American Missionary Association,

56 READE STREET, NEW YORK.

THE

American Missionary.

American Missionary Association.

SO FAR.

One-third of the fiscal year of this Association ended January 31. Our friends will be glad to learn of our progress so far. Our annual meeting, after careful deliberation, decided that $300,000 (or 23 per cent. more than last year) would be needed for the growing work of this year; and we have been obliged to expend more than one-third of this amount, showing that our estimate was none too large.

Our receipts for the four months ending January 31 have been $83,893.39. Of this amount $9,191.72 was received in legacies, and $74,701.67 from other sources. There has been a decrease in legacies of $3,132.28, and an increase from other sources of $16,601.18, making a total increase of $13,468.90, or a little more than 19 per cent. over that of last year instead of the 23 per cent. asked for.

It will be seen that during the remaining eight months not only the $200,000 allotted for that time must be raised, but also $16,107 of deficiency. This will require an increase of 25 per cent. over the income for the corresponding months of last year.

The increase of receipts from living donors is gratifying, and we appeal with great confidence to those who have given to add to their gifts, and to those who have not yet contributed to increase the amount of their usual donations, so that the treasury of the Lord may be full, and that the work be not hindered.

ARTHINGTON MISSION.—A PARALLEL.

The enterprises of different nationalities operating in northeastern Africa are continually converging about Khartoum, which, during the past three years, has been transformed in appearance from an African to a semi-European city. Good houses and extensive stores have been constructed, and at present all supplies required by modern civilization are furnished.

The activity in this locality is indicated by some of the following circumstances: Recently Mr. Goodwin, engineer at Cairo, reported to the Egyptian government the necessity of prolonging the railroads of lower Egypt to the Egyptian Soudan. A Spanish association is planning an expedition from Korosko to the Albert Lake. Agents of the Italian Society of Commerce are on their way to Khartoum for mercantile purposes. The English government contemplate locating consuls south of the desert, both at Souakim and Khartoum. A special interest seems just now to be taken in the Galla country. Baron Müller, with a German expedition, is heading towards this locality. Piaggia is at Khartoum, from whence he purposes to penetrate the same region. There is also reason to believe that Count Pennazzi is already making his explorations in that country.

We are chiefly interested, however, in an enterprise which is parallel to our proposed Arthington Mission.

It appears that a Swedish missionary society, founded in 1856, was organized with a purpose to labor among the Gallas, reaching their country via Khartoum and the Blue Nile. The society seems to have been delayed and embarrassed in its operations, so much so that it decided in 1866 to locate its stations at Massaoua and its immediate neighborhood on the Red Sea. Here it gave instruction to some 200 children, boys and girls, at its three stations. Some of these children were pure heathen from the Galla tribes, and others belonged to the Abyssinian church.

In 1877 Galla merchants came from Jemma, south of Abyssinia, and anxiously requested that teachers be sent them. No Europeans at that time could enter the country. Consequently three native youths, who had been brought up at the mission schools and who burned with zeal to carry the gospel of Christ to their fellow countrymen, returned with the traders and established a mission for Abyssinian and Galla children at Godjam, and began to preach to the people, who seemed very willing to hear the glad tidings. Neither language nor climate could hinder these, as they do Europeans.

The Swedish Society, however, has recently resolved to return to its original purpose, and already one of its missionaries, Mr. Arrhenius, accompanied by Onesimus, an Abyssinian by birth, and another fellow laborer, are supposed to be on their way to Enarea, via Berber, Khartoum [68] and the Blue Nile, to found a mission in Southern Abyssinia. Mr. Arrhenius purposed to leave for the Galla Country November, 1881, and it is not improbable that he may have fallen in with Messrs. Ladd and Snow, at Khartoum. By reference to the accompanying map it will be seen that Enarea lies in about the same latitude as the mouth of the Sobat, on the White Nile, being situated some 400 miles from it in an easterly direction. Both of these points lie in the territory designated by Mr. Arthington. At the latter, it will be remembered, we somewhat expect to locate our first mission station. The experience of this Swedish Society during its fifteen years of labor gives it a great advantage. Its students may not only prove of service among the Gallas, they may also aid us in our mission.

It is encouraging to note the activities among the different nationalities for the development of trade and internal improvements in that portion of the Nile Basin which we hope to occupy, but especially the fact that He who has affirmed that Ethiopia shall stretch out her hands unto God, is moving upon the hearts of Swedish, English and American Christians simultaneously to enter and occupy that country for Christ.

LATEST NEWS FROM REV. H. M. LADD.

Berber, on the Nile , Dec. 31, 1881.—“We arrived in Berber, safe and sound, day before yesterday, the 29th, being sixteen days from Korosko. We were nine days to Aboo Hamed, making forced marches of twelve and thirteen hours, and averaging, to that place, thirty-three miles a day. At Aboo Hamed we rested one day, and from that place to Berber averaged twenty-one miles a day. I have only time for a few lines now, as we go on board our dahabuyeh for Khartoum to-night. The Atmoor desert is a trying one, and nobody had better undertake it who has not a large amount of pluck and endurance. We, however, are in perfect health and good spirits. On our arrival we found all the merchant boats engaged. There was here only one dahabuyeh belonging to the Governor. We went to him and asked for it. He refused. We fell back on our orders from Cairo. He changed his mind, and said we might take it if we could get an order for it from Khartoum. We telegraphed to Raouf Pasha, Governor-General of Soudan. This morning the order came by telegram, and also a telegram of welcome to the Soudan. The Reis has reported to us. The dahabuyeh now lies in front of our tents, subject to our orders and ready to sail. In a few minutes we go on board, and hope to reach Khartoum by the 5th. I will try to send my journal from there, and bring it up to date. We are highly pleased with Berber and the people we find here. Everything so far has gone well. We are pressing forward just as fast as is possible.”

