Part 2

(1.) The negro has ability for the highest range of studies, and to debar him therefrom is to sin both against the man and his Maker. Many, especially those who cannot spell his name without putting in one “g” too many, doubt the intellectual power of the negro. It is true that heredity holds with him as with other men. A race scarce one and twenty years removed from enforced ignorance does not climb the hill of science as nimbly as those who inherit the brain, will and spiritual forces which generations and centuries have accumulated. But twenty-one years, and of wretched environment too, have sufficed to show that souls clad in the blackest African setting are capable of the highest thought and most difficult studies. The evidence on this point is abundant and conclusive. To deny the negro this ability is only to advertise one’s ignorance or prejudice. And since God has written his truth both in his word and works, and also given to the black man aptitude and thirst for the highest and most hidden, it does not become a race longer out of darkness and further removed from heathenism to say “thus far and no farther” in the culture of immortality. The negro should receive the higher education because God has made him capable of it, and he is profited thereby as much as any other man.

(2.) The higher range of studies is necessary to supplant self-conceit with self-reliance. Measuring themselves by themselves, an ignorant people are always inflated by the merest modicum of knowledge. Broad scholarship gives modesty, but the sciolist everywhere is a braggart. None are so satisfied with their acquisitions as the valedictorians of very poor schools. Where gold is scarce, a little metal, and chiefly alloy, will serve for many a big spangle, and the greater the darkness the brighter it shines. The serene satisfaction with which the African novice will misapply and mispronounce grandiloquent speech can only be cured by the presence of some scholarly men who have climbed far enough to see the heights and to know that the low-land is a bog.

But wise self-reliance is as rare among an ignorant people as conceit and folly are abundant. One part of the problem before us is to develop manly courage. Slavery cut the hamstrings of independence and sapped very manhood. As a rule the negro is not certain of his rights nor is he heroic in maintaining them. He has long been habituated to wrong, and the passive virtues have become disproportionate. From the days of the Cyrenian he has ever borne the cross, and naturally his back is bent and his knees are weak. Probably there is no other man in this country who can be wronged with such impunity and success as the negro. He is outraged in business, in society and in politics. He knows his wrong, but he does not know of his power to repel it. He needs a manly self-reliance, and that he must have or he will always be victimized. As Franklin said, “If we make sheep of ourselves the wolves will have us.” It is true the virtue needed is largely moral. Scholarship alone cannot give it, but scholarship is a prime ingredient. The step of one walking in darkness is of necessity halting and hesitant. The higher education is essential to that higher courage without which right and privilege are insecure.

(3.) The negro needs well-trained leaders and they must come from his own people. Race prejudice is an uncomfortable fact, and there are two sides to the color line. The Moses of the future cannot, in general, be an Egyptian, whether teacher, preacher or politician. But the future Moses will need all the learning of Egypt. A task is before him. The Red Sea indeed has been passed and God is going before. But the wilderness is simply terrible, and many are falling by the way. Leaders must be trained, and to do this is now our chief work. Every regiment certainly needs a competent colonel, and among every one thousand men there surely ought to be one well bred and well read, broad and thoughtful and scholarly, trained to thought, enriched with varied knowledge, and able either to cope with men or to grapple with difficulties. By this meager percentage, seven thousand liberally trained men are needed for the nearly seven million Africans in our country. We conclude then, that while all should have the lower education, a great many should receive the higher. Every man may need silver, but the best commerce of the world requires that some should also have gold, and a good deal of it.

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SOME CHANGE NEEDED.

We publish the following as evidence of the necessity for Congregational Churches among the colored people. There are some kinds of religion from which intelligent people wish to get away. Of these kinds it can be truthfully said that a “special religious interest” is not a blessing.--ED.

“The church here was organized in April, 1882. From the beginning we have held worship in one room of the Knox school building, which is owned by the A. M. A. This room is not large enough to accommodate the people when there is anything like a good interest, as we cannot seat, comfortably, more than one hundred persons. We are, therefore, put to great inconvenience at times. Again, there is not the air of sacredness in worshiping in a school-house as there is in an out-and-out church edifice. At least it is so among the people here.

“Great as these reasons are for a church building, yet there is another still greater. It is this; we are holding our services not farther away than thirty steps from a colored Baptist church whose congregation is immense. Moreover, our meetings are held at the same hour as theirs. Their great demonstrations and shoutings are destructive to the solemnity and comfort of our quiet and orderly congregations. When there is special religious interest among that people--and it is almost a perpetual thing--the good effect of our services is almost as good as none.

