Chapter 4

As I expected, I found the interest in our cause in various stages of development. It is not strange that in some places the ladies did not even so much as know that there was a Woman's Bureau. The Bureau is in its infancy, and the fact of its existence has not yet taken hold of us all in any practical way. In many churches--not by any means always the larger ones--I found an intelligent appreciation of the needs and claims of the South.

We have had many workers from these States of the West, or rather of the Interior, and when I had the pleasure of going into a community that had sent out one or more to the work in some part of our field, I found always an enthusiastic interest and a warm response to my appeals.

My introduction to the warm-hearted Christian people of Wisconsin was at the State Association, met at Racine Sept. 24. Finding on my arrival a large representation of ladies gathered to celebrate the anniversary of their Foreign Missionary Society, I felt sure that there must be also an active sympathy for the work in our own land, and I was not disappointed. On the following day, at a special gathering of the ladies, a State society was organized, whose range of objects should include all the benevolent societies of our denomination, working in this country, leaving conferences and local organizations at liberty to contribute through one treasurer or several treasurers, to any of these societies.

After attending this "gathering of the tribes" it was my privilege to go by invitation to a few of the towns in southern Wisconsin. Of course the State organization has not yet stretched out its arms over the State in the formation of local societies. I can but think that Beloit, Whitewater, Geneva and Kenosha will be among the first to take definite steps in this direction. Wisconsin has by special contributions from her ladies supported a missionary in the South for several years and is still doing so. When through regular channels of organization they shall make this a part of their regular yearly charity, the arrangement can be more permanently relied upon by the Woman's Bureau. Many, I think, will endorse the sentiment of a prominent lady in Michigan who said to me: "I think the ladies of each one of these Western States ought to support one or more teacher-missionaries under the Association."

On the 9th of October, at Grand Rapids, I joined the representative of the Woman's Department of the American Home Missionary Society, with whom the longer tour of six weeks was to be made in Michigan. We were then on our way to the Grand River Conference at Allendale, where we found a hearty welcome. In this Conference there is a branch of the State Woman's Home Missionary Society, a society already more than a year old and organized on the same broad platform as that adopted in Wisconsin.

Before the meeting of the Southern Michigan Conference we were able to visit, in rapid succession, the churches at Middleville, Vermontville, and Olivet, in all of which an evident sympathy in the various forms of our work led me to hope that increased effort might result from this new presentation of our needs.

In the Southern Conference we found also a branch organization, union in its character, and so efficiently officered that all is likely to be done that can be accomplished through it. Nowhere did I find stancher friends for our Christian educational work in the South than in this conference.

At this point a short break occurred in our Michigan tour. A rapid journey brought us to Lake City in time to spend one day at the Minnesota State Association--just to grasp the hands of our Minnesota friends and be assured of their continued helpfulness. The Woman's Home Missionary Society voted that at the next annual meeting the constitution should be reconsidered, with a view to enlarging its borders and including all the benevolent societies of our home work. The giving of a year's notice before any change can be made is required by the constitution itself.

We took up the work in Michigan again at St. Joseph, and from there went to the Kalamazoo Association. We found here, as elsewhere, that these autumn conferences are generally held with the smaller and less accessible churches, where the attendance of ladies is necessarily limited, and we must, therefore, give our message to the pastors, charging them with the responsibility of carrying it to the ladies of their churches.

Before the next conference we were able to take in our plan the central points, Jackson, Ann Arbor, Flint and Lansing, and when we went up from there to Nashville to the Marshall Conference we felt that we were meeting old friends in the pastors and people, at whose homes we had already been.

Another tour through Kalamazoo, Allegan, Owosso, Port Huron, St. Clair, Detroit, Union City and Chelsea brought us much the same experiences as before.

We came finally to the large Eastern Conference, which was to be our last place of labor in Michigan. The ladies of this Conference, though not yet organized for home work under the State society, for several years supported a missionary in the South, largely through the personal effort of one active lady, who made this special collection her care. With the closing of this Bureau visit to the ladies of Michigan the work is left in their hands--not to be forgotten by them, but to be developed and strengthened until there shall be a rich annual fruitage of effort and practical result.

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CHILDREN'S PAGE.

