TENNESSEE.Fisk University.REV. E. M. CRAVATH, NASHVILLE.The sixteenth scholastic year of Fisk University has begun under very favorable conditions and with very encouraging prospects.1. The number of pupils in attendance for the first two months of this year is greatly increased over that of last, although that of last year was larger than any previous year since the occupancy of Jubilee Hall. The number from outside the city of Nashville is thirty per cent. greater than at the same time one year ago.The result is that the limit of our boarding accommodations has been already nearly reached, and the anxious inquiry is forcing itself upon us, What shall we do with the large number of students who desire, and are planning, to come during the next three months?2. The grade of scholarship in the case of new students is considerably advanced over that of former years. There have been no additions to the regular college classes, but four have entered the senior, three the middle, and six the junior college preparatory classes. As advanced students are the ones desired in such an institution as this, it is a source of great encouragement that the number of such is steadily increasing year by year.3. There is on the part of the students a growing comprehension of the value and of the necessity of a thorough education, and consequently a very much stronger desire and purpose to take long courses of study. This is one of the most hopeful facts connected with our work. It required a wonderful amount of determination and patience on the part of both professors and students to engineer the first classes through a college course of study. There was no public sentiment in the community, and no sentiment among parents or friends of the students, to encourage and stimulate to long courses of study. But a great change for the better has been wrought. The steady, persistent work of the past fifteen years, which has resulted in the graduation offive small classes from the college department, has created an atmosphere and established conditions which stimulate the desire for a liberal education, and foster the purpose of those who undertake to secure it.The educating power of a considerable body of advanced, carefully disciplined and well-read students, is marked upon all the lower grades, and especially upon those who come to Fisk University for the first time. The present senior preparatory class promises to enter college in May twenty strong. This is double the number of the largest class that has ever before been entered.4. The influence and power of the work done by our students while absent from the University during vacation or after completing their studies, become more and more manifest. The reports brought back by the students themselves, the testimony of Trustees and County Superintendents, the new students brought here through their influence, all reveal to us as we have not realized it before, the greatness of the service the University is rendering to the cause of education, morality, religion and social life throughout the great Southwest. Our students are our epistles; and becoming known and being read by the people wherever they go, are turning the thoughts and hearts of others to the University. It is largely because of the faithfulness and loyalty of our students that the steady growth in numbers continues from year to year.We have, therefore, abundant reason to thank God and take courage. The great concern we have about the future is that our friends in the North will not be ready to meet the growing demands of this great work of uplifting the millions of recently emancipated people in the South, by a sufficiently large and constant giving. With the experience of the last fifteen years in mind, we can say with the full assurance of conviction that the call for the enlargement and strengthening of the University is in some vital respects more imperative now than ever before. Endowments are needed to adequately sustain the departments of study already established, and to found professional schools to meet the growing demands of a struggling and rising people.These must come, or the best results of the labor already done, and the money already expended, will not be attained.Mother and Daughter Gone.—Memorial Services at Fisk University.The Sabbath services at this Institution, Oct. 24th, were hallowed by the touching and appropriate tributes to the memory of Mrs. Elizabeth Spence, mother of Prof. A. K. Spence, and of her daughter, Mrs. Julia Spence Chase, wife of Prof. F. A. Chase. Mrs. Spence had been boarding in the Institution four years, spending her last days with her children. She possessed a mind of unusual strength and vigor, and was somewhat distinguished as an author. Only a few days before her death, when eighty-three years of age, she composed a poem on the occasion of the Nashville Centennial Exposition, which was published. This mother of missionaries was born in Scotland, and in her girlhood was made familiar with the missionary endeavors of the London Missionary Society through an auxiliary which held its regular meetings at her mother’s house. She was a woman of much prayer, great faith and a sweet and beautiful charity.Just eleven weeks from the day Mrs. Spence died, writes Miss Henrietta Matson, of Fisk University, Mrs. Chase followed her mother to the fairer country above. Her death was sudden, and a heavy blow to her sorely stricken family. She died on Kelley’s Island, Lake Erie, where the family had gone for summer rest. Mrs. Chase, with her husband, had been in Fisk Universityeight years; a part of the time in the earlier years had been an instructor, particularly in music, in which she was especially gifted and accomplished.Her death was peaceful and beautiful. She sent loving messages to all her friends, to the teachers and especially to the students, whom she loved and for whom she had labored. With perfect calmness she bade each of her dear ones good-bye, and then passed from their sight, leaning upon the strong arm, and catching glimpses of the glory beyond, even while treading the dark valley.At her own request, her remains were brought to Nashville, her heart seeming to turn to the very last to those with whom she had been associated, and to the people for whom she had labored. So we laid her to rest till the resurrection morn on the beautiful hillside, with southern skies bending above her, and not far from the earthly home of her own dear ones.The message brought to us who remain, in the death of those who have been of us is, “The night cometh, when no man can work.”THE INDIANS.INDIAN EDUCATION IN THE EAST.AN ADDRESS BY GEN. S. C. ARMSTRONG.It is now two and a half years since Indian students were enrolled at the Hampton Institute; but I never saw a more radical change of life than appears in these men. They represent the worst stock in the Indian territory: the class that the West declares can’t be elevated any more than the buffalo. If the West knows anything, it knows that you can’t improve the prairie Indian.Crossing the continent twice, of late, I found the universal creed to be “There is no good Indian but a dead one,” which has been adopted by over half the intelligent people of the East.Capt. Pratt writes as follows from Carlisle, Pa.: “Of the Florida boys who were formerly at Hampton, five have died; three,—Bear’s Heart, Etahdleuh and Roman Nose—are still East: the two last being here render valuable assistance to me by example and effort. The others have all returned to their tribes, and, with the exception of Tounkeuh, are reported us doing well for themselves and for their people. Several are mentioned as specially useful.