THE SLAVE MUSIC OF THE SOUTH.

By Rev. George H. Griffin, Milford, Ct.

If ever the real genius for music seems to have been born in the soul of an entire race, that race is the African. Explorers of the dark continent speak of a marked musical taste among the negroes on their native heath, but the American type of African is still more largely developed in that direction.

Some of the European races are naturally full of song, but in them the culture of music as a science is also illustrated.

The light and pleasing melodies of Italian operas or the grand and sonorous chords of German symphonies and sonatas show the results of a high degree of musical education.

But, in searching for that undefinable entity which is sometimes called the “soul of music,” or, in other words, that kind of music which finds a responsive thrill in every human breast, because it speaks most clearly the language of man’s best impulses and tenderest feelings, it seems to the writer that the slave songs of the South meet the demand more nearly than any other style of musical expression. These children of bondage knew nothing of the methods of the schools, yet, in the harmonious blending and balancing of the four parts, their vocalization is seldom equalled; while their skill in translating heart throbs into the descriptive language of the diatonic scale is rarely surpassed.

No exhaustive analysis of the slave music is here attempted.

It is, however, a very rich mine to explore. Suffice to indicate its principal features, namely these, among others: great simplicity, but richness in the harmony, coupled with much variety and originality of melody. Many of the “resolutions” of chords are abrupt and startling; some of them doubtless contrary to the principles of “thorough bass,” but all the more expressive on that account of the rough and rugged experiences which gave them birth. While the tempo of these songs is largely common, or four-four, there are strange points of emphasis put upon syllables and unexpected cadences in rhythm, which are well nigh unreducible to musical notation.

The ad libitum passages are numerous, and the musical intervals often abnormal, as in rapid changes from major to minor, and conversely, like “Roll, Jordan, Roll”; also in the use of a minor third, while singing on a major key, as in “Run to Jesus.”

Their general style is recitative and chorus, though a few are pure solos or unisonal measures.

The music and words of many of these songs were born together.

This is true, especially, of those associated with social worship, which, [71] having been produced by the sudden inspiration of religious fervor came forth spontaneously from one voice, while the multitude caught the refrain and sang it out with a mighty chorus, as the sound of many waters.

Assuming the correctness of Geo. MacDonald’s definition of a song, as a composition in which the emotional largely overbalances the intellectual element, their songs, with their fullness of sentiment, seem to realize the ideal.

A proper classification of these products of slavery should distinguish between those songs which groan with the agonies of a hard and cruel thralldom, and those which palpitate with the joy of a present salvation, and the hope of a glorious home of freedom beyond the grave.

Among the selections belonging to the first of these divisions, the minor key naturally predominates. Indeed, this is the pitch upon which the majority of human hearts, the world over, are tuned. A more exquisite minor melody than “Nobody Knows the Trouble I See,” can hardly be conceived. So, too, for pure pathos nothing can excel “You May Bury Me in the East.” But for bold and thrilling grandeur, scarcely anything in all the musical conceptions of the ages can be considered superior to “Go Down, Moses, way down in Egypt Land.” As the slaves used to roar it out, it must have seemed like the very voice of Jehovah himself.

In these songs it is easy to trace the effects of a galling yoke crushing the poor body to the dust, while the soul rises triumphant over circumstances in the conviction of its true nobility and in the hope, though long deferred, of realizing, even on earth, its full liberty. The sweetest utterances of the sacred poets of all the centuries have been those “songs in the night” that came forth from the bitterest experiences of human woe.

It is related of a certain German nobleman that he had a number of wires stretched from turret to turret of his castle which acted like a great Æolian harp, bringing forth richest music, but only when the tempests played upon its quivering strings. So may it be said of the slaves in their forlorn condition, that they sang most sweetly when the storms of adversity beat upon them most fiercely.

Happily the days of slave music are past. The system which brought it into existence is abolished; but the world owes a great debt of gratitude to those who have made a study of these songs and put them in print for the benefit of future generations.

This article would not be complete without a single mention of the Fisk Jubilee Company, whose wonderful history—more romantic than the wildest fiction—furnishes a living illustration of our theme.

Their first performances doubtless represented the native music of the South more perfectly than the present cultured state of their voices will allow; but, while art has refined their methods, it has also served to adorn [72] nature with a chaste and quiet beauty which wins a way to every soul that comes under its magic spell.

The evident enjoyment with which they pour forth their music like birds—their marvelous power of crescendo and diminuendo —their faultless articulation both of notes and words, even in the most piano and prolonged chords—stamp their style as a model for church choirs and all who engage in the service of sacred song.

