Chapter 3

On the day of my marriage, my father did not compel me to worship the idols and ancestors. I felt very thankful for the Lord's help in this matter. My mother used to believe in all kinds of superstitions. If any one in the family was sick, she would go to a sorcerer and ask for some charms to heal the sick one. I told her that this kind of belief and doing were all wrong. I shew her how to pray the true God, and taught her to say the Lord's prayer. One day my sister was sick in bed, and my mother called me home to pray for her. I asked my mother whether she had been to the sorcerer or not. She said she had not. I then opened the Bible and read the first eleven verses from the fourth chapter of Matthew. I knelt and prayed, while my mother and all the rest of the family kept silent. When I said the Lord's prayer at the close, I asked them to follow me, but they were too bashful to comply. I am glad to say that my sister's health was restored, and this greatly pleased my mother.

During the month of March, the Chinese worship their ancestors at their respective graves. This kind of worship has two meanings, one is to repair and decorate the graves, the other, to worship with sacrifice, consisting of already cooked chicken and pork, and paper which represents money and clothing. My father and relatives, of course, follow the same custom. I accompanied them to the graves, but I only helped them in repairing the graves. Some of these relatives were school teachers. They spoke scornfully at me for not worshiping. They said, "You cannot show honor to your ancestors without kneeling before them." I then said to them, "Can you tell me the origin of sacrifice? Who established it, and for what purpose?" This seemed to strike them like lightning, for they all stood and had nothing to say. I then said, let me give you the origin. I told them that after God created heaven and earth and all things, he finally made a man and a woman, and placed them in Eden, the paradise, and how they sinned against God's command by eating the forbidden fruit. This brought death into the world. They were driven out of Paradise and had to work hard for a livelihood, but God was so merciful that he promised that the seed of the woman shall bruise the head of the serpent; that is, he would provide a Saviour, by which death could be conquered. God told them that when they sinned again, they must offer sacrifice and confess their sins, then God would forgive them. From that time on, the people offer sacrifice. This sacrifice is a type of Jesus, who gave his life and died on the cross for all who are willing to believe in him. So Jesus paid it all, and after his crucifixion there is no more offering required. That is the reason why the Christians do not offer sacrifice, and why I do not worship in this manner. For no one deserves our worship but God alone. I only honor the ancestors with my heart. I love them just as much as you do yourselves.

When they heard this explanation, they were greatly surprised. Then they spoke among themselves by saying, "His doctrine is good; this is all news to us; our Confucius books never tell us about the origin of sacrifice." This seemed to break down their pride a great deal, and after this they shew great willingness to listen to the Word of Life. Oh! how I long to have them learn of Jesus and become His followers. I not only pray for them, but every one in our village. May the Lord bless the seed sown in their hearts. Moreover, may He enlighten every soul in China. Yours in Christ, CHIN TOY.

* * * * *

We are in need of clothing to be sent to our mission stations in the South. Second-hand clothing will be of use if it is yet durable. All such helps should be sent to our office in New York, 56 Reade St., and we will forward promptly where most needed.

BUREAU OF WOMAN'S WORK.

MISS D.E. EMERSON, SECRETARY.

WOMAN'S STATE ORGANIZATIONS.

CO-OPERATING WITH THE AMERICAN MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION.

ME.--Woman's Aid to A.M.A., Chairman of Committee, Mrs. C.A. Woodbury, Woodfords, Me.

VT.--Woman's Aid to A.M.A., Chairman of Committee, Mrs. Henry Fairbanks, St. Johnsbury, Vt.

CONN.--Woman's Home Miss. Union, Secretary, Mrs. S.M. Hotchkiss, 171 Capitol Ave., Hartford, Conn.

N.Y.--Woman's Home Miss. Union, Secretary, Mrs. C.C. Creegan, Syracuse, N.Y.

OHIO.--Woman's Home Miss. Union, Secretary, Mrs. Flora K. Regal, Oberlin, Ohio.

Ill.--Woman's Home Miss. Union, Secretary, Mrs. C.H. Taintor, 151 Washington St., Chicago, I11.

MICH.--Woman's Home Miss. Union, Secretary, Mrs. Mary B. Warren, Lansing, Mich.