“We have 139 boys and 57 girls, 196 in all. The readiness of children to come is in advance of the willingness of parents to send at Miles’ Agency, and probably at the Kiowa too; but there is in general such desire for education that I believe no great difficulty would be experienced in getting nearly all the children in the schools from most of the tribes.”The Carlisle School was established by an act of Congress, accompanied by an official report from which I extract as follows:“Experience has shown that Indian children do not differ from white children of similar status and surroundings, in aptitude or capacity for acquiring knowledge; and opposition or indifference to education on the part of parents decreases yearly: so that the question of Indian education resolves itself mainly into a question of school facilities.”Sons of Indian Chiefs, at Carlisle, are now making a portion of the shoes, harnesses, wagons, tin-ware and other supplies needed by the Department of Indian Affairs.Indians think. Their wise ones know that there is no hope for them but in taking the white man’s road. But there is also a stubborn, unyielding class.There are progressives and conservatives, as among all thinking people.The braves will not fight the people who are educating their children. Every Indian child at school is a hostage.I recently met an army officer who told me that in the summers of 1877 and 1878, five hundred thousand dollars had passed through his hands, as Quartermaster, in payment of Oregon settlers, for supplies and services in Indian wars; and that the past summer they had been trying to get up another war for the sake of another five hundred thousand.Our system of treaties, annuities and rations is an acknowledged failure. Distribution is without regard to merit, and encourages idleness among the one hundred and fifty thousand beneficiaries of the Government.The Indians are grown-up children; we are a thousand years ahead of them in the line of development. Progress is measured by development. Education is not progress but is a means of it. A brain full of book knowledge, whose physical basis is the product of centuries of barbarism, is an absurdity that we do not half realize, from our excessive traditional reverence for school and college training. We forget that knowledge is not power unless it is digested and assimilated. Savages have good memories; they acquire but do not comprehend.Indians are easily taught, for their minds are quick; their bodies are a greater care than their brains; but morals are the chief concern of their teachers. Hence their education should be first for the heart, then for health, and last for the mind, reversing the custom of placing mind before physique and character. This is the Hampton idea of education.Apply sanctified common sense to the Indian problem and you will save them in spite of the steam engine and the threats of fate.The Indian question has been put wrong end first. It points to us, not to them.The possibilities of sound educational methods are not dreamed of. The power of mind over matter is everywhere seen, but the power of mind over mind, of man over man, is little shown in all our proud progress. That three years’ work of Captain Pratt at Fort Marion, Florida, is the best illustration of it I know of. Yet he never had over two years’ schooling, and went from his workshop to the war. Work for the ex-captives was so encouraging, the need of educated Indian girls so obvious, that resolving to push our effort further, Mr. Schurz was interviewed, entered heartily into the scheme, and sent Capt. Pratt to Dakota Territory, whence he brought to Hampton in Nov., 1878, forty boys and nine girls, since increased to twenty-two girls and forty-eight boys. Indian girls lead a slavish life, do all the drudgery, and parents have hated to spare them. Boys do nothing till they can fight. “I would send a hundred boys, but not one girl,” said a chief to Capt. Pratt. But now one agency alone, Yankton, would fill our school with Sioux girls. Agent Miles says he could enroll Cheyenne children from the Indian Territory for eastern schools as fast as he could write their names.Co-education of the sexes will succeed with Indians as well as with colored people in the six largest institutions for negroes, in which for ten years it has been tried with the best results.The death rate at Hampton has been serious but not discouraging. Out of ninety-six, in twenty-two months seven have died at school and three since returning home. The tribe, gathered as they are in unnatural conditions at the agencies, away from the chase and the fight, without action or buffalo beef, fed on government rations, weaken.Indian students have in almost allcases died of diseases implanted before leaving home; their friends have not been surprised or discouraged.Chief Wizi, on hearing of the death of his adopted son at Hampton, called his tribe together and said: “If only one of our children returns to us with knowledge, we shall be repaid for the loss of all the others.”While this eastern work at Carlisle and Hampton is incidental to the general educational effort which must be made at the West, it is, more than anything else, pushing the Indian question to a proper settlement by creating public sentiment. For a Congressman to see an Indian hoeing corn, does more good than piles of documentary evidence. The hundreds of clear-headed, hard-handed young red-skins who will, ere long, be settled among the tribes, will, we think, be strong enough to sustain each other and to teach the rest. They will not return home scared by our great guns and arsenals, but stimulated by contact with the spirit that lies at the bottom of our progress. They must see civilization to comprehend it.What is given for them will come back with usury. Not the least return to us may be the educational methods which, inspired by exigencies and unchecked by tradition, shall be worked out to meet the emergencies thrust upon the country by the destruction of the buffalo, which has brought the Indian to face the issue of civilization or destruction.THE CHINESE.“CALIFORNIA CHINESE MISSION.”Auxiliary to the American Missionary Association.President: Rev. J. K. McLean, D.D.Vice-Presidents: Rev. A. L. Stone, D.D., Thomas C. Wedderspoon, Esq., Rev. T. K. Noble, Hon. F. F. Low, Rev. I. E. Dwinell, D.D., Hon. Samuel Cross, Rev. S. H. Willey, D.D., Edward P. Flint, Esq., Rev. J. W. Hough, D.D., Jacob S. Taber, Esq.Directors: Rev. George Mooar, D.D., Hon. E. D. Sawyer, Rev. E. P. Baker, James M. Haven, Esq., Rev. Joseph Rowell, Rev. John Kimball.Secretary: Rev. W. C. Pond.Treasurer: E. Palache, Esq.A CHAPTER OF GOOD THINGS.REV. W. C. POND.Our Annual Meeting.—It was a very diminutive affair, compared with that which, at the same time, was going on so grandly at Lowell; or with the one which, just now, as I am writing, is—I trust—in successful progress at Norwich. What a privilege and a joy I should feel it to be if I were there, instead of here! That is denied me, so far as bodily presence is concerned; but I am free to be there in thought, and, in the solitude of my study, to mingle my prayers with yours. They meet before one throne of grace.Ourannual meeting is one of the features of the annual convocation of our Congregational churches in California, which was held this year with the First Church in Oakland. The time assigned us in the programme was from 10:45 to 12:30 on Thursday, Oct. 7th. I should think that 250 persons were present. Rev. J. K. McLean, D.D., pastor of that church, and President of our Mission, occupied the chair. After a hymn and prayer, the reports of the Treasurer and of the Board of Directors were presented. The principal facts set forth in these reports have been laid before the Association at its meeting now going on, and need not be re-stated here. There was, however, a novel feature in the Treasurer’s report—novel to us, however it may be to others—which stirred some of our friends not a little. We have always had more work at hand than wecould possibly do with the means at our command; but we have tried to “cut the garment according to the cloth,” and have so far succeeded as never to report adeficit, in current expenses till this year. This was our novelty. Our friends did not like its looks any better than we did. The President took it in hand and shook it, at an expense to himself of $10. Rev. Dr. Mooar followed with another shake, at the same cost to his exchequer. Then good Dea. S. S. Smith, and minister after minister, followed in quick succession, till not a shred of it remained, and we find ourselves now with every bill paid, and a balance of $24.25, which we transfer to our Barnes Mission House Building Fund. Cold water was never more refreshing to a thirsty soul than was this spontaneous and unexpected offering—whether considered with reference to itspersonelleor its results—to the heart of your Superintendent. We don’t mean to give our friends an opportunity to repeat the operation; but we shall remember it with gratitude and pleasure as long as we live. Following this were volunteer speeches, containing earnest expressions of good will and sympathy, and crowding one upon another in such a way that the time allotted proved to be all too short, and the only regret with which we closed the meeting was that so many who wished to speak, and whom we earnestly wished to hear, failed to have that opportunity.The Chinese Fishing Villages.