God be praised that we live to see this day, when these long-despised and down-trodden sons and daughters of toil can visit our Northern cities in the full enjoyment of American citizenship, and teach us of the alleged and boasted superior race how to sing most expressively and effectively the Lord’s song in a strange land.

ROUND THE WORLD.

—New York.—There are 489 churches and missions of all denominations laboring for the spiritual welfare of the City of New York, of which about 400 are evangelical Protestant churches.

—Chicago.—The number of churches in Chicago has increased in ten years from 156 to 218. The Congregationalists and Presbyterians have each lost one church in that time.

—Omaha.—The largest Congregational Church in Nebraska is at Omaha. During the past year 49 persons were admitted to its membership by its pastor, Rev. A. F. Sherrell.

—Ogden.—The influx of Mormons to Utah is indicated by the fact that more than 2,000 recruits left Liverpool for that Territory last summer.

—San Francisco.—There were 1,682 pupils enrolled in the schools of the A. M. A. in California last year, of which number 140 were hopefully converted.

—Sandwich Islands.—A $6,000 church for the Chinese has been built at Honolulu, $500 being given by a Chinaman who was formerly hired out for $4 per month.

—Yokohama.—The Reformed Church in America has at its Yokohama station 158 members, 8 preaching places, 3 Sunday-schools, 131 scholars, with a boarding department.

—Hong Kong.—The Mission of the Basle Society at Hong Kong has 145 communicants. The London Missionary Society has 32 missionaries, native and foreign, at the same point.

—Calcutta.—A sect of Hindoo dissenters has recently made an attack on the idol of Juggernaut. They profess belief in Hindoo deities, but do not respect their images.

—Bombay.—The native dispensary of the St. John’s Mission, Bombay, [73] has an average attendance of about 60 patients, who are read to daily by the missionaries of the English Church.

—Cairo.—The Mohammedans at Cairo have a very extensive training-school, in which 10,000 students are taught annually the doctrines contained in the Koran.

—Naples.—The Wesleyan Methodists sustain regular preaching in 96 preaching places in Italy. In the Naples district they have 575 members and 196 probationers.

—Rome.—The Free Church of Italy has 15 ordained ministers, 15 evangelists and 1,800 communicants. Its theological college, attended by 16 students, is situated at Rome.

—Turin.—The village of Bertrolla, near Turin, in Italy, has renounced Romanism and accepted the Protestant faith. The archbishop suspended the priest and closed the church against the 2,000 parishioners.

—Paris.—In Paris there are said to be 89 Sunday-schools, with 7,596 scholars. The international series of lessons is used in 32 of these schools.

—London.—Three Congregational churches in the north of London have opposed the application of the Salvation Army for permission to occupy their chapels as centres for religious work.

—Liverpool.—Bishop Ryle has delivered a strong charge to his clergy in consequence of the existence of a body of churchmen who seemed determined to un-Protestantize the church.

—New York.—Rev. Albert B. Simpson, with a company of associates, has undertaken a new evangelistic work for the masses in the Academy of Music, New York.

REVIVAL NEWS.

—Meetings have been held every evening during the week for some time at Talladega College. Several conversions are reported.

—A precious revival has been in progress some weeks in Fisk University. Nightly meetings have been held, and at last report twenty-five students had given evidence of conversion.

—Special meetings were held during the week of prayer at the Le Moyne Institute. Three persons have been hopefully converted, and others are inquiring the way of life. The church also has advanced to a better spiritual condition.

—This month has been characterized by a great awakening in Straight University, New Orleans. It is believed that ten of the young lady boarders have been hopefully converted. The good influence is widely felt throughout the school.

—Professor Francis writes from Atlanta University: “For some days [74] past our school has been much moved by the presence of the Holy Spirit, who has brought quite a number to confess their need of a Saviour, and quickened greatly the zeal of many who had before borne the name of Christ. We are holding extra meetings, and the interest deepens from day to day, so that we have good reason to hope that a good harvest may be gathered in, if we exercise due fidelity and patience. The impressions of the gracious work we enjoyed last year have remained with us, and already quite a number have this year taken their stand for Christ, and we rejoice greatly at the good dealings of the Lord with us, and seek greater blessings.”

GENERAL NOTES.

AFRICA.

—A dispatch from Cairo announces the death of Mgr. Comboni, Apostolic Vicar of Central Africa.

—The colonies of Natal, discontented with their form of government, demand the institution of a parliamentary rule upon the model of that which has been granted the colony of the Cape.

—The Queen of Madagascar has named for the first time the ministers and secretaries of state, and at the same time given a law relative to their functions.

—A steamer with two helixes has been ordered by an English house for the civilizing station of the Portuguese which is to be established upon the Congo.

—A society is formed in Liberia, under the title of Liberia Interior Association, with a view of developing commerce with the interior, of seeking means of transportation and the employ of beasts in some parts of the country, and of bestowing attention upon the commercial, agricultural and political interests of the colony in the interior.

—The College of Liberia will be transferred into the country, where to classical studies will be joined instruction in manual labor, to teach the natives the use and practice of the instruments of European industry.