Wis.--Woman's Home Miss. Union, Secretary, Mrs. C. Matter, Brodhead, Wis.

MINN.--Woman's Home Miss. Society, Secretary, Mrs. H.L. Chase, 2,750 Second Ave., South, Minneapolis, Minn.

IOWA.--Woman's Home Miss. Union, Secretary, Mrs. Ella B. Marsh, Grinnell, Iowa.

KANSAS.--Woman's Home Miss. Society, Secretary, Mrs. Addison Blanchard, Topeka, Kan.

SOUTH DAKOTA.--Woman's Home Miss. Union, Secretary, Mrs. W.H. Thrall, Amour, Dak.

* * * * *

Not many weeks since, the Congregational Sunday-school of Ithaca, N.Y., sent us forty-five dollars towards the education of an Indian girl at Santee Agency, saying "we expect to make it seventy dollars." The story "How I Became A Golden Missionary," tells how they did it. It is a clear case of evolution. If any of our young people do not know what evolution is, they can learn how to start one by reading

HOW I BECAME A GOLDEN MISSIONARY.

My birthplace was in a very Superior region, as for millions of years I had dwelt near Lake Superior. My superior quality almost defied the arts of man. I first became conscious of existence when being liberated from my copper prison. I was, as I heard men say, ninety per cent. pure copper. Up to this time I had never been disturbed, but now sounded sharply the click of the hammer upon the cold chisel that rudely separated me from all that had been most closely associated with me. I heard men say that I was to be made over; and I was transported far away to a place where I was exposed to fierce fires, and without suffering I was made to assume a liquid form. I was then poured into a mold from which I came out, verily, a new creature. I was very bright and beautiful, shining and glowing, as if still retaining in myself the fires that had transformed me. I now discovered that I had a new name, for they called me "One Cent," and gave me this motto, "In God we trust."

I heard it said that I was a tool to assist in civilization, and I soon found myself aiding men in commercial transactions. I had manifold experiences and, like most useful people, found that while age increased my usefulness it subdued my glitter. At last, after many, many years, I fell into the hands of a Sabbath-school Superintendent with a missionary spirit, and by him was distributed with many of my companions to the children of his Sabbath-school, with the injunction to multiply. I fell into the hands of a boy who undertook to help me in a business way which should tend to my rapid increase. At the end of a fixed period I and my companions were to be returned to the Superintendent with our respective gains; and then, after relating our experiences, we were to be sent forth as missionaries to the Indians. Before this, my aims had been simply to aid in commerce, with no definite plan before me, and like all who have no fixed purpose, I drifted here and there and took no special interest in the world. But now I was to become a missionary; I was not only to aid in civilization but in advancing Christianity.

My new aim in life made me anxious concerning the boy who was to be my helper. I took the deepest interest in all his plans in regard to me and listened attentively when he bargained with his father for a fourth of a cent's worth of yarn and the use of a needle with which to darn his father's socks. I thought that a boy of sixteen who was willing to increase me by undertaking to darn his father's stockings, deserved all the aid that I could give him. I looked on with interest and admiration, while he, with earnest toil, completed his task. When the task was ended, I found myself increased from one to three cents. This small beginning was in reality the most important of all our transactions and demonstrated that we could work harmoniously together.

While he went to the St. Lawrence for his vacation, he did not give me a vacation nor wrap me in a napkin, but left me where I grew to four cents. Then we invested my whole increase in hickory nuts, which transaction increased me to fifteen cents. I here discovered that I had not only multiplied but had become of a more precious metal. I was now silver. We now invested in peanuts and hickory nuts and I was increased from fifteen to thirty cents. The community in which we lived manifested such a fondness for peanuts that we again invested and I found myself increased to seventy-five cents.

Coming in contact with one who mourned over sleepless nights, we undertook to add to her comfort by making a hop pillow. Having invested in materials, and the boy making the pillow himself upon the machine, we realized an increase of twenty-five cents. Now to my great surprise and still greater delight, I found that I had again been transformed into a more precious metal. I was now gold. As I could attain no higher degree in precious metals, it was decreed that in this form I should go forth on my career as a missionary.