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CHRISTMAS GIVING AT MYSTIC, CONN.

REV. CHARLES H. OLIPHANT.

The Editor has asked me to give some account of the way our Sunday-school behaves itself at Christmas-time.

There are two ideas about the Church; and as parents feel and think about the Church the children will be pretty sure to think and feel about the Sunday-school. One conception of the Church is that it is a kind of receptacle for pious people. When one becomes "good enough" he is expected to get into this receptacle and there be acted upon by the means of grace. It is one of the mischiefs of this notion that it seems to excuse laymen from any active part in Christian work, if only they are regular attendants upon divine service. So, many people come to the preaching and the praying as if there were nothing for them to do, nothing either great or small. Such members may be said to be found in the "passive voice."

The other and better notion is that the Church is not a receptacle, but an engine; not a box for Christians to get into, but a "body" for them to operate, and through which Christ can act upon the world of to-day. According to this view, the minister is not the only member whom the Master has called into His vineyard, the ideal Church is not so much a company of sheep as a company of soldiers; the congregation comes together not simply to "hear Mr. ----," but to organize for work. This may be called the Church's "active voice." I cannot (within the verbal limits assigned me) measure the miles of distance which lie between these two views.

The same confusion of thought prevails in the Sunday-school. We know how the small boy finds that Sunday-school the most attractive (and that teacher the "nicest") whose Christmas-tree pays the largest dividend.

When I came to my present field of work it had been the immemorial custom to have a tree and a treat for the children of the school. After a year or two of competition with other schools in making it "worth while" for children to attend our own, we "braced up" and put the question to vote whether we would make the Christmas festival a feast for ourselves or a feast for others; whether we would have our school at this time a dispenser of sweetmeats and ourselves the beneficiaries, or dispense a gift instead to some more needy servants of the Master, who had no parental pocketbook to tap; no good things to give away. To the surprise of all the vote was unanimous against the old, and in favor of the new, way. There was much misgiving as to results. Many confidently predicted that the offerings (each class was invited to bring its own in a sealed envelope) would be microscopic. It was distinctly understood that no money--not the smallest sum--was asked from those who disapproved the plan. Teachers were urged to dissuade their classes from perfunctory gifts. Inquiring next for a suitable object, we were advised by the Home Missionary Society of a poor servant of theirs in a Western State, whose poorer and more to be pitied wife was the mother of seven children. We put her to vote, and she was promptly and unanimously chosen. With the introduction into the plan of a personal element, enthusiasm began, and it became evident at once that there was to be sharp rivalry between the classes as to the size of their gifts. At length came the Christmas Eve concert, and with it a bright, full company of children. They never looked so happy, and every one of them knows that he never was so happy on such an occasion, as when, class by class, the offerings were handed to the Superintendent. With each of these a passage of Scripture was recited. It became only too evident, as the pile within his hand increased, that the prognostications of those who were sure that an old Sunday-school could not be taught new tricks were false. We are a small school--only 80 scholars--but the class offerings on this occasion footed up twenty-eight dollars and some cents. A letter was accordingly written and the money inclosed to the wife (this was the best part of it, for we were sure that the minister could not then, as ministers will, mistake the remittance for a portion of his salary), who was asked to purchase with the amount some article or articles of which she was individually in need. The letter which came back to us after a week made those who heard it read in open school clear their throats and wink away an inevitable tear. It revealed (among other things) the fact that this poor servant had hitherto made all the clothing for seven children with the bare needle. Now she has a sewing machine. We all think, but none more fervently than the children, that the memory of a few oranges, more or less--oranges eaten three years ago--would not compensate for the glad consciousness that life is easier every day in at least one prairie home. Thus we were led to translate the Beatitude pronounced upon the "giver" into our own experience, and we have its meaning in the continuous stream of happiness which many have felt at the remembrance of what our pennies wrought.

We have recently chosen an object for this year's offering; for the practice of giving and not receiving at Christmas-time is now habitual with us. Dr. Pike has told us about Philip Page, the African lad now at Atlanta, seeking eagerly, but with insufficient means, such an education as will qualify him to go back to his people a missionary. We shall send him enough for his support for one, and perhaps for two months.