—P. Autunes, Professor at Braga, set out the 15th of October, with two assistants and three workmen, to establish at Hailla, near Humpata, where the Boers are, schools for the children of the colonists, the Boers and natives, under the direction of chosen teachers. He will also establish an industrial and professional school of arts and trades necessary for African life. The Portuguese government has granted lands to him, reserving to itself the approval of the rules which will regulate these different establishments.

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Mr. A. E. Jackson , of the Mendi Mission, in appealing for supplies, says: “There are persons here who desire to unite in matrimony. They are just emerging from paganism, and any favor shown them by the Mission adds so much to its influence for good. They ought to have plain white dresses, white gloves, shoes or slippers, and a little underwear; and for encouragement, some bedding—sheets, pillow-cases, and such like. We have a young couple with us who were married this year, and Mrs. Jackson is now preparing clothing for another couple who will marry in about two weeks.”

THE INDIANS.

—The American Baptist Home Missionary Society reports 90 churches, with nearly 6,000 church members, among the Indians in the Indian Territory.

—Santiago Reino, an Indian from the Taos Pueblo, was recently baptized and received into the church at Cenecero, Colorado. So far as known, he is the first from that Pueblo to receive Christian baptism.

—Rev. Mr. Hicks, of McAllister, Indian Territory, has selected a site for a church, and reorganized a Sunday-school with 40 scholars. He hopes soon to reorganize a church with 20 members. Four infants have already received the rite of baptism.

—The presence of fifteen civilized Indians at the Presbytery of Idaho—one of them an ordained minister, four ruling elders, two licentiates, three applying for licensure, and all of them church members—speaking and singing the praises of God, was a grand testimony to the power and influence of the Christian religion.

THE CHINESE.

—China proper is said to be entirely open to the missionary and the Bible colporteur with the exception of Hunan.

—Miss H. Carter, a teacher among the Chinese in Boston, writes: It is not unusual to find a man who learns the alphabet and a few words in a single lesson. One pupil of more than twenty-five years learned to read so rapidly at his weekly lesson that he could study intelligently the Sunday-school Bible lesson in Isaiah lv. at the end of five months.

—A Chinese named Wang, aged sixty-two, applying for baptism said: “I should not like to die without having obeyed the commandment of the Lord Jesus.” When asked what name he intended to choose at his baptism, he said: “Lazarus was a poor man, just as I am a poor man; I should like therefore to be called by his name.” He was accordingly baptized by the name of Lazarus.

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BENEFACTIONS.

—Mr. Haskell, editor of the Boston Herald , has subscribed $1,000 to Bates College.

—Mr. John P. Howard has given $28,000 to the University of Vermont, for rebuilding its main edifice.

—Amherst College is to receive about $50,000 for its library from the estate of the late Joel Stiles, of Boston.

—Mr. C. H. McCormick has added $50,000 to his already liberal gifts to the Presbyterian Theological Seminary of the Northwest.

—The Boston University has come into possession of the $2,000,000 estate bequeathed to the institution ten years ago by Isaac Rich, of Boston.

—The will of the late Cornelius Sweetser bequeathed $10,000 to the Thomaston Academy, the income of $15,000 for public and school libraries, $5,000 for a Sweetser school fund, and $12,000 to the York Institute.

—St. Johnsbury Academy has received from Thaddeus Fairbanks an additional $40,000 as a permanent fund. To this a gift of $50,000 is added from the estate of Governor Erastus Fairbanks, making, with sums otherwise secured, an endowment fund of $100,000.

— The Executive Committee of the A. M. A. reported at its annual meeting that $15,000 were needed for a Boy’s Dormitory at Straight University, New Orleans, La. One individual offers $5,000 of this amount on condition that the remaining $10,000 be secured.

A volume of 420 pages, entitled “Missionary Papers,” by Rev. John C. Lowrie, D.D., is the work of a man well qualified to write on a broad range of missionary topics. Dr. Lowrie was once a missionary in India, and for many years has been the senior Secretary of the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions. These papers are, therefore, the results of extended observation and of long and varied experience. They, like their author, are not sensational, but scholarly and practical. We subjoin a quotation from the paper on “Less Favored Races.”

“As to passing by the degraded, ignorant and uncivilized races, in order to reach those who are in some degree intelligent, polite and civilized—well, we do not so understand the example of the first Christians. The Apostle Peter might have made a splendid argument for the Hebrews as the main people to be first evangelized, pointing to their wonderful history, their unrivaled geographical position, their intellectual force, their widely-spread settlements in other countries; so the Apostle Paul might have spent a part of his unequaled eloquence in a plea for the Greeks as the people of culture, and of the Romans as full of energy. But how little [77] do we find in the first missionary records of ethnographic, political, commercial, conventional ideas as motives for evangelizing labor. We ought to understand, moreover, the lesson of our own Anglo-Saxon history; where were men and women to be found who were less attractive than the early inhabitants of Great Britain and Ireland? The same Gospel that brought them to their present standing can change the people of Africa and make them intelligent, cultured, devoted Christians.”

A BLIND SAMSON.

From Address of Rev. A. J. Biddle, at Warsaw, N.Y.

Years ago, when the negro was a bondman, Longfellow thus spoke of him:

Well he is blind enough yet, poor enough, a Samson, too, and what is more, he is no longer bound. His locks are beginning to grow, and he is beginning to place his brawny hand upon the pillars of our common weal; not angrily, but ignorantly. We placed them there hoping that he would prove a support, and he will if we watch and direct him. But thus far he has been a menace to our liberties; not from malice, but because he is what he is. We have not dealt with him wisely; but from the fatal day over two hundred years ago, when that thrifty Dutchman landed the first negro on the hanks of the James River to this, we have blundered. Our treatment of him has been a mixture of stupidity and wickedness. We never should have brought him here, but we did.

It should have been our endeavor to raise him from his barbarism by careful education, but that was forbidden by law. We should have emancipated him gradually, but that we could not do. We should have fitted him for citizenship before giving him the ballot, but we did the opposite. When emancipated, we should have educated him, but that was too much trouble. So from the outset we have done those things we ought not to have done, and left undone those things we ought to have done. We can see it now, but it requires little wit to see our blunders after they are made, and we are suffering the consequences. But note three points:

1st. The negro is a part of our nation. One person in every eight of our population is of African descent. He is going to stay a permanent part of our population. You cannot colonize him. He will not die out. The exodus is but a ripple, and that from one part of the nation to another. In the South he will live and thrive. His race increases with frightful rapidity. It does no good to grumble about it. The problem we must solve is to build up a peaceful, prosperous nation with such a population as we have.

2d. They are citizens; they have the right to vote; they will vote; the votes will be counted. The time will soon come when they will hold the balance of power in every Southern State. Political parties will bid for their vote, cater to their wishes and prejudices, and shape legislation to catch their votes.

3d. They are as a class miserably poor, densely ignorant and low in their moral [78] conception and practice. Seventeen years ago they were turned loose without a cent of their own or a letter of the alphabet. That they have done well in acquiring property and knowledge under the circumstances, is the testimony of all who know them. Many of them have little homes of their own, and those who can read and write are numbered now by the hundred thousand. Take them altogether, it is estimated that they own on an average above $11 worth of property. It is an encouraging fact that in seventeen years they have accumulated so much as that. But what poverty does that indicate, with $11 for each man, woman and child among them! Here we must not forget that they are six hundred years behind the white race in civilization. They as a rule must be separated from the whites. We cannot absorb them, as we do the German, or Irish. They will be clannish by the nature of the case. The more ignorant they remain the more clannish they will grow, and our only safety lies in making them feel that their interest is not separated from, but identical with the other citizens of the Republic. I tell you, friends, that the mightiest question of the nation yet, is what to do with that great mass of half civilized, impoverished, ignorant people that cover the South.

THE FREEDMEN.

REV. JOSEPH E. ROY, D.D., Field Superintendent, Atlanta, Ga.

TWENTY YEARS AFTER FREEDOM.

It is worthy of note that near where the first slaves disembarked in our country, bondmen were first disenthralled by the events of our civil war. Gen. Butler, in May, 1861, issued his famous proclamation, declaring the negroes about his camp in Hampton contrabands.

At that time, and later on, thousands of them gathered in near proximity to his headquarters, living for the most part in an improvised city, christened Slabtown. Twenty years have wrought many changes in the condition of these people. Slabtown has disappeared, and in its place and for miles around, cottages with garden plots, and even considerable farms, are found. A large number of these are owned by the freed people, who constitute a majority in Elizabeth City county, and form a quasi-negro republic.

The blacks are courteous in their deportment toward the white citizens, who in return display much kindness and good will. One of the negroes, when asked recently by a Northern gentleman how his people were treated by the whites, is reported to have said. “Oh, we are largely in the majority, and the white man knows how to keep his place.” They seem willing that the white people should hold the important offices, and the most cordial relations apparently exist between all classes. Not long after the recent election in Virginia, the black people about Fortress Monroe were observed to be intently reading the newspapers. A ministerial-looking colored man, of fifty or upward, was asked by the writer if there was any law forbidding the white people to read. “Why do you wish to know that?” he inquired. On being told that the colored people were seen reading the papers while the white laborers were standing idly about, he replied pertinently, “These white folks don’t like the way the election went much, but it just suited us.”

ASSEMBLY-ROOM AT HAMPTON.

The improvements about Fortress Monroe and Hampton during the past twenty years have been considerable. New buildings have been constructed inside of the fort, and Mr. Harrison Phoebus has built near the government wharf a mammoth, [79] hotel, the Hygeia, capable of accommodating a thousand visitors. The Soldier’s Home at Hampton has extensive grounds, and accommodations for over 600 people. A large and tasteful building has just been completed, with an audience room seating from six to eight hundred. The grounds and buildings connected with the Soldier’s Home are kept up with much care and expense.

The Hampton Institute, which has done much to work all the changes mentioned, is a village by itself, and Gen. Armstrong, its principal, has 704 students under his supervision. The village of Hampton, which was burned early in the war, has been rebuilt, and recently Newport News has come to the front in consequence of the extension of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad to that point. Already the company has constructed a pier said to be the largest in the United States, and land is held at $16,000 an acre at a point where scarcely a dozen houses can be seen. The harbor facilities at Newport News are unrivaled.