Good-bye to you, Lottie, and Rose, and Marion, and John, and Carl, and Waldo. Our association has been very pleasant together, and I hope that in taking leave of you I am not to pass altogether from your knowledge. I should desire that this history of my growth and increase may accompany me, that in time to come I may be able to report to you of the good that through me you have been able to accomplish. Once more good-bye.

YOUR HAPPY MISSIONARY GOLD DOLLAR.

CHILDREN'S PAGE.

THE STORY OF THE BULLETS.

Among some unpublished papers of the late Rev. Dr. Pike, we find the following story, which we know will be of interest to our readers, both from the sketch itself and the association with its author:

A few years after Gen. Hooker fought his famous battle of the clouds, I visited Lookout Mountain, and, while searching for some memento on the battle-field, picked up a slightly bruised rifle bullet. This to me was a real prize. It was not too large, it would keep.

A slight illness, aggravated by the fatigue of the day, induced me to accept the urgent request of a former acquaintance to spend the night with him upon the mountain. During the evening, I chanced to show him the bullet, saying I thought myself quite fortunate in finding it.

"Oh," said he, "that's nothing. A colored woman after the battle gathered and sold so many that she was able to purchase a cow with the money, and now that cow supports her family."

I left Chattanooga the nest morning, and thought no more of the incident for a dozen years. A short time since, however, I was spending the night in a small village in one of the mountain towns of Tennessee. At nightfall, looking out from my hotel, I observed a company of colored people ambling along towards a low wooden meeting-house, and time hanging heavily on my hands, I decided to join the dusky worshipers. I slipped in, therefore, when the meeting was a little under way, and allowed myself to be ushered up to the front seat, directly under the eye of an intelligent looking young man who proved to be the preacher for the occasion. After a few opening services, which embraced the usual variety in ordinary churches, the minister took for his text the passage, "Ask, and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you."

"Now," said he, when he had gotten on well with his introduction, "you must not believe you will surely receive precisely the thing you ask for in just the way you might like it. Let me give you an illustration from my personal experience. When a little boy, I lived with my mother on the southern slope of Lookout Mountain, and remember well the day that Gen. Hooker fought his great battle up there and how he and his soldiers marched bravely away. For a long time the children and the grown people searched the battle-fields over, day after day, hoping to find things of value. My mother made it her business to hunt for bullets, and at length the number she gathered herself and took from us boys was so great that she was able to purchase a cow with the money they brought.

"A benevolent gentleman living in New York at this time soon after secured the Government buildings on the top of the mountain that had been used for the sick soldiers, and fitted them up nicely for Northern teachers, who opened a boarding-school for white students. I took milk to the institution from our cow, every morning, and how I wished that I might gain admittance to the school and procure an education! One day I heard the scholars reciting in concert, 'Ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you.' It came over me most powerfully and I repeated it again and again. I said it to my mother, and inquired of her what it meant, and why it impressed me so, and who it was that said it.

"She replied, 'I dunno. I reckon I'se heard dem words afore. 'Pears like dey was spoke by the bressed Lord.'

"The more I thought of it, the more undecided I was what I could do, or what my mother could do for me, I knew, however, that the Lord could do everything.

"Well, the nest time I met the good-natured teacher who managed the school, I made bold to ask him to allow me to tell him all about it, and this was his reply. 'Our Lord made that promise long before the discovery of America and the establishment of the peculiar institutions of this country. If he had lived at this day, I reckon,' he continued with a look of drollery, 'he would have said "Ask and ye shall receive--if you aint a nigger." I can't take you into my school because you are black, but I'll send you down to the American Missionary school at Chattanooga. You can ask and receive there whether you are black or white.'

"So, shortly after he told my experience to the teacher in the town, who arranged that my mother should take me and the cow to a little farm just out of the city, giving me an opportunity to attend his school regularly until I was fitted to enter an institution of a higher grade. I then went away and pursued a course of study for six years, teaching during the summer and receiving aid from my mother, who kept the cow all the while for her own support and my assistance. I asked, I received, but not just in the way I hoped."

When he had finished speaking, I took him heartily by the hand, told him of my early visit to the mountain and the bullet still in my possession. I talked with him about his teachers, his struggles for self-help, his aim to work for the progress of the church and his consecration to the duties of the Christian ministry. I conversed with him in reference to others of his acquaintance and believe that his experience serves to illustrate the ingenuity of the colored people in seeking their own advancement.