—It is several years since I first visited a village of Chinese fishermen. I cannot say that the mere pleasure of the thing would prompt me to repeat the visit very frequently. There is nothing in the character of the dwellings, the appearance of their denizens, or the odors rising from their work, to tempt one to a protracted stay. But I thank God that I cannot go through even such a rude and motley and ill-odored settlement, without seeing the immortal souls of which these ill-kept bodies are the habitations, or without beginning to query if some way cannot be opened to pour in upon them the healing light of that world which needs no sun.A few days ago a message came from one of them, by a Providence so marked that I ventured to think it a Macedonian Call, and to read in it God’spromiseof success. This village is on a little cape jutting out into San Francisco Bay and known as Point San Pedro. Mr. Charles W. Otis, my warm personal friend,—whom, with his excellent wife, it was my privilege many years ago, while pastor at Petaluma, to welcome to the fellowship of saints—has recently been placed in charge of the “ranch” of which this Point San Pedro is a part, and is thus brought into business relations with the Chinese who are tenants upon it. His heart is stirred for them, and he asked me if something could not be done to save them. I sent Wah Yene, our devoted helper at Petaluma, to explore, and he brings me, not only his own favorable testimony, but the following message from Mr. Otis: “Wah Yene has been here a few days canvassing in the Chinese school. He will report the prospects. That there is a field here for work among the more than 400, there is no doubt. We will furnish a house free, and I think I can get lumber from some building for furniture, seats, &c. My wife and I will assist all we can, though I shall be busy much of the time, but I can add something that, will help the good work along. * * * “I know so little of the ways and means and plans of the Chinese Mission that I am unable to say more than to promise a hearty co-operation in every possible way. We are very much pleased with Wah Yene, and Mrs. Otis is ready to ‘adopt’ him, and says she would feel safe with him near when I am compelled to be absent, as I shall be two or three times each week.” Mr. Otis goes on to intimate that he could give employmentto Wah Yene for a part of each day, and assume a proportionate part of his support if we desire; or if we want him to devote his whole time to missionary service, he will provide him a room comfortably furnished, free of charge. And so Wah Yene starts to-day for a month’s trial of the work; and we, on our part, will do our best to make the trial a success.CHILDREN’S PAGE.A SLAVE-GIRL’S FAITH.A TRUE STORY.“Chillen, git on de bo’de,Chillen, git on de bo’de,Chillen, git on de bo’de, bo’de, bo’de,Dere’s room for many a mo’,”—were the words that came in high but not unmusical tones from the depths of the kitchen, where I knew Jule was struggling with the week’s ironing.After puzzling over them for some time I cried, “Whatdoesshe mean, auntie?”Auntie laughed. “Oh, you Yankee! Will you never learn negro talk? Do they never sing about the ‘gospel ship’ in Boston? That is what Jule means.”“Oh, is that it?” I replied, laughing in my turn. “I couldn’t imagine how she was going to ‘get on a board’ with her two hundred pounds of flesh.“I’m tired of sewing: I guess I’ll go down and talk to her a little while.”Jule welcomed me to her snug kitchen, with a smile which disclosed her shining white teeth; and I seated myself by her ironing-table, and begged her to tell me of the days “befo’ de wah.”“Tell me how you became free,” I said, as she resumed her work. “Were you set free, or did you run away?” hoping secretly that the latter was the case.Her black eyes sparkled, and she tossed her gayly turbaned head, as she answered—“’Deed, miss, I just runned away.”“You did, Jule? How did you do it? Weren’t you frightened?”“Well, honey, de good Lord just done helped me.”“The Lord helped you? How?”“Ah, chile, de Lord just as powerful now as when He showed de chillen of Isr’el de way to de promus land!”“Of course,” I replied; “but He doesn’t interpose in the affairs of men as He did then. We have no pillars of fire, and no parting of the sea.”“‘Deed, miss, I don’t know nothin’ ’bout your ’posing, and we didn’t have no pillow of fire; but de Lord done helped me hisself.”“Well, tell me all about it, please.”“You see, miss, we lived just outside dis yere city. One night somehow de cullud people hearn tell that Pres’dent Linkum was gwine to set all de niggahs in de District free, and ole mars was gwine to run us all down South to git clar ob de proclamashun. David, de dining-room boy, was a likely fellar; he had been about with young mars, and could read and write; so he heard de talk, and made up his mind to run away to Washington dat very night. Any one who wanted to could go ’long. Well, most of ’em was ready to go, my mammy among ’em. She said I could go too: but we didn’t know how I was to git away; fur, you see, miss, I was nurse to young mars’ chillen, and slept with dem in a room that you couldn’t git out’en ’thout gwine through his and Mis’ Virginny’s room. De do’ that went out into the hall was right at de head of their bed, and creaked mighty loud. I asked mammy what I should do, and she said, ‘Trus’ de Lord.’“Well, we niggers went to bed same as ever, and de house was shut up. I didn’t go to sleep, but tried to trus’ de Lord. De chillen was sleeping sound, and so was young mars and Mis’ Virginny, when I heard a little tap on de winder, and knew it was de signal. I got on my knees in de bed, and I prayed hard, and I prayed strong. Then I took my shoes in my hand, and crep’ frou de do’ into young mars’ room, and round to de hall-do’, and put my hand on de knob. ’Deed, miss, but my heart was a-beatin’; for, if de do’ should creak, we were lost. ‘Good Lord, don’t let it creak,’ I whispered, and turned de knob. Bress yo’ heart, honey! that do’ opened jest as soft as a white baby’s bref,—that do’ that had always screeched like a nigger when he’s hurt. I stepped into de hall, shet de do’ behind me, went down stairs, an’ out by de smoke-house, an’ dare they all were; but, if de good Lord hadn’t helped me, I shouldn’t have been among ’em. Bress de Lord! Hallelujah!”“But what did you do after you got to the smoke-house?” I asked.“Oh, I was de las’ one; so we started right off. It was snowing, and I couldn’t stop to put on my shoes; but I was a stout girl, gwine on fo’teen, and didn’t mind de cold, for I was gwine to be free.”“Weren’t you pursued?”“Oh, yes, miss! By and by we heard horses come pounding along. We were nigh de cross-roads where de woods was thick; so we crep’ under de branches of de fir-trees. Pretty soon young mars and de overseer come ’long, and stopped to wonder which road we had taken. They swore and cussed right smart for a while, and then took de aqueduct road to Georgetown. When they had been gone a little while, we crep’ out, and took de other road that led all ’round ’cross de creek to Washington. ’Bout morning we saw de Yankee tents, and at noon we was free, bress de Lord!”“Well, Jule, I’m much obliged for your story,” I said, rising to go, for auntie was calling me.“‘Deed, honey, you’s welcome. Always put yo’ trus’ in de Lord, chile, He’ll keep de do’ from creaking.’”As I went up stairs, she began to sing in a high key and with great fervor,—“I’ll lub my Jesus till I die,Hallelujah!He leaned from out de hebbenly sky,Hallelujah!”—Well-Spring.RECEIPTSFOR OCTOBER, 1880.MAINE, $227.79.Bangor. First Cong. Ch.$38.90Blue Hill. Cong. Ch. and Soc.10.00Bridgeton. Mrs. Rebecca Hale4.00Brownville. ——6.00Cumberland. Cong. Ch. and Soc. to const.Silas M. RideoutL. M.30.00East Madison. Eliza Bicknell5.00Eastport. Central Ch. Sab. Sch.5.00Gardiner. Cong. Ch. and Soc.24.89Garland. Cong. Ch. and Soc.7.00Hallowell. Fannie A. Davis,Stu. Aid, Fisk U.25.00Houlton. Cong. Ch. and Soc.5.00Lewiston. C. C. Cobb, for Talladega, Ala.10.00Portland. Williston Ch. and Soc., to constRev. Frank E. Clark. L. M.40.00Thomaston. Cong. Ch.5.00Woolwich. John Percy2.00———217.79Legacies, Hallowell—Mrs. Julia Talpey, by L. D. Emerson, Ex.10.00———227.79NEW HAMPSHIRE $316.75.Amherst. L. and L. K. Melendy, $20; Miss Lucy Blunt, $10,for Chapel, Wilmington, N. C.30.00Antrim. “A Friend”5.00Candia Village. Jona Martin5.00Charlestown. Cong. Ch. and Soc.7.00Dover. First Cong. Ch. and Soc.97.36Greenville. E. G. Heald6.00Hancock. Cong. Ch. and Soc.25.00Hanover. Dartmouth Religious Soc.24.45Hinsdale. Cong. Ch. and Soc.14.53Hollis. Cong. Ch. and Soc.5.89Merrimac. Cong. Ch. (ad’l)5.00Milford. Cong. Ch. and Soc.18.36Nashua. First Cong. Ch. and Soc.15.15New Boston. Pres. Ch. and Soc.4.00New Ipswich. Proceeds of Children’s Fair13.00Peterborough. M. R.1.00Pittsfield. Cong. Ch. and Soc.24.01Temple. Cong. Sab. Sch.16.00VERMONT, $615.17.Barnet. Cong. Ch. and Soc.21.30Barton Landing. Cong. Ch. and Soc.11.75Benson. Bale of C.for Refugees, by Rev. G. Lyon.Brattleborough. Cong. Ch.26.58Burlington. Mrs. F. S.1.00Danville. Cong. Ch. and Soc.27.00Holland. Cong. Ch. and Soc.8.32Londonderry. Mrs. Hepsibah H. Stowell400.00Ludlow. Cong. Ch. and Soc.14.10McIndoe’s Falls. Dea. Monteith5.00Newport. Cong. Ch. and Soc.13.35Norwich. Cong. Ch. and Soc.12.00Saxton’s River. Cong. Ch. and Soc.9.00Saint Albans. A. O. Brainerd20.00Saint Johnsbury. North