“Now, to carry out our building plan we need fifteen hundred or two thousand dollars. We hope our Northern friends will give us at least one thousand dollars of this amount. Please respond as soon as possible, as we are very anxious to complete our church by next April when our fifth anniversary will be held. We wish to hold that service in the new edifice.

“The future good of the work here will depend very much upon our ability to build within the year 1887.”

And the following is an evidence of the necessity for Congregational ministers:

“DEAR SIR: I hav been infome buy Some of you brothren. As I wished to Change my Relation Ship with the Church to Some other branch of Church. I. hav. come. to. the. conclusion to Join. with. you. Church. as. a. Colord. Missionarie. in you church with. my. peopl. I. Am. in. the. best of. Good. Standing. in. the. Church. And if. you. Dought. this frase. you. can. Rite to the Rit Rev Bishop in Regard. to. my. Standing in the. Church, but Dont. Say to him what. I. say. to. you a bout. Joinen you Church. if. you. please. not as. I. am tring. to Run. off but. I Like to. no what. I Am Going. to. Do. first I hav been a Elder in the Church for. 9 years and for five years I. hav. not. Got. 3000. Dollars, for. my Laber. not as. I. Dezier riches of this Earth. but. a Enought. to Live. with. in this. Life. I. Am thinking to tak. up. a home Stide, on Goverment. Land. in Kansas. or. in Alabama. or Some plase where Grate meny of our people is but if. I. am Blesst. to Join. with you Church. I. will Do. as you. Law Says. I. m. familey. wife. and one. neace. And. I Expect my. neace will. not. be. with. us. Long please be So Kine. as. to answer this Soon as. you. Get. it.”

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NEW LIGHT IN THE SOUTH.

The two sections began life together and formed a government. The South had the advantage of soil, climate, and wealth. At the end of eighty-four years the two grappled and fought. The Yankee section came to the fight richer and stronger than our Southern section, and beat us into the earth while we did our best. To-day these Yankees are rich in everything, and we are poor in everything but manhood and womanhood, and have less than we began with one hundred years back. These same Yankees furnish the bulk of the capital we use, the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the books we read and study, and the high-grade teaching in the normal schools of the Southern States. Almost every convenience of life and invention of art and science we know, came from these same people, who have in ten years done more for Florida than the Florida natives have done in fifty. Almost any one of their large communities could buy the whole South for a park if they liked it for that purpose. In a fight they could crush us like eggshells. In politics they are masters, and we have to hold our breath in every big campaign to avoid offending them. Their percentage of ignorance is one-tenth of ours. When trouble comes on us we depend on them for most of the help, and get it. The world knows them as America, and us as outlying and unconsidered provinces.--_Greenville, (S. C.) News._

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GEORGE W. MONISTY was a slave, and was sold from his parents in 1853, being taken to Mississippi. He subsequently served as a Union soldier all through the war, and finally settled at Lafayette, Ind. While at the Wabash depot recently, George fancied he recognized two colored women who were passing, _en route_ to Iowa. The recognition was mutual, and with tears, cries of joy, and embraces, the mother, brother and sister came together after a separation of thirty-three years.

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REV. W. W. WEIR, pastor of the 2d Congregational Church in Eureka, Kansas, died Nov. 21st, in his fifty-first year. He had been sick some time with consumption, and his death was not unexpected. He began his ministry in the African Methodist Church, and was ordained as a Congregational minister in Eureka in 1881. In an obituary in a local paper it is said of him: “Considering the limited privileges which he had in his youth, he was a man of superior qualifications, and each year has increased the esteem in which he was held by the community.”

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THE SOUTH.

NOTES IN THE SADDLE.

BY FIELD-SUPERINTENDENT C. J RYDER.

The Lincoln Memorial Church at Washington, D. C., are rejoicing in their remodeled building. Various branches of missionary work are carried on with increased vigor. The industrial training is now under the direction of the _pastoress_, Mrs. Moore, and is reaching a large number of women and girls. The outlook of this work at Washington was never so bright as now.

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Dudley, N. C., is a smart little village, having in its entire population only four white families. The two saloons in the town, however, are kept by white men--a pretty sorrowful and disgraceful comment upon the white race. The County Superintendent of schools spoke in the highest praise of the A. M. A. school and church at Dudley. Congregationalism here, as elsewhere, is the synonym for intelligence and purity.

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Wilmington is still saddened by the death of Rev. D. D. Dodge, for a long time the active pastor of the Congregational Church in that city. But the work goes on with continued prosperity.

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A little nine-year-old daughter of the pastor of the A. M. A. church at Beaufort, N. C., has used her time so wisely between school hours that she sat down to the organ and played ordinary music readily. Can any other little A. M. A. girl no older show better use of her time? This little girl has had only a few weeks’ instruction in music.

