitory law. When that election came off and the mass of the colored people shamefully joined with the enemy and voted against the constitutional inhibition, our pastors and churches were firm and solid on the right side—our pastor at the Capital being on the State Executive Committee along with the first citizens of the State and doing valiant service at home and afield for the reform.

Our Conferences and Associations, at their annual meetings, have temperance almost as a standing subject for discussions and for public meetings. An evening is often spent in ten-minute addresses. In these the laymen prove very effective speakers. These bodies are diligent in urging upon the churches fidelity as to the preaching, practice and discipline upon the subject of temperance.

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HINDRANCES.

BY REV. DANA SHERRILL, SAVANNAH, GA.

The hindrance occasioned by intemperance in connection with our work, in church and school, differs only in intensity from similar evil found elsewhere. The social and spiritual atmosphere is depressing to our work, because of drinking habits. Total abstainers number less than ten per cent. of our population, all colors. A well-informed colored man assures me that not one in a hundred among men between 18 and 45 years of age are, in his judgment, total abstainers. Of arrests by our city police during the year 1882, 1,460 were for offenses usually arising more or less directly from drink, against 538 for all other crimes and 536 for drunkenness only. Drinking on our field is not yet driven to the dramshops, but is common in homes. A father is known to drink every day in the presence of his children. His name is Legion. The shops are closed in many country places hereaway where there is little total abstinence. The demijohn is all-present. The way-trains out of our city are whiskey trains. Of fourteen men in a car with your missionary recently, twelve drank spirits from one to four times in an hour.

At present the great majority of influential people are not only _not_ total abstainers, but by example and often by precept teach our colored people, who naturally pattern after the ruling class, that drinking is the correct thing. This is a sample hindrance. A promising convert was found to be giving intoxicating drink to wife and children. When remonstrance was made he asked: “How can it be wrong when my employer, a good church member, makes me pass it to his guests every day?” It is needless to say that he is still outside the church.

Here the general church opinion does not demand total abstinence; in fact, rebels against such a doctrine. Until very recently the ministers of our colored churches in no case known to me would be able to enforce anything like total abstinence however earnestly they might desire so to do. This, then, is the atmosphere in which your agents and a very small but earnest band of fellow-helpers are attempting to build churches and schools demanding total abstinence. An ignorant, but careful mother, said only a few days since: “I don’t know but I must leave my church and come over to you, there is no other temperance church here.” This after one of our usual monthly total abstinence meetings, and she added as reason, “I never knew drunkards could not go to heaven before.” Standing, then, as our church has, as the only religious society refusing continued membership to drinking men and women, and that in the presence of the spirit and customs named, it is not strange that we have been opposed by the uninstructed as interfering with their liberties, and righteous over much. One at least of our small churches finds the “social unions” and similar societies, which are very numerous, almost breaking up their Sabbath service once each month. The charm in these society meetings is the _wine provided_.

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THE TEMPERANCE OUTLOOK AT MEMPHIS.

BY PROF. A. J. STEELE.

“It was in evidence to-day that Marianna’s place was going full blast all day Sunday last, and that it was crowded with men and boys, some of them not more than twelve years old, shooting dice and playing cards. The specific charges against him were keeping house open, selling liquor on that day, and allowing minors to gamble.”

The above item, taken from a late daily paper of this city, may serve to introduce my observations in the matter of temperance—or rather of intemperance—for the ten years of my life at Memphis. The place above referred to is prominently located, rather to one side of the business portion of the city, and almost literally within the very shadows of two of the largest colored churches of the city. If there exists now in Memphis any distinctively temperance organization other than the W. C. T. U. and the Band of Hope of Le Moyne Institute, I can find nothing of it. If the churches speak with other than very uncertain tones on the subject, when they speak at all, I am not aware of it. I know of but one church, the Second Congregational, that makes abstinence a condition of membership. I know of many whose members may and do drink steadily, sometimes to drunkenness, unmolested. If there is any practical or emphatic or systematic teaching in Sunday-schools in general on the subject, I have not known of it. Strangely enough, our strongest, most effective temperance sentiment and teaching comes through the courts, and through business men and interests, where in the majority of cases no moral responsibility or solicitude is felt or expressed in the matter in question.

The legal argument and phase of the subject is the one that most readily finds a hearing and a following here; this was recently shown by the marked interest manifested in several able addresses given on the subject by Mrs. Foster, the lawyer-temperance advocate of Iowa. In the South, at all events, there is no doubt as to the _right_ or _power_ of legislative bodies and courts to deal with the matter. By a curious mistake some years since the General Assembly of Tennessee passed a law known as the “Four Mile Law,” which prohibits the sale of liquor within four miles of any chartered institution of learning. It was supposed that the law would be of only local force, but it so happened that the State Constitution declared that any general act of the Legislature must be of general application throughout the State. Hence in time we came to realize that we had a very effective prohibitory law, or what amounted to that. To the everlasting honor of our courts it must be said that this and such other temperance legislation as we have is fearlessly enforced and under very severe penalties in such cases as are presented for trial.