Chapter 2

I have thought that the readers of the American Missionary Association Magazine might like to have this phase of the Convention before them as experienced by the colored people, from one who, as the Southern lady said, belongs "to their side."

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SOUTHERN FIELD NOTES.

REV. GEO. W. MOORE, FIELD MISSIONARY.

There were fifteen graduates from the Normal and ten from College and four from the Musical departments of Fisk University at its last Commencement. Rev. H. H. Proctor, pastor of the First Congregational Church of Atlanta, gave the Alumni address, and Prof. W. E. Dubois, Ph.D., Professor of Sociology in Atlanta University, delivered the Commencement address.

Mr. Proctor and Dr. Dubois are both graduates of Fisk University. Both of them are men of liberal culture and at the same time earnest toilers in the work of uplifting in the South.

The sixth anniversary of the dedication of the chapel of Plymouth Church, Louisville, Ky., was an interesting occasion. Rev. E. G. Harris, the pastor, has faithful workers in his church; some of them are physicians, teachers and artisans. The church is growing in numbers and influence. A neat lecture room, built by the people, is free from debt. They have added a cabinet organ to the Church and a piano to the Sunday School, to enhance the service of song.

A conference of Christian workers was held at Asheville, N. C., during the summer for Bible study and the consideration of the best methods of Christian work, and of the forces that affect the moral and religious life of the colored people. This was the first conference of the kind held in the South in the interest of the colored people. The prominent promoters of this conference were representatives of the American Missionary Association.

Prof. W. A. Waterman, of Fisk University, came on from Northfield to conduct a course of Methods in Bible Study and Missionary Training Service.

Mr. John Gaudy, a graduate of Fisk, and Mr. M. H. Neal, a senior of Fisk, were both present and assisted in the Conferences. Both of these young men propose to enter the ministry.

The Field Missionary spoke on "The Need of Systematic Study in our Schools of the Needs and Condition of our People," "City Missions" and "Normal Bible Study."

The Young Men's Institute, where the Conference was held, is the largest and best appointed building of the kind in the country for city mission work among the colored people. It is the gift of Mr. George Vanderbilt, and cost $30,000.

The American Missionary Association was represented in Christian Work among the colored soldiers by its field missionary, Rev. G. W. Moore, who held a ten-days' evangelistic service at Camp Russell, Fort Macon, N. C. The pastor of our church at Beaufort, N. C., Rev. W. D. Newkirk, also assisted in the Christian work at Camp Russell.

The Third North Carolina Regiment of eleven hundred and eight colored soldiers are in camp at Fort Macon, an island opposite Beaufort, N. C. All the commissioned officers are colored men. Col. James H. Young, of Raleigh, is in command of the regiment. The order of the place is exceptional. No liquor is allowed, and profanity is forbidden. The regiment presents a fine appearance on parades, and the men are making rapid progress in military training and discipline. Evangelistic services were held in a large gospel tent, and were largely attended, and many of the men enlisted as soldiers of the cross. More than three hundred men expressed their desire to become Christians at one of the services. Over one hundred and fifty men avowed their faith in Christ during these special services. The interest continues and the men are seeking the way of life.

An interesting patriotic service was held during this visit, at which Col. Young presided. The whole regiment was in formation. Rev. Geo. W. Moore spoke on the meaning of the war and the patriotism of negro soldiers. He said the revolutionary war stood for liberty, the civil war for unity, and the present war for humanity.

Colonel Young, Adjutant Smith and Captain Hargrave made patriotic speeches, the band played the "Star Spangled Banner," "Dixie" and "America," and the soldiers, both officers and privates, cheered and were filled with patriotic feelings. The Colonel and all the men of the Third North Carolina Regiment thanked the American Missionary Association for its interest in their welfare, as expressed by the visit of its field missionary.

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A MISSIONARY GOSPEL.

"The first message at the birth of Christ was a _missionary_ message (Luke ii. 10).

"The first prayer Christ taught men was a _missionary_ prayer (Matt vi. 10).

"The first disciple, St. Andrew, was the first _missionary_ (John i. 41).

"The first message of the risen Lord was a _missionary_ message (John xx. 17).

"The first command of the risen Lord to His disciples was a _missionary_ command (John xx. 21).

"The first apostolic sermon was a _missionary_ sermon (Acts ii. 17-39).

"Christ's great reason for Christian love was a _missionary_ reason (John xiii. 35).

"Christ's great reason for unity was a _missionary_ reason (John xvii. 21).

"The first coming of Christ was a _missionary_ work (Luke iv. 18-21).

"The second coming of Christ is to be hastened by _missionary_ work (Matt. xxiv. 14).

"Our Saviour's _last_ wish on earth was a _missionary_ wish (Matt. xxviii. 19).

_Church Missionary Society Gleaner, Scotland._

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CHRISTIANITY AND CIVILIZATION IN LIBERTY COUNTY, GEORGIA.

Liberty County, Ga., is the county south of Savannah, on the sea. Visitors from the North _en route_ to Florida pass directly through it after leaving Savannah. Our American Missionary Association school at McIntosh is in this county, and there are several Congregational churches also under the auspices of the American Missionary Association. Among these is one at Hagan, presided over by the Rev. J. B. Fletcher.

The religious condition of the colored people in this county of Liberty may be better understood in the light of the following incident. On Saturday morning, August 6th, Rev. J. B. Fletcher, accompanied by his wife, left Hagan for a place called Smiley, by urgent invitation, to organize a Congregational church. The work of organization was duly perfected on Sunday morning, the 7th, after which the officers and members persuaded him to stop over that evening and preach, which he readily consented to do. While in the pulpit a gun was discharged through a window of the church, the contents entering into the right side of Rev. Mr. Fletcher and wounding five others. As medical treatment could not be obtained there, he was hastily carried twenty miles to his home, where a physician was immediately summoned. His wounds proved to be very severe, but were not such as to prevent his recovery. The thigh was literally riddled with buckshot, one hundred and thirteen having already been extracted from his body. He writes us, "I am glad to have your sympathy and prayers; they are of great strength to me. It will be quite a while before I can walk as before, if ever. I feel happy to know that I am counted worthy to suffer thus for Christ's sake. I am not discouraged, and will be on the field again as soon as I can hobble around on crutches."

A letter from a neighboring pastor adds, "The detective will have all of the intended assassins arrested by the middle of the week. It is found that they are all colored people, and officers of a so-called Methodist Church, who as members of the Church Militant, took this means to prevent the introduction of a Congregational church in that vicinity."

A church whose officers propagate their faith with shotguns assuredly has no right to the Methodist name, which it dishonors, nor to any name, but it remains a significant illustration of sectarian ignorance and superstition which we often find bitterly opposing the introduction of a pure Christianity among the heathen of our own country. Heathenism, not far away from one of the most beautiful cities of the South--a city of beautiful churches and in a county which rejoices in the name of Liberty--has furnished within the past ten years many examples of such conditions and conduct as could not be found in many places in Africa. It is not time yet for those who love Christ and their country to be weary in well doing in this home land.

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The long experience of colored people in the South, in the work of cultivating cotton has led to many enterprises looking to manufacturing the raw article into goods. Several movements have made good headway for a time, but most of them have failed to score a permanent success. The last enterprise of this character is located at Concord, N. C. It appears to have a substantial foundation and its success seems almost assured. Speaking of the enterprise and its supporters the "Baltimore Ledger" says:--"The Coleman Cotton Mill, at Concord, will soon be ready for operation. It is a worthy enterprise and should be substantially supported by the race in North Carolina especially; and those outside of the state should feel much interested as it is a purely negro enterprise. The white people of the state feel much interested in the factory and many of them are giving substantial aid. This is in evidence of the fact that many white people throughout the entire South are willing to extend a helping hand to the race, and thus help us rise to a higher plain of Christian manhood, if we will but help ourselves. Self-help is one of the most essential qualities in racial development. Without it no race can ever hope to achieve any great victories or become strong or powerful. Let us then help ourselves first, and before we seek outside help from our white friends."

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From a former Principal of Ballard Normal School, Macon, Ga.:

"DEIR EL KOME, LEBANON, SYRIA.

"For a long time I have been wishing to hear from the American Missionary Association both as to its work and its prosperity. For that reason please find herewith an order for $40. I would like to have the magazine sent to me here....

"The work here in Asia among the poor and ignorant is much the same that it is elsewhere, except that the habits and superstitions of centuries seem more unyielding than I ever saw them before. The opportunities for Christian work yielding immediate results seem to be tenfold greater at home than here. The need both here and there is unlimited. Our hearts have anxiously turned towards our country in this time of war."

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SAMUEL S. MARPLES.

Once more the American Missionary Association is called to mourn the loss of one of its most useful and highly esteemed officers. Mr. S. S. Marples, who died at his home in Brooklyn, June 23, 1898, in the sixty-fourth year of his age, was a most judicious business man, a devoted Christian, and useful in many walks in life. He was one of the most prominent members of the Produce Exchange, New York City; at various times a member of the Board of Managers, and holding important positions on its Committees.

Mr. Marples' sympathies and interests were wide and useful in benevolent and church work. For many years he was a member of the South Congregational Church, Brooklyn, and was Superintendent of the Sunday-school for several terms. He was closely identified with the Manhattan Brooklyn conference of churches. He was prominently connected with the New York Congregational Club and was its President for several successive years.

Mr. Marples became identified with the American Missionary Association by his election, in 1880, as a member of the Executive Committee. For sixteen years he has served on its Finance Committee; for many years as its Secretary and for the last part of the period as its Chairman. The value of these services was constantly recognized by his associates on the committee and will be appreciated more fully as the years go by. For the year past Mr. Marples' health was very frail; only for a part of the time was he able to attend to his business, but never, as we are assured, did he lose his lively interest in the affairs of the American Missionary Association, to which his attention had been given so constantly and faithfully throughout the past eighteen years.

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MISS ISABELLA W. HUME.

Miss Hume, who was from 1893 to 1896 connected with our mission work in New Orleans, died early in June. This devoted missionary was the daughter of missionaries in India, and was born in that country. Receiving her education in America her life was devoted to mission and Christian work here. Previous to her connection with our work in Louisiana, Miss Hume was laboring in the mountain regions of Vermont, and the last work of her life was as pastor of the Congregational Church in Gill, Mass. Relinquishing that on account of impaired health, the last few months before her death were spent in severe suffering. Greatly honored and esteemed in all her work, the intelligence of her death brought a sense of loss and feeling of sadness to the many whom she had labored to help to save. A singularly faithful worker and devoted servant of Christ, surely she will have many stars in her crown.

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The South.

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COMMENCEMENT AT TALLADEGA COLLEGE.

BY MISS ESTHER A. BARNES.

Never can the teachers and students of Talladega College forget the Commencement of 1898, when so many brave young men left their cherished plans to engage in the war with Spain. Those laughter-loving boys, earnest in study, but full of fun, and careless sometimes, as boys will be--one hardly knew them when the war spirit rose and they stood in line with that new, steady light of resolution shining in their dark eyes. In 1860, young men of Anglo-Saxon blood left that same building to fight against the Union. One of those young men, now governor of the state, thirty-eight years later, telegraphs to the same school asking Negroes to defend that same Government, and they cheerfully respond. Is not this a revolution of the wheel of time?

The governor's telegram came Wednesday, almost two weeks before Commencement. All the volunteers were promoted, having completed satisfactorily the work of the year with the exception of the closing exercises. Thirty in all volunteered, three or four of whom were not students, but a third of this number were unable to pass the severe physical test. A farewell meeting was held in the chapel, and the young soldiers told in stirring words the motives that led them to offer their lives to their country; their resolve to fight for the freedom of bleeding Cuba, their love of the Stars and Stripes, in spite of the wrongs they themselves had suffered, their strong desire to show that Negroes could not only live and work, but die, like men. Many earnest appeals were made for prayers, that they might never turn their backs to their enemies, nor yield to the temptations of camp life. At last, a quiet little woman with an earnest face arose and told in trembling tones her determination to go as a nurse if she could find any opportunity. She was called to the platform and it was beautiful to see the reverence with which the tall, young fellows gathered about her.

Talladega College had reason to be proud of her sons as they marched to the station with a flag and a band and went off with a ringing cheer. Nor were her daughters wanting; their hearts were aching, but their faces dressed in smiles as they sent their brothers away as patriotically as those of fairer hue.

The Talladega students have not been permitted to meet any Spaniards in battle, but their record in camp at Mobile has been true to their promises. They have shown to everyone the advantage of education. Their officers prize them highly, and the rough, ignorant men who are their comrades, have felt their influence, so that the governor has publicly commended their behavior.

After losing so many of the best students, it seemed hard to go on in the ordinary routine of the school, but those who were left did their best to fill two places at once, and the exercises were quite up to the average in excellence. The written examinations were successfully passed by large classes. The public examinations, as usual, attracted much attention. A minister who attended Dr. Andrews' examination in Homiletics, says: "Thorough instruction had led the students to such a grasp of the subject as to make them independent thinkers. If these young ministers will use the knowledge they have acquired by this study, their sermons will be well prepared, well delivered, and they will be faithful pastors as well as good preachers."

The class in church history showed satisfactory knowledge of what God has been doing in His church in this country since its history began. The class in prophecy has been studying Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and the minor prophets. This study has interested the class exceedingly and made them work hard. It has removed many doubts from the most intelligent minds and made clear the wonderful plans of God.

In the college and normal departments, good work has also been done. Classes were examined in Greek, Latin, general history and various branches of science and mathematics. Some pupils in geometry showed a clear comprehension and ability to carry on a train of reasoning creditable to any student, but especially so to those who have received their early training in country schools where incompetent teachers preside three months in the year. One of these students says that for years he worked on alone, puzzling over books by himself, occasionally trying to find some one who could help him, only to be thrown back on his own resources. A peculiarity of his is, that he will not profess to understand what he does not see clearly. This trait, in connection with his practical, unselfish plans for the benefit of his people, seems likely to make this unassuming young man of use in the world.