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No one who has not visited Charleston, S. C., can form any idea of the terrible results of that awful earthquake visitation. The citizens have accomplished wonders in repairing the ruins of their homes and churches and shops, but it will be months yet before the fearful desolation can be overcome. Poor Charleston, what with war and cyclones and earthquakes has she not suffered! Is it Divine punishment for her rash and fearful sins of the past? Who can say it is? Who dare say it is not? The Congregational Church was uninjured by the “quake.” Extensive repairs had just been made in the building, and the services of re-dedication came immediately after that night of earthquake horrors, and were very impressive. Many conversions have taken place since the re-opening of the church.

Avery Institute suffered seriously from the earthquake. Extensive and expensive repairs were made necessary before the school could be opened. These are now completed. I learned of some two hundred pupils who were waiting to enter Avery as soon as it should be opened.

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At Savannah, Ga., I found a most delightful state of religious interest. More than a hundred have been hopefully converted during the few weeks just passed. Many interesting incidents have occurred. One young man, who has been rather a wild young fellow, became a Christian. He was at once anxious for his mother, who was not a Christian. One night she refused to come to evening service. The friend who went to invite her gave up in despair. But God did not give up. His spirit still strove with her, and she came into the church and took the very back seat. But she was the first to come forward when the invitation was given to those who desired prayers for themselves. She sat with bowed head a long time. Her son was there praying for her. There was no excitement. At last this mother, rising to her feet, walked across the house, and taking the preacher by the hand, said: “I will venture.” There was joy in many hearts. The mother and son are now praying that the aged grandmother may find her way into the fold of the Good Shepherd, even in her trembling old age.

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McIntosh is also rejoicing in a spiritual harvest. Twenty-eight, all on confession of their faith, joined the A. M. A. church on the last communion Sabbath. Dorchester Academy is full, and more than full. The enrollment for January was 250, and _sixty pupils had been turned away because there was no “room to receive them.”_ Miss Plimpton, with three young lady assistants, does this tremendous work with marvellous success. The pastor had been ill for a few Sabbaths, and the Sabbath duties fell upon these overworked and heroic women. As I looked into the schoolrooms, crowded to their very doors, hot and oppressive, it seemed to me that if anywhere on this continent the Master’s work is being done, it is right here at McIntosh, Ga. They are indeed Sisters of Mercy. A little girl in one of our schools was asked what the feminine of Friar was. She replied, “Fricassee.” In that hot school-room it seemed almost possible that these Protestant teachers might be unwillingly converted into female Friars, according to the little girl’s definition.

The teachers are reaching out in every direction. In a little tumbled down, or tumbling down, log cabin, Miss Robertson holds mission service every Sabbath. From seventy to ninety, mostly men and boys, gather to sing, hear God’s word read, and gather useful lessons from the wise and loving counsel of this earnest Christian soul. One hundred dollars are needed at once to put this cabin into such shape as shall make it suitable for these services.

In pushing out through the swamps that lie all round Dorchester, the teachers not infrequently see great, venomous snakes (water moccasins) tumble off the path before them into the water. And yet these are timid ladies, and shrink just as you do, gentle reader, from such monsters. They are there for Christ’s sake, and in His name they go forward.

Will not some earnest Christian at the North increase his contribution, so that the school facilities at Dorchester Academy may meet the demand another year, and so that the hearts of these Christian heroines may be comforted and cheered?

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DEDICATION OF BALLARD BUILDING.

The first Sunday in this New Year was a memorable day with us at Tougaloo, having been looked forward to with eager expectancy for months--especially by the carpenter’s apprentices and other wood-working students, who, no doubt, next to Mr. Stephen Ballard himself, of New York, feel a sense of personal proprietorship and joyful interest in “Ballard school-house,” which was dedicated that day.

The new school-house is not only a monument to Mr. Ballard’s philanthropy, but also to the value and success of the mechanical training given here, as the work was almost entirely done by the students.

The day of dedication was the third of a succession of days unusually cold for us, and the air was full of snow-flakes, so that few of the expected guests from a distance made their appearance, and the extreme unpleasantness of the day kept most of even our near neighbors at home. However, besides the students and their immediate friends, we had as guests Miss Dickey, the honored head of Mt. Hermon Seminary at Clinton, with two of her assistants; Rev. J. B. Oliver, of the Congregational Church at Greenville, and Rev. C. L. Harris, of the Congregational Church at Jackson; also Mr. Moses Folsom, of Iowa, a representative of “_The Burlington Hawkeye_,” with a friend of his.

Probably none of the _special days_ in the annals of the school have passed off with more unity and spontaneity of feeling, nor left a happier consciousness behind. The Sunday-school lesson had for its title “The Beginning,” and besides its regular and ordinary teachings, was specially and happily applied, and, at its close, ten persons were received into church membership. The regular dedicatory ceremonies and services took place in the afternoon and were good throughout. Rev. C. L. Harris, of Jackson, delivered the address. Always energetic and enthusiastic, and ready for whatever word or work his day and opportunity bring him, he gave us a really excellent address. He gave in the outset a sketch of the life of the Christian merchant who had considered himself the Lord’s steward of the funds required to build this school-house and the shops required for our trades. He then spoke at large upon the three-fold work to which this institution was dedicated,--the education of head, hand and heart, all tending to the firm and right establishment of the home and fitting for the widest usefulness.

The last thing in the service supplied an outlet for the manifestation of the loving and joyful interest with which the service had been participated in by the congregation, and was apparently at least _as much_ enjoyed as any part of it, namely, the taking of a collection. The subscription, started with the thank-offering of Thanksgiving Day, for seating the new chapel, had reached $36.50. The collection at the dedication service brought it to $97.35, additional free-will offerings next morning making up the hundred. At this writing a beginning has been made on the remaining $66.25. About one-fourth of this has been given by our own students, and nearly one-half by the colored people connected with, or interested in, our school.

A sermon from Rev. J. B. Oliver in the evening closed the exercises of the day.

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OUR SCHOOL OF OBSERVATION.

BY MISS ANNA M. CAHILL, FISK UNIVERSITY.

Sixty bright faces welcomed me as I took my place with other visitors, this afternoon, in the school-room of our practice school. These faces are the property of as many happy children--children with no more weight of years upon them than properly belongs to pupils in a primary school. As I looked down the rows of little seats on this my first visit for the year, I saw at once that many new pupils had taken their places in this company since the first of September, but some of the little folks have grown so familiar that I realize they are soon to “graduate” into the English department of the University. At least half a dozen of those before me are the children of parents, one or both of whom were pupils at Fisk at some time during the first ten years of its work. They come from comfortable and well-regulated homes in the city, as do the majority of those primary pupils.

The special occasion that drew us together to-day was the public exercise of the practice teachers who taught in the school during the fall term. Every member of the senior normal class spends six weeks, at some time during the year, in practice work, under the direction and criticism of the principal of the school. To-day each of the four teachers taught three classes ten minutes apiece, and in the two hours thus occupied, not only the regulation studies, reading and number, were presented, but very interesting lessons were taught in elementary grammar, geography of Tennessee, form, color and physiology. When the bright sunlight gave its aid by flashing through a prism the rainbow colors on the wall, the little people were quick to tell how these colors might be combined and others formed; and when to the physiology class there were shown the heart, lungs and liver of a sheep, they gathered with so much interest around their young teacher that spectators and school were forgotten in their childish eagerness to ask and answer questions.

In one of the motion-songs that varied the exercises of the afternoon, these little people sang of the shoemaker, “All he wants is his elbow room,” and as I came away impressed with a sense of the power developing in that school-room and thought of the future of its pupils, I said gladly to myself, “All they want is their elbow room.”

These public exercises are held semi-annually, in order that all members of the normal class may have opportunity to show the result of their practice work.

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CHARLESTON, S. C.

A young man who recently united with our church on profession of faith, in his first prayer at the Wednesday night prayer meeting, said: “Help us young men to pray a little faster and a little better, for you know how slow and imperfect we are. We cannot help ourselves. You are our only help. Lead us in the way that we should go, and help us to withstand the temptations which come every day.” It is the same idea which St. Paul gives us when he says: “Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect, but I follow after.” “A little faster and a little better.” What a lesson for Christians generally. If we all would be a little faster in doing good, in giving to aid in this work of raising up fallen humanity, there would be no need of constant appeal from the treasury department of the A. M. A. and the other great missionary organizations, and if Christians would pray a little better, that is, with more earnest desire for a literal answer to their prayers, His Kingdom would speedily come in the hearts of men. His _will_ would be more generally done “on earth, as it is in Heaven.”

VOLCANO AND TIDAL WAVE.

A good sister recently came into the parsonage very much exercised in mind. After a while she said: “Well, it’s just as I expected. One of them things has broke out in Summerville.” We asked: “What is it? The smallpox?” “No.” “The cholera?” “No.” “A riot?” “No. Not any disease or anything like that. It is one of them things. I think they call it a _volcano_, or something like a _tidal wave_, you know.”