"They climb like corals, grave on grave, But pave a path that's sunward, They're beaten back in many a fray, Yet newer strength they borrow; And where the vanguard rests to-day, The rear shall camp to-morrow."

* * * * *

RECEIPTS FOR JANUARY, 1888.

MAINE, $977.34.

Auburn. SAMUEL J.M. PERKINS, to const. himself L.M. ...$30.00

Bangor. Hammond St. Ch. ...15.50 Bangor. Center Ch., _for Oahe Ind'l Sch._ ...5.00

Bath. Winter St. Ch., 100; Central Cong. Ch. and Soc., 34 ...134.00

Belfast. Miss E.M. Pond, Bbl. of C.; Miss G. Longfellow, Bbl. of C., _for Wilmington, N.C._

Brewer. Mrs. C.S. Hardy, 10; M. Hardy, 10, _for Indian M._ ...20.00

Brunswick. Mrs. S.C.L. Clement, _for Student Aid, Atlanta U._ ...25.00

Brunswick. Sab. Sch. of Cong. Ch., _for Indian M._ ...8.10

Castine. Sab. Sch. of Cong. Ch. ...5.00

Castine. Class 9, Trin. Sab. Sch., _for Student Aid, Tougaloo U._ ...2.32

Cumberland Center. Silas M. Rideout, _for Mountain Work_ ...1.00

East Otisfield. Mrs. Susan Lovel, 5; Rev. J. Loring, 2; Mrs. Sarah P. Morton, 1 ...8.00

Ellsworth. Cong. Ch., to const. REV. C.F.W. HUBBARD L.M. ...41.33 Farmington Falls. Cong. Ch. ...2.02

Gorham. "Helping Hand Soc.," _for Freight_ ...2.00

Hallowell. Mrs. F.C. Page, 15 _for Mountain Work_ and 10 _for Indian M._ ...25.00

Limerick. Cong. Ch. and Soc. ...10.87 Madison. Cong. Ch. ...1.00

New Castle. Cong. Ch., Bbl. of Bedding, _for Pleasant Hill, Tenn._

Norridgewock. Mrs. Caroline F. Dole, _for Freight_ ...1.45

North Yarmouth. Dea. Asa A. Lufkin ...5.00

Portland. State St. Cong. Ch. and Soc., 197; High St. Ch., 195.72; Williston Ch., 69.39; Rev. I.P. Warren, 60, to const. STANLEY P. WARREN, M.D., and MRS. SUSAN H. CANADA L.M.'s; Friends in West Cong. Ch., 5; Seamen's Bethel Ch., 5 ...532.11

Portland. Sab. Sch of Seamen's Bethel, _for Indian M._ ...2.00

Portland. Infant S.S. Class, St. Lawrence St. Ch., _for Student Aid, Wilmington, N.C._ ...3.00

Portland. Mrs. J.M. Gould, 2.50; Mr. and Mrs. Geo. H. Plummer, 1 _for Indian M._ ...3.50

South Berwick. Mrs. Lewis' S.S. Class, _for Student Aid, Wilmington, N.C._ ...2.00

Union. Ladies of Cong. Ch., Bbl. of Bedding, _for Pleasant Hill, Tenn._

Waldoboro. First Cong. Ch. ...12.00

Woolwich. E.M. Gardner, _for Tougaloo U._ ...0.50

----. Mrs. M.W. Stone, _for Pupils, Fort Berthold, Indian M._ ...70.00

NEW HAMPSHIKE, $518.38.