These varied developments have created a demand for labor and given to the [80] negro, especially as he is the recognized laborer, a grand opportunity for securing property. A canvasser for a sewing machine company, who has spent three years in Eastern Virginia, testifies that the negroes have most of the money to be found in that country. He says they are prompt in paying their instalments, whereas when he sells to the poorer white people he fails to collect his money, for the reason that they have none.

The manners and customs of the people are still unique. It is no uncommon thing to see a heifer or a steer harnessed to a cart and driven by one or two women who bring supplies to market. Possibly one-half of the conveyances seen by a visitor during a month’s stay are of this fashion; but the proprietors do not seem to be unhappy. Indeed, a Wall street broker, who had been spending a month at the Hygeia hotel, and who was fond of the recreation afforded by visiting Hampton on market days, affirmed that these negroes were the happiest people he ever saw.

If twenty years of freedom can work such changes all over the land as are manifested here, where emancipation first dawned, surely the future is full of hope.

EMERSON INSTITUTE, MOBILE, ALA., BURNED.

Emerson Institute is lying in ruins. For the second time in her history she is smoldering in ashes, and we are in mourning for the destruction of our little church, made dear by so many sacred and hallowed associations, and our beautiful school building, in which so many happy hours of toil have been spent and labors of love performed. November 21 a vain attempt was made to burn the little Congregational church at Mobile, but the fire, being set at an early hour in the evening, was discovered and soon extinguished. The insurance company repaired damages at an expense of $30. Now, when our minds were relaxing this tension, and lapse of time was giving us a degree of security against further molestation, the enemy approaches again and applies the torch—this time with marvelous success.

The fire was discovered about two o’clock on the morning of January 23 by one of the teachers, who was startled by the crackling sound of the flames. Arousing her room-mate and looking out to make sure of the evidence, they discovered the flames and gave the [81] alarm of “fire” to the household. It was set at the northwest corner of the church, facing toward the house, and when discovered the whole end was a sheet of flame. In an incredibly short space of time Mr. Crawford was throwing an acid stream from our “Babcock Extinguisher” into the devouring flames, but they had gained so great an advantage before discovery that the “Babcock” alone could not avail. The alarm boxes being out of order the tower bell could not be struck. The Hook and Ladder Company were early on hand, but had no fire buckets. When we found ourselves powerless to quench the consuming flames on the church, we turned our attention to the school building standing near. Danger to that did not seem great as the building was of brick, the night was still and damp and the engines had arrived. But thinking it better to err on the safe side, most of the movable furniture was carried out. Before this was fully accomplished, however, the cornice had caught and the flames rapidly spread over the roof, leaping higher and higher in mock derision of the little shower bath from the hose. Not until the roof had fallen and the flames had spread to all parts and our hopes were buried in despair, did the engines succeed in getting water enough to throw a respectable stream. Help delayed was unavailing. It seems almost incredible that our school building should burn down before our very eyes, under such circumstances. Was it an enemy did this foul deed? Who can tell? God only, who reads the hearts of men, can answer. The expressed sentiments of the best people of the city are in severe condemnation of the act, and a reward of $300 has been offered for the arrest and conviction of the incendiary.

The question which presented itself to us, even before the smoke had died away, was, “What shall we do?” For a time we felt constrained to utter the language of Gideon: “O, my Lord! if the Lord be with us, why, then, is all this befallen us?” The answer came clear and unmistakable: “Go, in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hands of the Midianites; have not I sent thee?” The way was made plain to us at once, when Rev. Mr. Owen, pastor of the Third Baptist Church (colored) threw wide open its doors and said: “We gladly make room for you here.” The offer was as thankfully received as it was generously given. Scholars, patrons and friends seem as anxious that the work should be continued without delay as we ourselves. So that we re-open school again on Monday, Jan. 30, with three departments, at the Third Baptist Church, about one mile from the “Home,” and two departments in the basement of Little Zion Church, about three blocks distant from the Home. Of course, the accommodations now will be in sad contrast to those enjoyed in our well-arranged and convenient school-room, and our labors will be much more arduous and trying; but the Lord has said, “As thy days so shall thy strength be,” and we go forward relying on His strength. Our school seemed in a most prosperous condition, over two hundred pupils enrolled, and everything moving on to the satisfaction of all. The Sunday-school has not had a larger attendance for three years than now. There seemed to be a constantly growing interest manifested, and the outlook was very encouraging.

Nothing at all was saved from the church. The cabinet organ, the Sunday-school library of over two hundred volumes, a valuable chart used by the primary department of the school, together with Bibles, singing-books, etc., all perished in the flames.

In our now pressing needs we cannot close this article without an appeal to the earnest, hopeful and sympathetic friends at the North. “Come over and help us.”

Miss Emma Caughey.

[82]

THE INDIANS

CHRISTMAS AT SPOKAN FALLS, W. T.—SCHOOL WORK, Etc.

By Rev. H. T. Cowley.

Christmas is always the greatest occasion of the year with these Indians, and its recent recurrence was unusually enjoyed. The principal attraction is the opportunity to worship, hear anew the story of the Saviour’s birth, renew their consecration and participate in the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper. A social festival follows all, tribal affairs are discussed and efforts are made to heal jealousies and alienations.