Cong. Sab. Sch.25.00Townshend. Mrs. N. D. Batchelder2.00West Brattleborough. Cong. Ch. and Soc.18.77MASSACHUSETTS, $3,815.00.Agawam. Cong. Ch. and Soc.7.17Amherst. North Cong. Ch. and Soc., $60, to const.Miss Mary D. FieldandFrank W. Harrington, L. M’s;—First Ch., $25.85.00Barnstable Co. “A Minister’s Widow”to furnish a room, Atlanta U.25.00Bernardston. Orthodox Cong. Ch.2.00Bridgewater. Sarah L. Alden, $10.; Mrs. M. S. Dunham, $212.00Boston. “Teacher of A. M. A.”2.00Boxford. Cong. Ch. and Soc.8.00Brocton. First Cong. Ch. and Soc.50.00Brookline. W. H. White10.00Chelsea. First Cong. Ch. and Soc.109.57Chicopee. Second Cong. Ch. and Soc.21.34Concord. Trin. Cong. Ch. and Soc.39.00Dorchester. Village Ch. and Soc.32.87Dorchester. Sab. Sch. of Second Cong. Ch.,for Student Aid, Fisk U.10.00East Charlemont. Dea. P. Field9.00East Hampton. First Cong. Ch. and Soc., $84.85; Cong. Sab. Sch., $25.109.85Essex Co. “Howard,”for Brick Jacket for Chapel, Wilmington, N. C.500.00Gardner. J. B. Drury, to const.Mrs. Sarah Jane Drury, L. M.30.00Hanson. Cong. Ch. and Soc.6.00Harvard. Cong. Ch. and Soc.32.78Haverhill. North Cong. Ch. and Soc.5.00Holyoke. First Cong. Ch. and Soc., $15; Second Cong. Ch. and Soc., $8.74.23.74Ipswich. First Cong. Ch., Bbl. of C.Jamaica Plain. Central Cong. Ch.817.00Lancaster. Evan. Cong. Sab. Sch.18.00Lanesborough. “A Friend”1.00Littleton. Cong. Ch. and Soc.6.50Long Meadow. Gents’ Benev. Soc.28.75Lynn. Central Cong. Ch. and Soc., $20.06; North Cong. Ch. and Soc., $2.2122.27Middleborough. Miss E. P. K.0.55Natick. First Cong. Ch. and Soc.118.18Newburyport. North Cong. Ch. and Soc.25.18Newton. Eliot Cong. Ch. and Soc.125.00North Brookfield. Miss A. W. Johnson,for Student Aid, Fisk U.5.00North Falmouth. Cong. Ch. and Soc.25.00North Leominster. Cong. Ch. and Soc.9.50North Reading. Miss E. F. E.1.00Norwood. Mrs. H. M. F.,for Indian M.1.00Oxford. First Cong. Ch. and Soc.34.00Paxton. Cong. Ch. and Sab. Sch., to const.Rev. John E. Dodge, L. M.30.00Palmer. Second Cong. Ch. and Soc.23.46Peabody. Joseph Anderson10.00Pepperell. Cong. Ch. and Soc.21.17Phillipston. Ladies’ Benev. Assn., Bbl of C.Plainfield. Mrs. Albert Dyer,for Student Aid5.00Plimpton. Carrie, Alice and Nellie Titcomb3.00Pittsfield. First Cong. Ch. and Soc., $37.50; Second Cong. Sab. Sch., $542.50Quincy. Evan. Cong. Ch. and Soc.72.00Rehoboth. Cong. Ch.5.00Somerset. Cong. Ch. and Soc.5.00South Hadley. Cong. Ch. and Soc.31.00South Middleborough. Cong. Ch. and Soc., to const.Rev. Ephraim W. Allen, L. M.30.00South Weymouth. Ladies’ Miss. Soc. of Second Cong. Ch.19.00South Walpole. J. F. W.1.00Spencer. First Cong. Ch. and Soc., $132.60; Young Ladies’ Miss. Circle, $12.35; Young Ladies’ Soc. Bbl. of C.144.95Springfield. South Cong. Ch. and Soc., $43.25; First Cong. Ch. and Soc., $39.10; Mrs. Bowdoin, $10; Ira Merrill, $5; Mrs. Ira Merrill, $5102.35Topsfield. Cong. Ch. and Soc.22.00Townsend. “A Friend”4.00Wakefield. Cong. Ch. and Soc. ($15of which for Indian M)66.86Walpole. E. P. Stetson, $50; Cong. Ch. and Soc., $28.7578.75Westborough. Freedmen’s Mission Assn., 2 Bbls. of C.,for Savannah and Atlanta, Ga.West Boxford. Cong. Ch. and Soc.6.35Westfield. Second Cong. Ch. and Soc.44.93West Hampton. Cong. Ch. and Soc.14.57Weymouth. First Cong. Ch. and Soc.11.02Whitinsville. Mrs. J. C. Whitin,for Student Aid, Talladega, Ala.30.00Worcester. Piedmont Cong. Ch. and Soc., $313.90, to const.Thomas H. Hodge,John B. Gough,Anson Bangs,C. M. Dyer,Dea. E. T. Marble,Mrs. Sara Partridge,Dea. Lyman Drury,Dea. F. B. Knowles,Arthur M. StoneandE. C. CraneL. M’s; Central Cong. Ch. and Soc., $165.75; Salem St. Cong. Ch. and Soc., $84.28; Old South Cong. Ch. and Soc., $58.91622.84RHODE ISLAND, $445.60.Providence. Union Cong. Ch.445.60CONNECTICUT, $1,042.75.Avon. Harry Chidsey, to const.Rev. N. J. SeeleyandMiss Laura Seeley, L. M’s100.00Bozrah. Simeon Abell, 2d.5.00Buckingham. Cong. Ch.4.14Darien. Cong. Ch.,for Talladega, Ala.5.00Guilford. First Cong. Ch.19.40Hartford. Mrs. C. R. Hillyer, $30, to const.Mary Bushnell Hillyer, L. M.; A. R. Hillyer, $30, to const.Donald Gregg, L. M.; Windsor Av. Cong. Ch. and Soc., $17.14; A. C. H., $178.14Hartford. Calvin Day,for Talladega, Ala.50.00Hartford. Mrs. John Olmsted,for Student Aid, Fisk U.15.00Hebron. First Cong. Ch.6.62Hockanum. South Cong. Ch., $7; Mrs. E. M. Roberts, $512.00Mansfield Centre. “Two Friends,”for Student Aid, Talladega, Ala.2.00New Britain. “First Ch. of Christ,” $5.59; D. M. Rogers, $5.5011.09New Haven. “Eleven Friends,”for Talladega, Ala.124.00New Haven. Mrs. E. R. Marvin3.00New London. “A Friend in First Ch. of Christ,” $100; Chas. D. Boss, $20; Chas. D. Boss, Jr., $15; W. C. Crump, $5; Rev. J. P. Taylor, $5,for Talladega, Ala.145.00New London. Mrs. N. S. P.1.00North Manchester. Second Cong. Ch.14.62Northfield. Cong Ch. to const.Ernest Wakeman, L. M.34.75North Woodstock. “A Friend,”8.00Norwich. “A Friend,” to const.Charles Bard, L. M.30.00Norwich. “A Friend,”for Student Aid, Talladega, Ala.2.00Orange. “A Friend,”10.00Putnam. “M. R. H.”5.00Talcottville. C. D. Talcott and Others,for Talladega, Ala.200.00Watertown. Cong. Ch.39.20West Brook. Cong. Ch. An. Coll., $44.60; M. C. Coll., $21.69, to const.Rev. Joseph A. Tomlinson, andMrs. Nancy A. Perry, L. M.’s.66.29—— “Friend”1.50———992.75Legacies. Fairfield—Mrs. Lucretia Tates, by Walter Jennings, Ex.50.00———1,042.75NEW YORK, $669.19.Arcade. Ralston W. Lyman2.00Batavia. Mrs. Anna V. S. Fisher20.00Binghamton. First Cong. Ch.104.43Brooklyn. Central Cong. Sab. Sch., Geo. A. Bell. Supt., $75for a Missionary in Fla., and by the liberality of Stephen Ballard, $100for a Missionary, Ladies’ Island, S. C.175.00Columbus. Box of books and papers by a Lady in Cong. Ch.Deansville. “L.”5.00Hamilton. Cong. Ch.5.00Lebanon. Thomas Hitchcock, $5.75; M. Day, $5.75; Alfred Seymour, $5.75; J. H. W., $1; J. A. H., $1; Others, 75c.20.00Madison. O. S. Campbell, $5; Melissa Tompkins, $510.00Newark Valley. Cong. Ch. and Soc.38.75New York. Ladies of Presb. Memorial Ch.,for a Teacher, Talladega C.105.00New York. “A Friend,” $2; National Temperance Soc., by J. N. Stearns, 1500 Temperance Papers2.00Oneonta. Mrs. H. M. McC., and Mrs. H. C. S., 50c each1.00Ovid. D. W. K.1.00Perry Centre. Cong. Ch. $43.20, to const.Rev. E. H. Martin, L. M.; R. J. Booth, package papers43.20Poughkeepsie. First Reformed Ch.16.54Rome. John. B. Jervis25.00Sherburne. Cong. Ch.85.27Westfield. Mrs. A. B. Rice3.00Woodhaven. L. I. Miss. Soc. of Cong. Ch.7.00NEW JERSEY, $5,285.49.East Orange. Trinity Cong. Ch.94.48Jersey City. First Cong. Ch.36.01Montclair. Sab. Sch. First Cong. Ch.,for Student Aid, Fisk U.55.00Perth Amboy. “A Friend,”for Ind. Dept., Le Moyne Inst., and to const.Prof. S. G. Barnes,Edward W. Barnes, andMrs. E. W. Barnes, L. M’s.100.00———285.49Legacies. Morristown—Mrs. M. J. Graves, by Arthur B. Graves, Ex.5,000.00———5,285.49PENNSYLVANIA, $970.83.Athens. Mrs. F. E. C.1.00Cambridgeborough. Ladies’ Miss. Circle of Cong. Ch., by Mrs. H. R. Ross, Sec.5.00Centreville. Cong. Ch.5.00Philadelphia. S. A. Johnson.4.83Riceville. Cong. Ch.5.00———20.83Legacies, Washington.—Dr. F. Julius Le Moyne, by Executors950.00———970.83OHIO. $902.29.Akron. Cong. Ch. Sab. Sch.,for Student Aid, Fisk U.25.00Ashtabula. James Hall5.00Bloomfield. Dea. M. Knapp, $10.00; W. A., $1,for Ladies’ Hall, Tougaloo U.11.00Bristolville. A. N., $1; Mrs. L. M. C., $1; “Friends,” 50c;for Ladies’ Hall, Tougaloo U.2.50Chagrin Falls. “Earnest Workers,”for Student Aid, Tougaloo U.10.00Chardon. “Cheerful Workers,” by Mrs. Catherine L. Keyes15.00Chatham. Cong. Ch., $3.25; Cong. Ch. and Sab. Sch., $9.09,for Ladies’ Hall, Tougaloo U.12.34Cleveland. Dea. C. T. Rogers, $50; Dea. S. H. Sheldon, $25; H. H. Adams, $20; Martin House, $15; H. V. Wilson, $5,for Ladies’ Hall, Tougaloo U.115.00Cleveland. Plymouth Cong. Ch., $30.43; Hannah M. Paine, $535.43Conneaut. Cong. Ch.5.00Edinburgh. Cong. Ch.25.00Garrettsville. P. S. Tinan, $5; C. B. W., $1; R. H. O., $1,for Ladies’ Hall, Tougaloo U.7.00Geneva. Sab. Sch. and Friends,for Ladies’ Hall, Tougaloo U.20.50Green. Mrs. H. B. Harrington,for Ladies’ Hall, Tougaloo U.2.85Hudson. Cong. Ch.15.00Hudson. Cong. Ch. Sab. Sch.,for Student Aid, Fisk U.5.20Kingsville. Rev. E. J. Comings, $10; Myron Whiting, $5; Mr. Noyes, $217.00Lafayette. “Friends,”for Ladies’ Hall, Tougaloo U.5.00Lake Co. “Congregationalist,” ($200 of whichfor Tougaloo U)300.00Lorain. Cong. Ch.4.70Madison. James Ford,for Ladies’ Hall, Tougaloo U.5.00Mecca. Burt Case, $5; Wm. C. Hickok, $4.15,for Ladies’ Hall, Tougaloo U.9.15Mesopotamia. Cong. Ch.,for Ladies’ Hall, Tougaloo U.16.98Nelson. C. C. Fuller, $5; Rev. R. A. Toney, $2; Cong. Ch., $1.50; G. F., 12c.;for Ladies’ Hall, Tougaloo U.8.62Oberlin. Rev. Geo. Thompson,for Mendi M.5.00Oberlin. Miss E. A. L.1.00Painesville. First Cong. Ch.32.30Ravenna. Friends, through Cong. Ch.,for Ladies’ Hall, Tougaloo U.55.00Sandusky. Sab. Sch. of Cong. Ch.,for