The examination in general history did not manifest a perfect knowledge of all past events. Indeed, one student tried to find Spain somewhere in the Congo region, when attempting to illustrate the voyages of Columbus. Still it was apparent that these young men and women had some historical facts fixed beyond the possibility of forgetting, and that they had acquired the habit of thinking about them and drawing their own conclusions which were often very practical.

The classes in physical sciences, some of them instead of answering questions, explained and exhibited the contents of the Museum. All showed the excellent results of out-door and laboratory work. They have learned to see. The visitors in the grammar room noted with especial pleasure a masterly explanation of cube root by means of blocks and figures that was positively fascinating.

But time would fail to tell of all the varied work, from the tiny tots with their kindergarten plays to the sturdy farmers and engineers. Let others decide whether it is better for the young ladies to do neat and tasteful needle work or play a selection from Chopin. They can do both.

All the exercises of Commencement were well carried out except the Concert. The loss of an unusually fine musical treat was one of the deprivations caused by the war, the singers of the Soldiers' Chorus having become soldiers in earnest. It seemed a pity that every one of the contestants for the prizes could not receive a prize, so original and thoughtful were the orations and essays, and so good the recitations. One of the best orations stated, that the way to elevate the Southern farmer is not by means of teachers and preachers alone but by the unselfish lives of scientifically trained farmers and their wives who should be willing to live among the people and teach them by example.

After the pleasant graduating exercises which sent out five more young people, one of whom sent his oration from camp to be read, the Alumni held a very delightful reunion. Many letters were read from graduates. One wrote--"Every year, since I left Talladega, I have been more and more convinced that many of the most prominent leaders of our people lay too great stress on the possibilities of wealth and trades and too little emphasis on the absolute and greater necessity of firm Christian character. Neither wealth nor trades assure to us the favor of God." Another writes from Texas of the work his wife is doing by establishing a Woman's Rescue Society. From indifference, the women in the town passed to curiosity then to sincerity, and nearly all soon became actively engaged in the work which is accomplishing much good.

One of the college graduates, J. R. Savage, writes a letter of which only the following extract can be given:

"It is hoped that the promising young manhood of the race will not be satisfied with anything lower than the highest and best that the schools have to offer. The first ten or twelve years of one's school life are of necessity so largely mechanical that very little of what is really education enters into them. Education is rather ability to produce something and to think consecutively and coherently, than capacity to receive something. Though a cultured mind may not create anything, it is distinguished by its ability to combine two or more elements in such a way as to form a new substance--to add something to the world. Man sits at the feet of nature, learns her laws, and then breathes into them his own soul, and nature becomes the living thing we call Art. In addition to developing power of original and independent thought, a liberal education prepares a man to enter into and appropriate all the wealth of the ages. Those who are really living in this grand and awful time, in this 'age on ages telling,' are persons who have, in a sense, lived through all time."

Larger means would enable Talladega to give still more industrial training than she does. But her chief mission will perhaps always be to train leaders, to stand for higher education and to uphold the supremacy of the ideal and spiritual over that which is merely utilitarian and material.

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THE PAST YEAR AT TILLOTSON, AUSTIN, TEXAS.

BY PRES. MARSHALL R. GAINES.

With the air full of vague rumors of yellow fever, and the consequent panic; with the quarantine and general confusion in the running of trains, and the withdrawal of many of them, the outlook last September for the eighteenth year of our school was not the brightest. While it is believed that not a single case of yellow fever occurred in Texas last year, almost everybody was of the opinion that it had broken out in the next town. Rumors were hard to trace and harder to refute. As a result, most felt that it was best to stay at home and await developments.

School opened on time, however, with a somewhat smaller attendance than would have been expected under other conditions. Gradually the panic subsided, quarantine was removed, and our students came in as full numbers as in the preceding year, when the attendance had been unusually large. The number of boarding students diminished considerably, owing to our inability to find food for all who applied, but this falling off was more than made up by day pupils. A little uncertainty in regard to the continuance of the work of the high school for colored students gave us a number of well advanced pupils from that institution.

Good health, with its attendant good cheer, prevailed throughout the year, and the work was earnestly and faithfully done.

A large proportion, probably four-fifths, of our students claim membership in churches at entrance. There is not room for so extensive revivals as visit some schools. The evidences of healthy religious growth were not wanting. About thirteen cases of hopeful conversion are believed to have taken place.