On this occasion there was a marked religious interest and a very visible improvement in outward condition. The school-house, which is as yet our only place of meeting, was densely crowded; many had come over twenty miles in sleds and on horseback.

Father Eells, their former missionary, was present and addressed them, renewing old associations. There were seven infant and one adult baptisms; and two others, a wife and husband, expressed a desire to unite with the church at our next communion. It was altogether a precious occasion, which we shall all long remember. The school now numbers sixteen scholars equally divided between the sexes, and is making reasonable progress considering the disadvantages we contend with. A day school among Indians, as a general rule, fails of the best results. The imperative demand is for a boarding and industrial department and a matron. I have been calling the attention of the Indian Department to this necessity for the past six years, but as the Spokans are a small tribe and peacefully inclined, Congress has overlooked them, while at the same time their country is being rapidly filled by white settlers and no adequate provision has been made for their permanent location or education. Commissioner Price has, however, recently informed me of his recommendation to secure an appropriation of $5,000 to enable Spokans who wish to avail themselves of the provisions of the Indian Homestead Act to pay the land fees and commissions.

We are also much in need of a house of worship, as the school-house (18×24) is too small and inconvenient for that purpose. Dr. Atkinson informs me that he raised $50 while East to help in this object, but about $200 more will be required to supplement the work of the Indians.

THE CHINESE.

CLIPPINGS FROM THE FORTHCOMING ANNUAL REPORT OF OUR CALIFORNIA AUXILIARY.

[BY REV. W. C. POND.]

General View. —“The past year has been one of blessing at almost every point of our experience. We have to record our roll of members unbroken, so far as we know, by any stroke of death; our schools increasingly prosperous, on the whole, from the beginning of the year to its close; our work larger and better, we trust, than ever before; a deeper and more general interest in it, we have reason to think, on the part of the churches, and our receipts, especially in the way of gifts made directly to our own treasury, much larger than in any preceding year.”

Our Work as a Whole. —“Fifteen schools have been sustained for a longer or shorter period in the year, a gain upon last year’s work of three schools. Of these fifteen, nine were sustained the entire year, with no vacation at all, except for two or three days at the annual holidays. Of the other six, all except one were commenced during the year, [83] and all but two are still in operation. One of them is still an experiment, and may be discontinued; the others give such promise of usefulness—are, indeed, already bearing such good fruit—that I think they are experiments no longer.”

“We had at the close of the previous year 20 teachers and helpers employed, six of whom were Chinese. At the close of this year 27 laborers—nine Chinese. The total number of months of missionary service is 286, being more by 40 than in any other year of our Mission’s history. We have great satisfaction now in all our workers. Our Chinese helpers give us especial joy, as being themselves the fruit of our mission-work. They are faithful, zealous, and, generally, wise; and God owns their labors, setting His seal upon their ministry by using it for the salvation of lost souls. We greatly desire to call others into this service, hoping that when they have learned among us to teach by teaching, and to preach by preaching, it may please the Master to use them not only to carry the good news of a Saviour to the Chinese in America, but to evangelize also some of the myriads in their own land. The total number of pupils enrolled was 1,632, an increase upon the previous year of 76, even as that year showed an increase of 67 on the one further back. The average membership month by month reaches an aggregate of 562, a gain upon the year preceding of 78, and the average attendance was 288, a gain of 36. We find like gains in the columns representing those who have ceased from idol worship and who give evidence of conversion. How many began the new life during the year it is impossible to state accurately. No month has passed without some accessions to our Association of Christian Chinese, and to join that Association is to confess Christ. I estimate the hopeful conversions at 56, and the total number brought to repentance since our mission-work began at more than 325. The contributions of these Chinese brethren to the work of Christ through the treasury, either of our Mission or of their Association, amount to about $1,900.”

POSTSCRIPT.

The Secretary takes the liberty to add, by way of bringing the story of our work down to the date at which this report is issued, that the monthly reports for the first third of the present year—that is from September 1 to December 31—show that the enrolled membership of our schools, month by month, has averaged 677, against a like enrollment last year of 473; the aggregate average attendance 325, against 215 last year. And the total number enrolled in all the schools up to December 31 was, this year. 1,104; last year, 753. So the work grows; may the gracious results multiply in far greater proportion! Brethren, pray for us.

CHILDREN’S PAGE

BOY LIFE IN CHINA.

Hangchow , China.

My dear children: I think you will be interested to hear something about the life of boys in China. Well, to begin at the beginning, when a little baby-boy makes his appearance into the world he is welcomed very warmly. When he is a month old a grand ceremony is gone through; the child is washed, and its head shaved, all except two little tufts of hair on each side of the head behind the ear, which are tied tight and stick out at right angles from the head. He is dressed up very smartly, and a feast is given. Up to about six or seven years old, boys are allowed to do much as they like; but after that they are taken to school, and learn reading, writing and manners. They do not seem, as a rule, to be taught arithmetic; but the master is very particular about his pupils’ manners. [84] In every school there is put up opposite the entrance a tablet in honor of Confucius, and all the pupils have to bow low before it, holding up their books with both hands towards it, both on entering and leaving school; they also bow in the same way to the master. The books which they learn at school are full of the sayings of the wise man Confucius, who was born 551 B.C., and lived about the time when the Jews were returning from their captivity in Babylon. Confucius himself did not write any books, but his disciples wrote down his wise sayings, and the boys at school learn them off by heart.

It is astonishing what memories these Chinese boys have, and what a number of pages they will repeat straight off, as fast as their tongues can go, and hardly stopping to take breath. They learn their lessons aloud, and consequently as you walk along the street you can tell when you are drawing near a school by the noise, which becomes simply a din if you enter; and you can only wonder how the children ever learn anything, and what the master has done to his ears to make them strong enough to bear all that noise. When the boys repeat their lessons they stand with their backs to their master, and, swinging their bodies from side to side, gabble off the words as fast as they can, without any stops except for breath. They are not expected to understand what they learn till they have been many years at school.

I dare say you wonder whether the Chinese school-boys play any games. They do not know anything about such nice games as cricket, foot-ball, marbles, etc. But at the new year they have a grand time of flying kites.

The streets at that time look quite gay with groups of people, dressed, not as at other times, in dark cotton clothes, but in silks and satins of crimson, green, blue, purples and various hues, often with beautifully embroidered sleeves, and jackets often lined with fur. The children look particularly smart, being adorned with gay caps and hats, ornamented with gilt figures or Chinese characters, especially the Chinese character which means “happiness.” The Chinese kites are very elaborate, and are generally in the shape of some animal—a gigantic butterfly, a centipede, a bird, a dragon, etc.; and it is a fine sight to watch such a kite rise, rise steadily in the still, clear atmosphere, till it becomes almost a speck. Sometimes they fly these kites at night, and send lighted lanterns up after them, which startle the unwary into imagining there are new stars appearing in the sky!

But you know, dear children, that these Chinese have evil hearts as well as we, which need the renewing of the Holy Ghost. Will you pray that they may receive this great blessing?— Mary Elwin in C. M. Juvenile Instructor.

RECEIPTS FOR JANUARY, 1882.

[93]

Several unusually important books for Sunday-school and Parish Libraries will be issued by D. LOTHROP & CO. during February.

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Hall in the Grove. Pansy’s new story. Price, $1.50.

To-Days and Yesterdays. By the author of June to June. $1.25.

Around the World Tour of Christian Missions. By W. F. Bainbridge. $2.00.

Round the World Letters. By Lucy S. Bainbridge. $1.50.

D. LOTHROP & CO., Boston, publish the most Popular and Valuable Sunday-school Books, including the celebrated Pansy and Prize Books, and send catalogues Free.

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THE PANSY,

A Pictorial Weekly Paper for Young People. Edited by Mrs. G. R. Alden, author of the Pansy Books. 50 cents a year.

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50 cents a year. It is full of large, gay pictures sweet little stories and jingles, and very funny drawings for copying on slates.

Send subscriptions to

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Father Kemp

Originator of the world-renowned “Old Folks Concerts,” and proprietor of the popular Boot and Shoe Store, 1,090 Washington street, Boston, testifies by the following letter in the benefit he received from using Hood’s Sarsaparilla.

Boston , Mass., Jan. 16, 1882.

Gentlemen. —Your preparation has done so much for me that I cannot refrain from sending you my simple, unsolicited testimony. In my travels through this country and Europe, and giving two concerts per day for more than twenty years, I found at last my health became so impaired that I had to give it up. That was fifteen years ago. Since that time until last summer (when I commenced taking Hood’s Sarsaparilla), I had scarcely seen a well day. Dangerous symptoms with constant roaring in the head, abscesses forming, with fearful suffering until they would break, and then only a temporary relief until another would form. My legs from the ankle to knee would swell and turn black; in fact, I suffered all that man could suffer and live. I consulted the most eminent physicians in the country and could get no relief. A friend prevailed on me to try your preparation. I did so. Result, to-day I am a well man: no pains or ails, and can do as much work, feel as fresh, as forty years ago. I am well known through the country, and would be willing to answer any letter of inquiry as regards my case.

Respectfully yours,   FATHER KEMP,

Originator of the “Old Folks Concerts,” and sixty-one years old.

Hood’s Sarsaparilla,

Sold by all druggists. Price $1; six for $5. Made only by C. I. HOOD & CO., Apothecaries, Lowell, Mass.

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[94]

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Camp’s Outline Maps. — Set of 9 maps, with key. No. 1, Hemispheres; No. 2, North America; No. 3, United States: No. 4, South America; No. 5, Europe; No. 6, Asia; No. 7, Africa; No. 8, Oceanica; No. 9, Physical World.

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Circulars sent on application.

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Transcriber’s Notes:

Corrected obvious printer’s punctuation errors and omissions. Inconsistent hyphenation retained due to the multiplicity of authors. Period spelling (including Spokan) retained.

“Steet” changed to “Street” on the inside cover. ( 56 Reade Street )

Missing “a” added in “adopt” on page 66. ( adopt some such system of giving )

Missing space added between “weeks” and “in” on page 73. ( some weeks in Fisk University )

“Talledega” changed to “Talladega” in the Winsted entry on page 88.