Student Aid, Fisk U.5.59Saybrook. “Friends,” Dist. No. 3,for Ladies’ Hall, Tougaloo U.4.75Seville. Lyman Strong, $25; T. B. Dowd, $25,for Ladies’ Hall, Tougaloo U.50.00South Newbury. H. P. G., $1; Mrs. R. M. P., $1; Mrs R. T. W., $1; Others, $14.00Springfield. First Cong. Ch.6.93Strongville. Cong. Ch., $10; Presb. Ch., $5;for Ladies’ Hall, Tougaloo U.15.00Twinsburgh. Cong. Sab. Sch., $18; Mrs. Truman Buell, $10; J. R. Parmelee, $230.00Weymouth. Cong. Ch. and Sab. Sch.,for Ladies’ Hall, Tougaloo U.4.75Youngstown. “A Friend,”for Ladies’ Hall, Tougaloo U.10.00ILLINOIS, $630.62.Chesterfield. Cong. Ch.14.00Chicago. —— $150; New England Cong. Ch., $125.85; Clinton St. Cong. Ch. ($30 of which to const.Dea S. S. Wright, L. M.), $33.41; —— $12.23321.49Chicago. Sab. Sch. of First Cong. Ch.,for Student Aid, Fisk U.50.00Chicago. Ladies’ Miss. Soc., Bethany Ch.,for Lady Missionary in Mobile, Ala.12.23Galva. Ladies’ Miss. Soc. of Cong. Ch., $13.32; Sab. Sch. of Cong. Ch., $11.68,for Student Aid, Fisk U.25.00Joliet. Mrs. M. T. Murray2.00North Hampton. R. W. Gilliam,for Lady Missionary in New Orleans5.00Rockford. First Cong. Ch.43.78Rockford. Mrs. John L. Page,to furnish a Room, Atlanta U.25.00Rockford. Ladies of First Cong. Ch., $25; Second Cong. Ch. Sab. Sch., $25,for Student Aid, Fisk U.50.00Streator. Rev. G. W. Bainum5.00Sycamore. J. H. Rogers,for Student Aid, Fisk U.50.00Sycamore. H. Wood,for Lady Missionary in New Orleans10.00Western Springs. Mrs. J. C. Armstrong,for Student Aid, Fisk U.11.12Wyanet. J. R. P.1.00—— “A Friend”5.00MICHIGAN. $106.71.Charlotte. First Cong. Ch.15.00Edwardsburgh. Saml. C. Olmstead25.00Hillsdale. J. W. Ford2.00Imlay City. Woman’s Missionary Soc.12.00Olivet. Cong. Ch.40.71Pontiac. Cong. Sab. Sch.3.00Salem. First Cong. Ch.4.00Wacousta. Cong. Ch.5.00WISCONSIN, $202.08.Koshkomong. Cong. Ch.9.87Racine. Ladies’ Foreign Miss. Soc., $19; Sab. Sch., $6,for Le Moyne Ind. Sch.25.00Wautoma. Cong. Ch.2.00West De Pere. Cong. Ch.11.61White Water. “Friends,” by C. M. Blackman,for Le Moyne Inst.153.60IOWA, $204.98Algona. Woman’s Miss. Soc.,for Lady Missionary in New Orleans3.12Belle Plain. “A few Friends,”for Lady Missionary in New Orleans3.75Burlington. Mrs. Elizabeth S. Grimes,to furnish a Room, Atlanta U.25.00Charles City. Woman’s Miss. Soc.,for Lady Missionary in New Orleans10.00Corning. Cong. Ch.5.12Creston. Mrs. Perrigo, $10; Rev. U. C. Bosworth, $9; Mrs. H., $1,for Student Aid, Tougaloo U.20.00Danville. Cong. Ch.5.15Earlville. Cong. Ch.7.00Hillsborough. John W. Hammond5.00Iowa City. Individuals, by C. A. M. Currier1.50McGregor. Woman’s Missionary Soc.14.96Mitchel. Ladies of Cong. Ch.,for Lady Missionary in New Orleans6.00Montour. Ladies’ Miss. Soc.,for Lady Missionary in New Orleans7.00New Hampton. Woman’s Miss. Soc.,for Lady Missionary in New Orleans5.20New Hampton. Woman’s Miss. Soc.2.33Newtown. Cong. Ch., $15.62, and Sab. Sch., $217.62Ogden. Ladies of Cong. Ch.,for Lady Missionary in New Orleans11.00Osage. Juvenile Miss. Soc.,for Student Aid, Fisk U.11.68Osage. Ladies of Cong. Ch.,for Lady Missionary in New Orleans10.00Osage. Woman’s Miss. Soc.3.00Riceville. Ladies of Cong. Ch.,for Lady Missionary in New Orleans5.00Rockford. Woman’s Miss. Soc.,for Lady Missionary in New Orleans3.70Stacyville. Woman’s Miss. Soc., $3; “Willing Helpers,” $1.35,for Lady Missionary in New Orleans4.35Toledo. Cong. Ch.,for Lady Missionary in New Orleans5.50Waterloo. Woman’s Miss. Soc.,for Lady Missionary in New Orleans10.00Wentworth. Ladies of Cong. Ch.,for Lady Missionary in New Orleans2.00MINNESOTA, $41.37.Duluth. Plymouth Cong. Ch.5.54Hutchinson. Cong. Ch.1.50Lake City. First Cong. Ch.10.00Mankato. Cong. Ch.,for Lady Missionary in New Orleans3.97Minneapolis. Plymouth Ch.20.36KANSAS, $10.Wild Cat. Mrs. S. B. Peirce10.00NEBRASKA, $4.61.Camp Creek. Cong. Ch.for Lady Missionary in New Orleans2.61Waverly. Cong. Ch.2.00TENNESSEE, $179.20.Nashville. Fisk U., Tuition178.70Whiteside. G. W. J.0.50ALABAMA, $5.14.Talladega. Talladega College5.14MISSISSIPPI, $110.65Tougaloo. Tuition, $55.50; Rent, $50; Tougaloo U., $5.15110.65ENGLAND, $482.50.London. Freedmen’s Missions Aid Soc.,for Fisk U., £100482.50————-Total$16,268.72FOR TILLOTSON COLLEGIATE AND NORMAL INSTITUTE, AUSTIN, TEXAS.Southampton, Mass. Collected by Ladies of Cong. Ch.18.00Westborough, Mass. Cong. Sab. Sch.24.00Westfield, Mass. First Cong. Ch., $12; Second Cong. Ch., $1224.00Worcester, Mass. Ladies in Central Cong. Ch., $31.50; Ladies in Union Ch., $13.50; Ladies in Salem St. Cong. Ch., $10; Ladies in Piedmont Cong. Ch., $5, by Mrs. G. Henry Whitcomb60.00Worcester, Mass. Freedmen’s Mission Ass’n, bbl. of C.Central Falls, R. I. Ladies of Cong. Ch. $24, and box of Bedding24.00East Haven, Conn. Julius Morris5.00Fair Haven, Conn. H. H. Strong10.00Fair Haven, Conn. Mrs. H. C Hurd1.00Guilford, Conn. Mrs. Lucy E. Tuttle100.00Guilford, Conn. Third Cong. Ch., $11; Miss L. C. Dudley, $1021.00Hartford, Conn. D. H. Wells50.00Meriden, Conn. Centre Cong. Ch.19.00Middletown, Conn. Mrs. Benj. Douglass25.00New Haven, Conn. “Member Davenport Cong. Ch.”50.00New Haven, Conn. E. B. Bowditch25.00New Haven, Conn. Simeon E. Baldwin, $20; Mrs. Alex. McAlister, $525.00New Haven, Conn. Mrs. Emmeline Smith10.00New Haven, Conn. J. L. Ensign5.00New Haven, Conn. R. E. Rice5.00Waterbury, Conn. Charles E. Webster10.00Mendon, Ill. Mrs. J. Fowler125.00Allegan, Mich. Mrs. R. E. Booth400.00————Total$1,036.00FOR MISSIONS IN AFRICA.Leeds, Eng. Robert Arthington, conditional pledge, £3,000London, Eng. Freedmen’s Missions Aid Soc., £332$1,601.90H. W. HUBBARD,Treas.,56 Reade St., N. Y.Constitution of the American Missionary Association.INCORPORATED JANUARY 30, 1849.Art. I.This Society shall be called “The American Missionary Association.”Art. II.The object of this Association shall be to conduct Christian missionary and educational operations, and diffuse a knowledge of the Holy Scriptures in our own and other countries which are destitute of them, or which present open and urgent fields of effort.Art. III.Any person of evangelical sentiments,[A]who professes faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, who is not a slaveholder, or in the practice of other immoralities, and who contributes to the funds, may become a member of the Society; and by the payment of thirty dollars, a life member; provided that children and others who have not professed their faith may be constituted life members without the privilege of voting.Art. IV.This Society shall meet annually, in the month of September, October or November, for the election of officers and the transaction of other business, at such time and place as shall be designated by the Executive Committee.Art. V.The annual meeting shall be constituted of the regular officers and members of the Society at the time of such meeting, and of delegates from churches, local missionary societies, and other co-operating bodies, each body being entitled to one representative.Art. VI.The officers of the Society shall be a President, Vice-Presidents, a Recording Secretary, Corresponding Secretaries, Treasurer, two Auditors, and an Executive Committee of not less than twelve, of which the Corresponding Secretaries shall be advisory, and the Treasurer ex-officio, members.Art. VII.To the Executive Committee shall belong the collecting and disbursing of funds; the appointing, counselling, sustaining and dismissing (for just and sufficient reasons) missionaries and agents; the selection of missionary fields; and, in general, the transaction of all such business as usually appertains to the executive committees of missionary and other benevolent societies; the Committee to exercise no ecclesiastical jurisdiction over the missionaries; and its doings to be subject always to the revision of the annual meeting, which shall, by a reference mutually chosen, always entertain the complaints of any aggrieved agent or missionary; and the decision of such reference shall be final.The Executive Committee shall have authority to fill all vacancies occurring among the officers between the regular annual meetings; to apply, if they see fit, to any State Legislature for acts of incorporation; to fix the compensation, where any is given, of all officers, agents, missionaries, or others in the employment of the Society; to make provision, if any, for disabled missionaries, and for the widows and children of such as are deceased; and to call, in all parts of the country, at their discretion, special and general conventions of the friends of missions, with a view to the diffusion of the missionary spirit; and the general and vigorous promotion of the missionary work.Five members of the Committee shall constitute a quorum for transacting business.Art VIII.This society, in collecting funds, in appointing officers, agents and missionaries, and in selecting fields of labor, and conducting the missionary work, will endeavor particularly to discountenance slavery, by refusing to receive the known fruits of unrequited labor, or to welcome to its employment those who hold their fellow-beings as slaves.Art IX.Missionary bodies, churches or individuals agreeing to the principles of this Society, and wishing to appoint and sustain missionaries of their own, shall be entitled to do so through the agency of the Executive Committee, on terms mutually agreed upon.Art X.No amendment shall be made to this Constitution without the concurrence of two-thirds of the members present at a regular annual meeting; nor unless the proposed amendment has been submitted to a previous meeting, or to the Executive Committee in season to be published by them (as it shall be their duty to do so, if so submitted) in the regular official notifications of the meeting.FOOTNOTE:
Fisk University.
REV. E. M. CRAVATH, NASHVILLE.
The sixteenth scholastic year of Fisk University has begun under very favorable conditions and with very encouraging prospects.
1. The number of pupils in attendance for the first two months of this year is greatly increased over that of last, although that of last year was larger than any previous year since the occupancy of Jubilee Hall. The number from outside the city of Nashville is thirty per cent. greater than at the same time one year ago.
The result is that the limit of our boarding accommodations has been already nearly reached, and the anxious inquiry is forcing itself upon us, What shall we do with the large number of students who desire, and are planning, to come during the next three months?
2. The grade of scholarship in the case of new students is considerably advanced over that of former years. There have been no additions to the regular college classes, but four have entered the senior, three the middle, and six the junior college preparatory classes. As advanced students are the ones desired in such an institution as this, it is a source of great encouragement that the number of such is steadily increasing year by year.
3. There is on the part of the students a growing comprehension of the value and of the necessity of a thorough education, and consequently a very much stronger desire and purpose to take long courses of study. This is one of the most hopeful facts connected with our work. It required a wonderful amount of determination and patience on the part of both professors and students to engineer the first classes through a college course of study. There was no public sentiment in the community, and no sentiment among parents or friends of the students, to encourage and stimulate to long courses of study. But a great change for the better has been wrought. The steady, persistent work of the past fifteen years, which has resulted in the graduation offive small classes from the college department, has created an atmosphere and established conditions which stimulate the desire for a liberal education, and foster the purpose of those who undertake to secure it.
The educating power of a considerable body of advanced, carefully disciplined and well-read students, is marked upon all the lower grades, and especially upon those who come to Fisk University for the first time. The present senior preparatory class promises to enter college in May twenty strong. This is double the number of the largest class that has ever before been entered.
4. The influence and power of the work done by our students while absent from the University during vacation or after completing their studies, become more and more manifest. The reports brought back by the students themselves, the testimony of Trustees and County Superintendents, the new students brought here through their influence, all reveal to us as we have not realized it before, the greatness of the service the University is rendering to the cause of education, morality, religion and social life throughout the great Southwest. Our students are our epistles; and becoming known and being read by the people wherever they go, are turning the thoughts and hearts of others to the University. It is largely because of the faithfulness and loyalty of our students that the steady growth in numbers continues from year to year.
We have, therefore, abundant reason to thank God and take courage. The great concern we have about the future is that our friends in the North will not be ready to meet the growing demands of this great work of uplifting the millions of recently emancipated people in the South, by a sufficiently large and constant giving. With the experience of the last fifteen years in mind, we can say with the full assurance of conviction that the call for the enlargement and strengthening of the University is in some vital respects more imperative now than ever before. Endowments are needed to adequately sustain the departments of study already established, and to found professional schools to meet the growing demands of a struggling and rising people.
These must come, or the best results of the labor already done, and the money already expended, will not be attained.
Mother and Daughter Gone.—Memorial Services at Fisk University.
The Sabbath services at this Institution, Oct. 24th, were hallowed by the touching and appropriate tributes to the memory of Mrs. Elizabeth Spence, mother of Prof. A. K. Spence, and of her daughter, Mrs. Julia Spence Chase, wife of Prof. F. A. Chase. Mrs. Spence had been boarding in the Institution four years, spending her last days with her children. She possessed a mind of unusual strength and vigor, and was somewhat distinguished as an author. Only a few days before her death, when eighty-three years of age, she composed a poem on the occasion of the Nashville Centennial Exposition, which was published. This mother of missionaries was born in Scotland, and in her girlhood was made familiar with the missionary endeavors of the London Missionary Society through an auxiliary which held its regular meetings at her mother’s house. She was a woman of much prayer, great faith and a sweet and beautiful charity.
Just eleven weeks from the day Mrs. Spence died, writes Miss Henrietta Matson, of Fisk University, Mrs. Chase followed her mother to the fairer country above. Her death was sudden, and a heavy blow to her sorely stricken family. She died on Kelley’s Island, Lake Erie, where the family had gone for summer rest. Mrs. Chase, with her husband, had been in Fisk Universityeight years; a part of the time in the earlier years had been an instructor, particularly in music, in which she was especially gifted and accomplished.
Her death was peaceful and beautiful. She sent loving messages to all her friends, to the teachers and especially to the students, whom she loved and for whom she had labored. With perfect calmness she bade each of her dear ones good-bye, and then passed from their sight, leaning upon the strong arm, and catching glimpses of the glory beyond, even while treading the dark valley.
At her own request, her remains were brought to Nashville, her heart seeming to turn to the very last to those with whom she had been associated, and to the people for whom she had labored. So we laid her to rest till the resurrection morn on the beautiful hillside, with southern skies bending above her, and not far from the earthly home of her own dear ones.
The message brought to us who remain, in the death of those who have been of us is, “The night cometh, when no man can work.”
AN ADDRESS BY GEN. S. C. ARMSTRONG.
It is now two and a half years since Indian students were enrolled at the Hampton Institute; but I never saw a more radical change of life than appears in these men. They represent the worst stock in the Indian territory: the class that the West declares can’t be elevated any more than the buffalo. If the West knows anything, it knows that you can’t improve the prairie Indian.
Crossing the continent twice, of late, I found the universal creed to be “There is no good Indian but a dead one,” which has been adopted by over half the intelligent people of the East.
Capt. Pratt writes as follows from Carlisle, Pa.: “Of the Florida boys who were formerly at Hampton, five have died; three,—Bear’s Heart, Etahdleuh and Roman Nose—are still East: the two last being here render valuable assistance to me by example and effort. The others have all returned to their tribes, and, with the exception of Tounkeuh, are reported us doing well for themselves and for their people. Several are mentioned as specially useful.
“We have 139 boys and 57 girls, 196 in all. The readiness of children to come is in advance of the willingness of parents to send at Miles’ Agency, and probably at the Kiowa too; but there is in general such desire for education that I believe no great difficulty would be experienced in getting nearly all the children in the schools from most of the tribes.”