Let me urge those who may read these words to allow no seeming obstacle to prevent the putting in practice, in the schools to which they belong, of the plan here described. Do not fail to give the children for their Christmas gift the happiness that giving brings. Do not delay to teach the young by so simple a lesson the difference between the blessedness of giving and that of receiving. Identify by all means the aims and methods of the Church and Sunday-school. Let it not, even in a figure, appear to the child that the Christian attitude is one of idle enjoyment. No matter how small the gift, it is the _giving up_ which makes us the Lord's disciples.

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RECEIPTS FOR NOVEMBER 1883.

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MAINE, $425.02.

Bangor. Central Cong. Ch. and Soc. $250.95 Bangor. Central Cong. Ch. and Soc., _for Dakota M._ 1.56 Brunswick. Young Ladies' Missionary Soc. of First Parish, _for Student Aid, Talladega C._ 15.00 Eastport. Central Cong. Sab. Sch. 5.00 Falmouth. First Cong. Ch. and Soc., 30; Second Cong. Ch. and Soc., 7.20 37.20 Hiram. ----, _for Selma, Ala._ 1.75 Portland. State Street Cong. Ch., 50; Saint Lawrence Street Ch. and Soc., 11.17 61.17 Wells. Ladies of First Cong. Ch., Bbl. of C., _for Wilmington, N. C._ Winthrop. Cong. Ch. 16.00 Yarmouth. First Cong. Ch. and Soc. 15.39 York. First Cong. Ch. and Soc. 21.00

NEW HAMPSHIRE, $715.46.

East Jaffrey. Cong. Ch. 20.68 Dover. Mrs. A. Fairbanks, 7; Mrs. S. Foye, 5, _for Student Aid, Atlanta U._ 12.00 Great Falls. First Cong. Ch. 39.12 Haverhill. Cong. Ch. and Soc. 15.63 Hinsdale. Cong. Ch. and Soc., 9.33; Cyrus Newhall, 1 10.33 Keen. Geo. E. Whitney 5.00 Keene. Ladies' Benev. Soc. of Second Ch., _for McIntosh, Ga._ 2.50 Lyme. Cong. Sab. Sch. 10.00 Marlborough. Freedmen's Aid Soc., 2 bbls. of C., val. 60, _for Talladega C._, 4 _for Freight_ 4.00 Nashua. First Cong. Ch. and Soc. 29.43 New Ipswich. Children's 21st Annual Fair for benevolent objects 10.50 Pembroke. Cong. Ch. (ad'l), 5; Rev. D. Goodhue, 1 6.00 Pittsfield. Box of Goods, by Rev. G. E. Hill, _for Marion, Ala._ Rindge. Cong. Ch. and Soc. 5.00 Tilton and Northfield. Cong. Ch. and Soc. 25.00 Walpole. Cong. Ch. and Soc. 20.27 West Lebanon. "Children's Mission Band." Christmas Box, _for Bird's Nest, Santee Agency, Neb._ West Lebanon. Bbl. of C., by Rev. T. C. Pease, _for Marietta, Ga._ -------- $215.46 LEGACY.

Francestown. Estate of Mrs. Harriet F. Downes, By Geo. E. Downes 500.00 -------- $715.46

VERMONT, $175.05.

Barnet. Cong. Ch. and Soc. 48.13 Berlin. Ladies' Benev. Soc., Bbl. and Box of C., _for Talladega C._ Brattleborough. H. Halsey, _for Student Aid, Talladega C._ 5.00 Manchester. Mrs. A. C. Reed, Bbl. of C., _for Atlanta U._ Norwich. Cong. Ch. and Soc. 10.00 Randolph. Mrs. Mary K. Nichols 3.00 Rupert. Cong. Ch. and Soc. 11.25 Saint Johnsbury. Mrs. V. M. Howard, 25; Mrs. E. D. Blodgett, 25, _for Student Aid, Fisk U._ 50.00 Swanton. H. Stone, wife and daughter 5.00 Vershire. Luella D. Carpenter 1.00 Worcester. Cong. Ch. and Soc. 10.55 West Randolph. Mrs. Susan E. Albin 6.00 Westminster West. Cong. Ch. and Soc. 19.10 Windham. Cong. Sab. Sch. 6.02

MASSACHUSETTS, $2,795.19.