Amherst. Miss L.F. Boylston (20 of which _for Woman's Work_) ...70.00

Bedford. Presb. Ch. ...12.67 Chester. Cong. Ch. and Soc. ...20.00

Concord. Dea. F. Coffin's Class, 10, and Jos. T. Sleeper's Class, 10, South Cong. Ch., _for Student Aid, Wilmington, N.C._ ...20.00

Derry. Ladies' Aux., First Cong. Ch., _for Woman's Work_ ...20.00

Farmington. First Cong. Ch. ...23.77

Great Falls. Ladies' Miss'y Soc., _for Woman's Work_ ...25.00

Harrisville. Mrs. L.B. Richardson, 10; Darius Farwell, 2 ...12.00

Keene. Sab. Sch. of First Cong. Ch., 90, to const. GEORGE E. HITcHCOCK, MRS. HARRIET L. BUCKMINSTER and LUCY M. CARLTON L.M.'s Sab. Sch of Second Cong. Ch., 48.49 ...$138.49

Lebanon. Cong. Ch. and Soc. ...45.00

Lempster. Helen Bingham and Marianna Smith ...5.00

Londonderry. Charles S. Pillsbury ...1.00

Manchester. Sab. Sch., by E. Ferren, Treas., _for Pupils, Fort Berthold, Indian M._ ...75.00

Merrimac. First Cong. Ch. ...2.85

Pembroke. Mrs. Mary W. Thompson, 5; A Friend, 2 ...7.00

Pembroke. Sab. Sch. of Cong. Ch., _for Student Aid, Wilmington, N.C._ ...2.00

Rindge. Ladies' Sewing Cir., _for Freight_ ...5.00

South Newmarket. 2 Bbls. of C., _for Wilmington, N.C._

Union. "Do Good Soc.," by Mrs. G.S. Butler, _for Indian M._ ...1.00

West Lebanon. Mission Band of Cong. Ch. ...20.00

Winchester. Sab. Sch. of Cong. Ch. ...12.60

VERMONT, $737.77.

Barnet. Cong. Ch., 70, to const. ALEXANDER HOLMES and EMELINE H. WALLACE L.M.'s Sab. Sch. of Cong. Ch., 17.85 ...87.85

Bennington. Sab. Sch. of Second Cong. Ch., 10, Mrs. G.W. Hannan, 2; A.B. Valentine, 1, _for McIntosh, Ga._ ...13.00

Bethel. Mrs. Laura F. Sparhawk ...5.00

Brattleboro. "A Friend," 50; E. Crosby, 25, _for Student Aid, Talladega C._ ...75.00

Brookfield. Second Cong. Ch. ...25.51 Brownington. S.S. Tinkham ...5.00

Castleton. Ladies, _for McIntosh, Ga._, by Mrs. Henry Fairbanks ...3.00

Chester. Cong. Ch. ...33.50

Dorset. Ten Cent Collection, _for McIntosh, Ga._, by Mrs. Henry Fairbanks ...7.20

East Hardwick. Cong. Ch. and Sab. Sch., 48.86; Ladies' Miss'y Soc., 3.50 ...52.36

Essex Junction. Cong. Ch. ...10.70

Granby. Ladies, _for McIntosh, Ga._, by Mrs. Henry Fairbanks ...1.40

Granby. Infant Class Cong. Sab. Sch., _for Rosebud Indian M._ ...1.15

Hardwick. H.R. Mack, _for Indian M._ ...5.00

Hartland. Class in Cong. Sab. Sch., _for McIntosh, Ga._ ...7.00

Manchester. Ladies of Cong. Ch., Bbl. of C., etc., _for Atlanta, U._

Montpelier. "C.L.S.C.," _for Storrs Sch._ ...9.00 Montpelier. Sab. Sch. of Bethany Ch. ...8.00

Montpelier. Ladies of Bethany Ch., Box of C., val. 75, _for McIntosh, Ga._

Newbury. Hon. P.W. Ladd ...5.00

Plainfield. Ladies of Cong. Ch., _for McIntosh, Ga._ ...3.00

Rutland. Cong. Ch., 81.47; Sab. Sch. of Cong. Ch., 10 ...91.47

Saint Johnsbury. Sab. Sch. of South Cong. Ch., _for Indian M._ ...40.00

Saint Johnsbury. "Little Helpers" Miss'y Circle of South Ch., _for McIntosh, Ga._, by Mrs. Henry Fairbanks ...10.00

Saint Johnsbury. North Cong. Ch., _for Rosebud M._ ...3.41

Salisbury. Monthly Concert, 15; J.E. Weeks, _for McIntosh, Ga._ ...20.00

Springfield. F.V.A. Townsend, to const, ERVIN A. TOWNSEND L.M. ...30.00

Swanton. Ladies of Cong. Ch., _for McIntosh, Ga._ ...2.00

Westbrook. Sab. Sch. of Cong. Ch., _for Rosebud Indian M._ ...5.00

Windham. Sab. Sch. of Cong. Ch. ...15.00 Windsor. "A Friend," 25; Cong. Ch., 8 ...33.00 Woodstock. Cong. Ch. ...7.22

Ladies of Vermont, _for McIntosh, Ga._:

Barnet. Bbl. of C. Barton. " ".

Brownington. Bbl. of C. ...$5.00 Cambridge. Bbl. of C. ...2.00 Charlotte. Half-Bbl. of C. ...2.00 Derby. Bbl. of C. ...3.00

Farihaven. Bbl. of C.

Greensboro. " " ...3.00

Island Pond. " " Lowell. Half-Bbl. of C. Montpelier. Box of C.

North Craftsbury. Bbl. of C ...3.00 Wallingford. ...0.50

Weybridge. Bbl of C. ...2.00 ------ $20.50 ------- $633.77

LEGACY.

Bradford. Estate of Mrs. C.D. Redington, _for McIntosh, Ga._, by Mrs. Henry Fairbanks ...100.00

$737.77

MASSACHUSETTS, $16,495.66.

Amherst. Mrs. Elijah Ayers, Bbl. of C., etc., _for Sherwood, Tenn._

Andover. "A Friend," to const. Miss LUCY J. KIMBALL L.M. ...75.00

Andover. L.G. Merrill, _for Student Aid, Mobile, Ala._ ...10.00

Andover. Mrs. Wm. Abbot, Pkg. Books, etc., and 1.42 _for Student Aid, Sherwood, Tenn._ ...1.42

Ashburnham. M. Wetherbee ...2.00

Attleboro. Second Cong. Ch. and Soc., 60; First Cong. Ch., 16.53 ...74.53

Beverly. Washington St., Cong. Ch. ...79.45

Beverly. Member of Dane St. Ch., _for Student Aid, Fisk U._ ...2.00

Boston. Park St. Homeland Circle, 101, _for Tougaloo U._; 54 _for Student Aid, Striaght U._; 3 _for Indian M._, and to const MRS. DAVID GREGG, MRS. ADDIS E. BOWLER, MRS. CHARLES E. SPENCER, MRS. ALBERT F. FISHER and MISS ALICE L TENNEY L.M.'s ...158.00

" Park St. Ch., add'l ...115.00

" "Partial payment of the debt due from the North to the Colored Race in the South" ...50.00

" Mrs. C.A. Spaulding, to const MRS. MARY W. WOOD L.M., _for Student Aid, Straight U._ ...30.00

" Ezar Farnsworth, _for Oahe Ind'l Sch._ ...30.00

" "A Friend," to const. DEA. THOMAS Y. CROWELL L.M. ...30.00

" "W.E.M." ...25.00

Charlestown. Mrs. C.W. Flint, Pkg. of C., _for Tougaloo U._

Dorchester. Second Cong. Ch. ...115.32

" "Friends," _for Student Aid, Atlanta U._ ...10.00

" Miss Mary A. Tuttle, _for Marie Adlof Sch'p Fund_ ...1.00

" Miss M.E. Lapham, Half-Bbl. of C., _for Wilmington, N.C._

Jamaica Plain. "Gleaners," _for Freight, Oahe Ind'l Sch._ ...1.70

Roxbury. Immanuel Cong. Ch. ...58.40 " "Friend" ...10.00

" Sab. Sch. of Highland Ch., 9.94, and Bdl. of S.S. Papers, _for Jackson, M._ ...$9.94

$654.36

Brimfield. Cong. Ch. and Sab. Sch., _for Student Aid, Fisk U._ ...5.00

Brookline. Harvard Ch. ...75.95

Cambridge. Bible Class, S.M. Ch., _for Student Aid, Atlanta U._ ...25.00

Cambridge. First Cong. Ch., _for Storrs Sch._ ...9.00

Cambridge. Mrs. M.L.C. Whitney ...1.50

Campello. South Cong. Ch., 25.00; Mrs. Allen Leach, 50 cts. ...25.50

Charlton. Cong. Ch. and Soc. ...27.35