The Carlisle School was established by an act of Congress, accompanied by an official report from which I extract as follows:
“Experience has shown that Indian children do not differ from white children of similar status and surroundings, in aptitude or capacity for acquiring knowledge; and opposition or indifference to education on the part of parents decreases yearly: so that the question of Indian education resolves itself mainly into a question of school facilities.”
Sons of Indian Chiefs, at Carlisle, are now making a portion of the shoes, harnesses, wagons, tin-ware and other supplies needed by the Department of Indian Affairs.
Indians think. Their wise ones know that there is no hope for them but in taking the white man’s road. But there is also a stubborn, unyielding class.There are progressives and conservatives, as among all thinking people.
The braves will not fight the people who are educating their children. Every Indian child at school is a hostage.
I recently met an army officer who told me that in the summers of 1877 and 1878, five hundred thousand dollars had passed through his hands, as Quartermaster, in payment of Oregon settlers, for supplies and services in Indian wars; and that the past summer they had been trying to get up another war for the sake of another five hundred thousand.
Our system of treaties, annuities and rations is an acknowledged failure. Distribution is without regard to merit, and encourages idleness among the one hundred and fifty thousand beneficiaries of the Government.
The Indians are grown-up children; we are a thousand years ahead of them in the line of development. Progress is measured by development. Education is not progress but is a means of it. A brain full of book knowledge, whose physical basis is the product of centuries of barbarism, is an absurdity that we do not half realize, from our excessive traditional reverence for school and college training. We forget that knowledge is not power unless it is digested and assimilated. Savages have good memories; they acquire but do not comprehend.
Indians are easily taught, for their minds are quick; their bodies are a greater care than their brains; but morals are the chief concern of their teachers. Hence their education should be first for the heart, then for health, and last for the mind, reversing the custom of placing mind before physique and character. This is the Hampton idea of education.
Apply sanctified common sense to the Indian problem and you will save them in spite of the steam engine and the threats of fate.
The Indian question has been put wrong end first. It points to us, not to them.
The possibilities of sound educational methods are not dreamed of. The power of mind over matter is everywhere seen, but the power of mind over mind, of man over man, is little shown in all our proud progress. That three years’ work of Captain Pratt at Fort Marion, Florida, is the best illustration of it I know of. Yet he never had over two years’ schooling, and went from his workshop to the war. Work for the ex-captives was so encouraging, the need of educated Indian girls so obvious, that resolving to push our effort further, Mr. Schurz was interviewed, entered heartily into the scheme, and sent Capt. Pratt to Dakota Territory, whence he brought to Hampton in Nov., 1878, forty boys and nine girls, since increased to twenty-two girls and forty-eight boys. Indian girls lead a slavish life, do all the drudgery, and parents have hated to spare them. Boys do nothing till they can fight. “I would send a hundred boys, but not one girl,” said a chief to Capt. Pratt. But now one agency alone, Yankton, would fill our school with Sioux girls. Agent Miles says he could enroll Cheyenne children from the Indian Territory for eastern schools as fast as he could write their names.
Co-education of the sexes will succeed with Indians as well as with colored people in the six largest institutions for negroes, in which for ten years it has been tried with the best results.
The death rate at Hampton has been serious but not discouraging. Out of ninety-six, in twenty-two months seven have died at school and three since returning home. The tribe, gathered as they are in unnatural conditions at the agencies, away from the chase and the fight, without action or buffalo beef, fed on government rations, weaken.
Indian students have in almost allcases died of diseases implanted before leaving home; their friends have not been surprised or discouraged.
Chief Wizi, on hearing of the death of his adopted son at Hampton, called his tribe together and said: “If only one of our children returns to us with knowledge, we shall be repaid for the loss of all the others.”
While this eastern work at Carlisle and Hampton is incidental to the general educational effort which must be made at the West, it is, more than anything else, pushing the Indian question to a proper settlement by creating public sentiment. For a Congressman to see an Indian hoeing corn, does more good than piles of documentary evidence. The hundreds of clear-headed, hard-handed young red-skins who will, ere long, be settled among the tribes, will, we think, be strong enough to sustain each other and to teach the rest. They will not return home scared by our great guns and arsenals, but stimulated by contact with the spirit that lies at the bottom of our progress. They must see civilization to comprehend it.
What is given for them will come back with usury. Not the least return to us may be the educational methods which, inspired by exigencies and unchecked by tradition, shall be worked out to meet the emergencies thrust upon the country by the destruction of the buffalo, which has brought the Indian to face the issue of civilization or destruction.
Auxiliary to the American Missionary Association.
President: Rev. J. K. McLean, D.D.Vice-Presidents: Rev. A. L. Stone, D.D., Thomas C. Wedderspoon, Esq., Rev. T. K. Noble, Hon. F. F. Low, Rev. I. E. Dwinell, D.D., Hon. Samuel Cross, Rev. S. H. Willey, D.D., Edward P. Flint, Esq., Rev. J. W. Hough, D.D., Jacob S. Taber, Esq.
Directors: Rev. George Mooar, D.D., Hon. E. D. Sawyer, Rev. E. P. Baker, James M. Haven, Esq., Rev. Joseph Rowell, Rev. John Kimball.
Secretary: Rev. W. C. Pond.Treasurer: E. Palache, Esq.
REV. W. C. POND.
Our Annual Meeting.—It was a very diminutive affair, compared with that which, at the same time, was going on so grandly at Lowell; or with the one which, just now, as I am writing, is—I trust—in successful progress at Norwich. What a privilege and a joy I should feel it to be if I were there, instead of here! That is denied me, so far as bodily presence is concerned; but I am free to be there in thought, and, in the solitude of my study, to mingle my prayers with yours. They meet before one throne of grace.Ourannual meeting is one of the features of the annual convocation of our Congregational churches in California, which was held this year with the First Church in Oakland. The time assigned us in the programme was from 10:45 to 12:30 on Thursday, Oct. 7th. I should think that 250 persons were present. Rev. J. K. McLean, D.D., pastor of that church, and President of our Mission, occupied the chair. After a hymn and prayer, the reports of the Treasurer and of the Board of Directors were presented. The principal facts set forth in these reports have been laid before the Association at its meeting now going on, and need not be re-stated here. There was, however, a novel feature in the Treasurer’s report—novel to us, however it may be to others—which stirred some of our friends not a little. We have always had more work at hand than wecould possibly do with the means at our command; but we have tried to “cut the garment according to the cloth,” and have so far succeeded as never to report adeficit, in current expenses till this year. This was our novelty. Our friends did not like its looks any better than we did. The President took it in hand and shook it, at an expense to himself of $10. Rev. Dr. Mooar followed with another shake, at the same cost to his exchequer. Then good Dea. S. S. Smith, and minister after minister, followed in quick succession, till not a shred of it remained, and we find ourselves now with every bill paid, and a balance of $24.25, which we transfer to our Barnes Mission House Building Fund. Cold water was never more refreshing to a thirsty soul than was this spontaneous and unexpected offering—whether considered with reference to itspersonelleor its results—to the heart of your Superintendent. We don’t mean to give our friends an opportunity to repeat the operation; but we shall remember it with gratitude and pleasure as long as we live. Following this were volunteer speeches, containing earnest expressions of good will and sympathy, and crowding one upon another in such a way that the time allotted proved to be all too short, and the only regret with which we closed the meeting was that so many who wished to speak, and whom we earnestly wished to hear, failed to have that opportunity.
The Chinese Fishing Villages.—It is several years since I first visited a village of Chinese fishermen. I cannot say that the mere pleasure of the thing would prompt me to repeat the visit very frequently. There is nothing in the character of the dwellings, the appearance of their denizens, or the odors rising from their work, to tempt one to a protracted stay. But I thank God that I cannot go through even such a rude and motley and ill-odored settlement, without seeing the immortal souls of which these ill-kept bodies are the habitations, or without beginning to query if some way cannot be opened to pour in upon them the healing light of that world which needs no sun.
A few days ago a message came from one of them, by a Providence so marked that I ventured to think it a Macedonian Call, and to read in it God’spromiseof success. This village is on a little cape jutting out into San Francisco Bay and known as Point San Pedro. Mr. Charles W. Otis, my warm personal friend,—whom, with his excellent wife, it was my privilege many years ago, while pastor at Petaluma, to welcome to the fellowship of saints—has recently been placed in charge of the “ranch” of which this Point San Pedro is a part, and is thus brought into business relations with the Chinese who are tenants upon it. His heart is stirred for them, and he asked me if something could not be done to save them. I sent Wah Yene, our devoted helper at Petaluma, to explore, and he brings me, not only his own favorable testimony, but the following message from Mr. Otis: “Wah Yene has been here a few days canvassing in the Chinese school. He will report the prospects. That there is a field here for work among the more than 400, there is no doubt. We will furnish a house free, and I think I can get lumber from some building for furniture, seats, &c. My wife and I will assist all we can, though I shall be busy much of the time, but I can add something that, will help the good work along. * * * “I know so little of the ways and means and plans of the Chinese Mission that I am unable to say more than to promise a hearty co-operation in every possible way. We are very much pleased with Wah Yene, and Mrs. Otis is ready to ‘adopt’ him, and says she would feel safe with him near when I am compelled to be absent, as I shall be two or three times each week.” Mr. Otis goes on to intimate that he could give employmentto Wah Yene for a part of each day, and assume a proportionate part of his support if we desire; or if we want him to devote his whole time to missionary service, he will provide him a room comfortably furnished, free of charge. And so Wah Yene starts to-day for a month’s trial of the work; and we, on our part, will do our best to make the trial a success.