Abington. "A Friend," to const. NAHUM FULLERTON L.M. 50.00 Amesbury. Cong. Ch. and Soc. 12.30 Amherst. "A Friend," _for Student Aid, Atlanta U._ 7.00 Andover, G. W. W. Dove, _for Student Aid, Atlanta U._ 25.00 Andover. Sab. Sch. of South Ch., _for Student Aid, Fisk U._ 20.00 Attleborough. Second Cong. Ch. and Soc., 90.72; incorrectly ack. in December number from Vt. Auburn. Cong. Ch., to const. REV. SAMUEL D. HOSMER, L.M. 47.67 Boylston. Ladies' Soc. of Cong. Ch., Box of C., val. 16 Boston. Pilgrim Soc. of Phillips Ch., _for Student Aid, Fisk U._ 50.00 Boston. Mrs. D. C. Holden, Bbl. of C., _for Chattanooga, Tenn._ Boston. "Cash" 10.00 Boxford. Cong. Ch. 37.87 Brookline. Mrs. Crafts, Books Brimfield. Ladies of Second Cong. Ch., _for Freight_ 2.00 Brockton. Porter Ch. and Soc., "A Friend," 20 (adl.) to const. MRS. ALPHEUS GURNEY and EVERETT C. RANDALL L.M's; Mrs. Mary E. Perkins, 5 25.00 Brockton. Mrs. Baylis Sanford, Bbl. of C., 2 _for Freight, for Tougaloo U._ 2.00 Bradford. First Cong. Ch. and Soc., _for Student Aid, Chattanooga, Tenn._ 101.00 Billerica. Ladies of O. C. Ch., Chest of C., _for Atlanta U._ Bridgewater. Central Sq. Trin. Cong. Ch. and Soc. 40, to const. ANNIE M. EDSON L.M.; Central Sq. Sab. Sch., 15 55.00 Brimfield. Ladies of Second Cong. Ch. and Soc., Bbl. of C., _for Chattanooga, Tenn._, val. 34 5.00 Cambridge. "A tithing" 5.00 Chelsea. Ladies' Union Home Mission Band, _for Lady Miss'y, Chattanooga, Tenn._ 25.00 Chelsea. Third Cong. Ch. and Soc. 12.67 Chicopee. Second Cong. Ch. 31.87 Clinton. Woman's Home Miss'y Ass'n, to const. MISS ANNIE C. PIERCE L.M. 30.00 Dedham. First Cong. Ch. and Soc. 159.81 Dorchester. Second Cong. Sab. Sch., (ad'l) 1.24 Duxbury. A. P. Ellison, Bbl. of C., _for Atlanta U._ East Bridgewater. Mrs. S. D. Shaw 3.00 Florence. Florence Cong. Ch. 15.81 Fitchburg. Calvinistic Ch. and Soc. 160.87 Gilbertsville. Sab. Sch. of Cong. Ch., _for Student Aid, Fisk U._ 50.00 Hatfield. Cong. Ch. 58.00 Haverhill. Algernon R. Nichols, _for Student Aid, Talladega C._ 35.00 Haverhill. Sew. Soc. of No. Cong. Ch., Bbl. of C., val. 75.37, _for Tougaloo U._ Holliston. "Friends," 15.97; Missionary Concert, 4.03, _for Student Aid_; "Friends," Shoemaker's kit, val. 10, Shoe-lasts and clothing, _for Talladega C._ 20.00 Hyde Park. Heart and Hand Soc., 25; First Cong. Sab. Sch., 15 _for Straight U., furnishing_ 40.00 Ipswich. First Cong. Ch. and Soc., 9.31 and Bbl. of C. 9.31 Lawrence. "E. F. E." 5.00 Lee. Cong. Sab. Sch. 75.00 Leominster. Orthodox Cong. Ch. and Soc. 26.45 Lexington. Hancock Ch. and Soc. 24.75 Ludlow. Cong. Ch. 35.16 Malden. Trin. Cong. Sab. Sch., _for Student Aid, Fisk U._ 25.00 Medfield. Ladies of Second Cong. Ch., Bbl. of C., 3 _for Freight, for Savannah, Ga._ 3.00 Melrose. Orthodox Ch. and Soc. 60.77 Middleboro. Central Cong. Ch. and Soc. 56.59 Monson. Cong. Ch. (12 of which from Mrs. H. Dewey's class, _for Howard U._) 37.00 Newbury. First Parish, 2 Bbls. of C., _for Tougaloo U._ Newburyport. North Cong. Ch. and Soc., 36.83; Prospect St. Cong. Ch., 29.50 66.33 Newton. Ladies' Freedman's Aid Sew. Cir., Bbl of C., _for Macon, Ga._ Newton Center. First Cong. Sab. Sch., _for Student Aid, Chattanooga, Tenn._ 100.00 Newton Lower Falls. "Friend," _for Student Aid, Straight U._ .50 Norfolk. Cong. Ch. and Soc. 6.75 North Amherst. Cong. Sab. Sch., _for Student Aid, Atlanta U._ 51.06 Norwood. Cong. Ch. and Soc. 5.14 Oxford. Ladies' Miss'y Soc., _for Missionary, Topeka, Kan._ 15.00 Oxford. Ladies' Miss'y Soc., Bbl. of C., 2 _for Freight, for Wilmington, N. C._ 2.00 Palmer. Thorndike Cong. Ch. 1.44 Pepperell. "Friends," Bbl. of C., _for Avery Inst._ Pittsfield. Mrs. Hurd, Bbl. of C., 2.50 _for Freight, for Talladega C._ 2.50 First Cong. Ch. and Soc. (10 of which from Sab. Sch., _for S. S. work_) 143.00 Rockport. Busy Bee Soc., by Sadie W. Butman, _for Student Aid, Talladega C._ 6.00 Rockport, "Pastor's Class," _for Dakota M._ 5.64 Rockport. First Cong. Sab. Sch., 2 Bdls. of S. S. Exercises Shirley Village. Cong. Ch. and Soc. 7.00 South Abington. Cong. Ch. and Soc. 50.05 Spencer. Cong. Ch. and Soc. 136.60 Spencer. Young Ladies' Mission Circle, Bdl. of C. Springfield. Hope Cong. Ch. 30.00 Sunderland. Ladies of Cong. Ch., Bbl. of C., 3 _for Freight, for Atlanta U._ 3.00 Sutton. Cong. Ch. and Soc. 49.83 Taunton. Union Ch. and Soc. 13.54 Tewksbury. Ladies' Benev. Soc., _for Freight, for Talladega C._ 2.00 Townsend. Ladies' Benev. Soc., Bbl. of C., val. 22.50 Watertown. Young Ladies' Mission Band of Phillips Ch., _for Student Aid, Straight U._ 50.00 Webster. Cong. Ch. and Soc. 50.00 Westborough. Evan. Cong. Sab. Sch. 50.00 Westborough. Freedmen's Mission Ass'n, Bbl. of C., 1, _for Freight, for Atlanta U._ 1.00 West Medway. Cyrus Adams 10.00 West Newton. "A Friend," Bbl. of C. Weymouth. First Cong. Ch. and Soc. 9.75 Winchendon. First Cong. Sab. Sch., to const. MRS. HARRIET BEMIS L.M. 30.00 Worcester. Plymouth Cong. Ch. and Soc., 163.26; Salem St. Ch., 94; "E. C. C." 20 277.26 Worcester. "A Friend," _for Student Aid, Talladega C._ 100.00 Worcester. Plymouth Ch. Sab. Sch., _for Student Aid, Talladega C._ 8.66 Worcester. Infant Class Piedmont Sab. Sch., _for Student Aid, Atlanta U._ 30.00 Worthington. "An Aged Lady," by Rev. F. S. Huntington 10.00 Yarmouth. Ladies' Sew. C. of First Cong. Ch., Bbl. of C., _for Chattanooga, Tenn._ ----. "A Friend" 20.00

RHODE ISLAND, $337.80.

Kingston. Cong. Ch. 22.91

LEGACY.

Providence. Estate of Sarah P. Phillips, by T. Salisbury, Adm'r 314.89

CONNECTICUT, $1,972.41.