A TRUE STORY.
“Chillen, git on de bo’de,Chillen, git on de bo’de,Chillen, git on de bo’de, bo’de, bo’de,Dere’s room for many a mo’,”—
“Chillen, git on de bo’de,Chillen, git on de bo’de,Chillen, git on de bo’de, bo’de, bo’de,Dere’s room for many a mo’,”—
were the words that came in high but not unmusical tones from the depths of the kitchen, where I knew Jule was struggling with the week’s ironing.
After puzzling over them for some time I cried, “Whatdoesshe mean, auntie?”
Auntie laughed. “Oh, you Yankee! Will you never learn negro talk? Do they never sing about the ‘gospel ship’ in Boston? That is what Jule means.”
“Oh, is that it?” I replied, laughing in my turn. “I couldn’t imagine how she was going to ‘get on a board’ with her two hundred pounds of flesh.
“I’m tired of sewing: I guess I’ll go down and talk to her a little while.”
Jule welcomed me to her snug kitchen, with a smile which disclosed her shining white teeth; and I seated myself by her ironing-table, and begged her to tell me of the days “befo’ de wah.”
“Tell me how you became free,” I said, as she resumed her work. “Were you set free, or did you run away?” hoping secretly that the latter was the case.
Her black eyes sparkled, and she tossed her gayly turbaned head, as she answered—
“’Deed, miss, I just runned away.”
“You did, Jule? How did you do it? Weren’t you frightened?”
“Well, honey, de good Lord just done helped me.”
“The Lord helped you? How?”
“Ah, chile, de Lord just as powerful now as when He showed de chillen of Isr’el de way to de promus land!”
“Of course,” I replied; “but He doesn’t interpose in the affairs of men as He did then. We have no pillars of fire, and no parting of the sea.”
“‘Deed, miss, I don’t know nothin’ ’bout your ’posing, and we didn’t have no pillow of fire; but de Lord done helped me hisself.”
“Well, tell me all about it, please.”
“You see, miss, we lived just outside dis yere city. One night somehow de cullud people hearn tell that Pres’dent Linkum was gwine to set all de niggahs in de District free, and ole mars was gwine to run us all down South to git clar ob de proclamashun. David, de dining-room boy, was a likely fellar; he had been about with young mars, and could read and write; so he heard de talk, and made up his mind to run away to Washington dat very night. Any one who wanted to could go ’long. Well, most of ’em was ready to go, my mammy among ’em. She said I could go too: but we didn’t know how I was to git away; fur, you see, miss, I was nurse to young mars’ chillen, and slept with dem in a room that you couldn’t git out’en ’thout gwine through his and Mis’ Virginny’s room. De do’ that went out into the hall was right at de head of their bed, and creaked mighty loud. I asked mammy what I should do, and she said, ‘Trus’ de Lord.’
“Well, we niggers went to bed same as ever, and de house was shut up. I didn’t go to sleep, but tried to trus’ de Lord. De chillen was sleeping sound, and so was young mars and Mis’ Virginny, when I heard a little tap on de winder, and knew it was de signal. I got on my knees in de bed, and I prayed hard, and I prayed strong. Then I took my shoes in my hand, and crep’ frou de do’ into young mars’ room, and round to de hall-do’, and put my hand on de knob. ’Deed, miss, but my heart was a-beatin’; for, if de do’ should creak, we were lost. ‘Good Lord, don’t let it creak,’ I whispered, and turned de knob. Bress yo’ heart, honey! that do’ opened jest as soft as a white baby’s bref,—that do’ that had always screeched like a nigger when he’s hurt. I stepped into de hall, shet de do’ behind me, went down stairs, an’ out by de smoke-house, an’ dare they all were; but, if de good Lord hadn’t helped me, I shouldn’t have been among ’em. Bress de Lord! Hallelujah!”
“But what did you do after you got to the smoke-house?” I asked.
“Oh, I was de las’ one; so we started right off. It was snowing, and I couldn’t stop to put on my shoes; but I was a stout girl, gwine on fo’teen, and didn’t mind de cold, for I was gwine to be free.”
“Weren’t you pursued?”
“Oh, yes, miss! By and by we heard horses come pounding along. We were nigh de cross-roads where de woods was thick; so we crep’ under de branches of de fir-trees. Pretty soon young mars and de overseer come ’long, and stopped to wonder which road we had taken. They swore and cussed right smart for a while, and then took de aqueduct road to Georgetown. When they had been gone a little while, we crep’ out, and took de other road that led all ’round ’cross de creek to Washington. ’Bout morning we saw de Yankee tents, and at noon we was free, bress de Lord!”
“Well, Jule, I’m much obliged for your story,” I said, rising to go, for auntie was calling me.
“‘Deed, honey, you’s welcome. Always put yo’ trus’ in de Lord, chile, He’ll keep de do’ from creaking.’”
As I went up stairs, she began to sing in a high key and with great fervor,—
“I’ll lub my Jesus till I die,Hallelujah!He leaned from out de hebbenly sky,Hallelujah!”
“I’ll lub my Jesus till I die,Hallelujah!He leaned from out de hebbenly sky,Hallelujah!”
—Well-Spring.
FOR OCTOBER, 1880.
H. W. HUBBARD,Treas.,
56 Reade St., N. Y.
INCORPORATED JANUARY 30, 1849.
Art. I.This Society shall be called “The American Missionary Association.”
Art. II.The object of this Association shall be to conduct Christian missionary and educational operations, and diffuse a knowledge of the Holy Scriptures in our own and other countries which are destitute of them, or which present open and urgent fields of effort.
Art. III.Any person of evangelical sentiments,[A]who professes faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, who is not a slaveholder, or in the practice of other immoralities, and who contributes to the funds, may become a member of the Society; and by the payment of thirty dollars, a life member; provided that children and others who have not professed their faith may be constituted life members without the privilege of voting.
Art. IV.This Society shall meet annually, in the month of September, October or November, for the election of officers and the transaction of other business, at such time and place as shall be designated by the Executive Committee.
Art. V.The annual meeting shall be constituted of the regular officers and members of the Society at the time of such meeting, and of delegates from churches, local missionary societies, and other co-operating bodies, each body being entitled to one representative.
Art. VI.The officers of the Society shall be a President, Vice-Presidents, a Recording Secretary, Corresponding Secretaries, Treasurer, two Auditors, and an Executive Committee of not less than twelve, of which the Corresponding Secretaries shall be advisory, and the Treasurer ex-officio, members.
Art. VII.To the Executive Committee shall belong the collecting and disbursing of funds; the appointing, counselling, sustaining and dismissing (for just and sufficient reasons) missionaries and agents; the selection of missionary fields; and, in general, the transaction of all such business as usually appertains to the executive committees of missionary and other benevolent societies; the Committee to exercise no ecclesiastical jurisdiction over the missionaries; and its doings to be subject always to the revision of the annual meeting, which shall, by a reference mutually chosen, always entertain the complaints of any aggrieved agent or missionary; and the decision of such reference shall be final.
The Executive Committee shall have authority to fill all vacancies occurring among the officers between the regular annual meetings; to apply, if they see fit, to any State Legislature for acts of incorporation; to fix the compensation, where any is given, of all officers, agents, missionaries, or others in the employment of the Society; to make provision, if any, for disabled missionaries, and for the widows and children of such as are deceased; and to call, in all parts of the country, at their discretion, special and general conventions of the friends of missions, with a view to the diffusion of the missionary spirit; and the general and vigorous promotion of the missionary work.
Five members of the Committee shall constitute a quorum for transacting business.
Art VIII.This society, in collecting funds, in appointing officers, agents and missionaries, and in selecting fields of labor, and conducting the missionary work, will endeavor particularly to discountenance slavery, by refusing to receive the known fruits of unrequited labor, or to welcome to its employment those who hold their fellow-beings as slaves.
Art IX.Missionary bodies, churches or individuals agreeing to the principles of this Society, and wishing to appoint and sustain missionaries of their own, shall be entitled to do so through the agency of the Executive Committee, on terms mutually agreed upon.
Art X.No amendment shall be made to this Constitution without the concurrence of two-thirds of the members present at a regular annual meeting; nor unless the proposed amendment has been submitted to a previous meeting, or to the Executive Committee in season to be published by them (as it shall be their duty to do so, if so submitted) in the regular official notifications of the meeting.
FOOTNOTE: