Читать книгу: «The American Missionary. Volume 42, No. 12, December, 1888», страница 3
WEDNESDAY MORNING
The prayer-meeting from 8 to 9 o'clock, was led by Rev. Rowland B. Howard, of Massachusetts. At 9 o'clock the Association was called to order by the President, who conducted the devotional exercises.
The records of the previous day were read and approved,
A paper, on "American Freedmen and African Evangelization," was read by Secretary M.E. Strieby, D.D.
A paper, on "The Hopefulness of Indian Missions as Seen in the Light of History," was read by Secretary A.F. Beard, D.D.
Voted that the papers read by the Secretaries be referred to the appropriate committees.
The Nominating Committee reported the following special committees who were appointed:
Committee on the Chinese.—Rev. S. Gilbert, D.D., of Illinois; Rev. M.M.G. Dana. D.D., of Massachusetts; Rev. Geo. A. Tewksbury, of Massachusetts; Rev. F.L. Ferguson, of Connecticut; Rev. R.W. Wallace, of Massachusetts.
Committee on the Indians.—S.B. Capen, Esq., of Massachusetts; Rev. A.P. Foster, D.D., of Massachusetts; Rev. John L. Ewell, of Massachusetts, Rev. John E. Tuttle, of Massachusetts.
Committee on Educational Work.—Rev. Llewellyn Pratt, D.D., of Connecticut; Rev. Julian M. Sturtevant, D.D., of Ohio; Rev. George E. Hall, of New Hampshire; H.D. Smith, Esq., of Connecticut; Stephen Ballard, Esq., of New York.
A Memorial Service for Rev. James Powell, D.D., late Secretary of the Association, was held. Addresses were made by Rev. Simeon Gilbert, D.D., of Illinois, Rev. Geo. H. Ide, D.D., of Wisconsin; Secretary M.E. Strieby, D.D., and President Wm. M. Taylor, D.D. Rev. A.P. Foster, D.D., of Massachusetts, led in prayer.
The report of the Committee on Chinese Work, Rev. Simeon Gilbert, D.D., Chairman, was presented, and an address was delivered by Rev. M. McG. Dana, D.D., of Massachusetts.
An address on "The relations of the A.M.A. to Young People," was delivered by Rev. J.L. Hill, of Massachusetts.
Recess was taken to 2 P.M.
WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON
The Association was called to order at 2 P.M. by the President. Rev. P.W. Lyman, of Massachusetts, offered prayer.
A Paper on "Systematic Spending," was read by District Secretary C.J. Ryder.
A report and address on the Indian Work, were made by S.B. Capen, Esq., of Massachusetts. Addresses were also made by Rev. A.P. Foster, D.D., of Massachusetts, and by Rev. C.W. Shelton, Financial Secretary for Indian Missions.
The Nominating Committee nominated the following special committees, who were appointed:
Committee on Mountain Work.—Rev. G.S. Burroughs, D.D., of Massachusetts; Rev. C.B. Riggs, of Tennessee; J.R. Gilmore, Esq., of Connecticut; Rev. Morton Dexter, of Massachusetts; Chas. Coffin, Esq., of Massachusetts.
Committee on Church Work.—Rev. David Gregg, D.D., of Massachusetts, Rev, Stephen M. Newman, D.D., of the District of Columbia; Rev. Wm. Hayes Ward, D.D., of New Jersey; Frank Wood, Esq., of Massachusetts; R.L. Day, Esq., of Ohio.
The Committee on Educational Work reported, and addresses were delivered in connection with the report, by the Chairman, Rev. Llewellyn Pratt, D.D., of Connecticut, and by Rev. Julian M. Sturtevant, D.D., of Ohio.
An address on "The Church and the Color Line," was delivered by Rev. James Brand, D.D., of Ohio.
Benediction by the President, and recess taken to 7:30 P.M.
WEDNESDAY EVENING
The Association was called to order by the President, and Rev. George A. Tewksbury, D.D., of Massachusetts, offered prayer.
An address was delivered by Mr. Joshua Given, an Indian theological student, giving the story of his own life; by Rev. Joseph E. Smith, of Tennessee, on "The Evils of Caste to the Colored Race"; by Rev. B.A. Imes, of Tennessee, on "The Evils of Secret Societies to the Colored Race"; by Rev, J.R. McLean of Texas, on "The Evils of Intemperance to the Colored Race."
Adjourned to Thursday morning, at 9 o'clock.
THURSDAY MORNING
The Prayer Meeting from 8 to 9 o'clock was led by Rev. James L. Fowle, Missionary of the American Board.
The Association was called to order at 9 o'clock, and led in prayer by Rev. Wm. H. Ward, D.D., of New Jersey.
The Rev. J.H. Ross, Assistant Recording Secretary, being called away, Rev. Frank E. Jenkins was appointed.
The minutes of Wednesday were read and approved.
A paper on "Our Indebtedness to the Negro During the War," was read by District Secretary J.E. Roy, D.D., of Chicago.
Rev. George S. Burroughs, D.D., of Massachusetts, presented the report of the Committee on Mountain Work, following it with an address; Rev. C.B. Riggs of Tennessee, and James R. Gilmore of Connecticut, also addressed the Association on the same subject.
Committees were appointed—on Secretary Strieby's paper, Wolcott Calkins, D.D., and Rev. O.S. Dean, of Massachusetts, and Hon. A.C. Barstow of Rhode Island; and on Secretary Beard's paper, Rev. Morton Dexter, Frank Wood, Esq., and Rev. John E. Tuttle, all of Massachusetts.
Rev. Arthur Little, D.D., of Illinois, invited the Association to hold its next Annual Meeting with the New England Church in Chicago. The invitation was accepted by the President in behalf of the Executive Committee.
The report of the Committee on Church Work, and an address, were made by Rev. David Gregg, D.D., of Massachusetts.
Rev. Wm. Hayne Leavell, of Mississippi, made an address on "The Present Necessities of the Negro."
Recess was taken until 2 P.M.
THURSDAY AFTERNOON
The Association was called to order by Rev. D.O. Mears, D.D., a Vice-president, and prayer was offered by Rev. P.B. Davis, of Massachusetts.
L.C. Warner, M.D., of New York, presented the report of the Finance Committee.
Secretary Strieby then made the announcement of the gift to the Association of the largest donation ever made to a benevolent society by a living donor, $1,000,894.25, from Mr. Daniel Hand, of Guilford, Ct. Further statements were made by John H. Washburn, Esq., Chairman of the Executive Committee; and by Rev. D.O. Mears, D.D.
The doxology was sung, and the following resolution was offered by Samuel Holmes, Esq., Chairman of the Finance Committee, and was adopted by a rising vote.
Resolved.—That we recognize the goodness of Almighty God in putting it into the heart of Mr. Daniel Hand to make the munificent gift of more than one million dollars for the education of the colored youth of the South, to be expended under the direction of the American Missionary Association.
We rejoice in the flood of beneficent influence which will flow through all the years from this noble source.
We gratefully accept the trust put upon us, promising to use it as a stimulus for increased activity on the part of the Christian Church, and we offer our prayer to the Divine Father, that he may abundantly bless the remaining years of our honored friend with the grace of His Spirit and the joy that follows the accomplishment of the desires of a heart burdened with the love of our suffering and ignorant fellow men.
Prayer was offered by Rev. Thomas A. Emerson, of Clinton, Conn.
The Association then adjourned to the chapel.
The Nominating Committee reported the following list of officers for the ensuing year, and they were unanimously elected.
President, REV. WM. M. TAYLOR, D.D., LL.D., N.Y.
Vice-Presidents:
REV. A.J.F. BEHRENDS, D.D., N.Y.
REV. ALEX. MCKENZIE, D.D., Mass.
REV. F.A. NOBLE, D.D., Ill.
REV. D.O. MEARS, D.D., Mass.
REV. HENRY HOPKINS, D.D., Mo.
Corresponding Secretaries.
REV. M.E. STRIEBY, D.D., 56 Reade Street, N.Y.
REV. A.F. BEARD, D.D., 56 Reade Street, N.Y.
Recording Secretary:
Rev. M.E. STRIEBY, D.D., 56 Reade Street, N.Y.
Treasurer:
H.W. HUBBARD, Esq., 56 Reade Street, N.Y.
Auditors:
PETER McCARTEE,
CHAS. P. PEIRECE.
Executive Committee.
For Three Years.
J.E. RANKIN, J.W. COOPER, EDMUND L. CHAMPLIN, WM. H. WARD, JOHN H. WASHBURN,
For Two Years.—CHARLES A. HULL.
The report of the Committee on Secretary Strieby's paper was presented by Rev. W. Calkins, D.D., of Massachusetts, and adopted.
The report of the Committee on Secretary Beard's paper was presented by Rev. Morton Dexter, of Massachusetts, and adopted.
Recess was then taken to 7.30 P.M.
THURSDAY EVENING
The Association was called to order at 7:30 P.M., and prayer was offered by Rev. Thomas Laurie, D.D., of Providence.
The minutes for the day were read and approved, and the Secretary was authorized to complete them at the close of this service and to publish them under the direction of the Executive Committee.
Rev. David O. Mears, D.D., of Massachusetts, addressed the Association, and was followed by Rev. A.J.F. Behrends, D.D., of New York, and the closing address was made by the President.
The following vote of thanks was unanimously passed after appropriate remarks by District Secretary C.J. Ryder.
We approach the conclusion of this Annual Convention of the American Missionary Association with grateful hearts for all the way by which God has led it from the day when it crossed the brook with its staff of testimony to this time of extended influence and usefulness, with humble rejoicing both in the intellectual and spiritual fellowship of this meeting, and also with a special sense of responsibility under the burden of obligation which God has placed upon us by this unprecedented enlargement of our stewardship. We wish to express our devout thanksgiving for the grace of hospitality which has been bestowed in such abounding measure upon the churches of Christ and the good people of this city of Providence, with whose name in its divine significance we are to associate this peculiarly impressive anniversary.
We recall the delightful welcome which greeted us at the opening of these services, only to be impressed with the assurance that this Union Congregational Society and the other churches of the city were not at all forgetful to "entertain strangers." Their love indeed, made us at once to feel at home in their households, and in the midst of their delightful families.
Resolved, That to the local committees, especially the indefatigable Secretary, to the pastors of all the churches, to the choir and leaders of the services of song in the house of the Lord, to the local and metropolitan press for its generous reporting of these meetings to the large congregation outside by its multiform and winged processes, and to the lines of transportation which have made us the recipients of their courtesy, we express our great indebtedness with sincere thanks.
And so, in behalf of the members, officers and missionaries and friends of this great Association, we say once more: We thank you for your generous entertainment and crave for you the recompense for such ministering in the name of our Divine Master.
Rev. J.H. McIlvaine, D.D., of Providence, pastor of the church, responded.
The Doxology was then sung, and, after the benediction by the President, the Association adjourned.
HENRY A. HAZEN, Secretary.
FRANK E. JENKINS, Ass't Secretary.
* * * * *
SUMMARY OF TREASURER'S REPORT
EXPENDITURES
THE SOUTH
For Church and Educational Work, Land,
Buildings, etc. …$226,345.95
THE CHINESE
For Superintendent, Teachers, Rent, etc. …8,920.90
THE INDIANS
For Church and Educational Work, Buildings, etc. …48,967.08
FOREIGN MISSIONS
For Superintendent, Missionaries, etc., for
Mendi Mission, income paid to the Society of
the United Brethren in Christ …4,746.68
For Support of Aged Missionary, Jamaica, W.I. …250.00
PUBLICATIONS
For American Missionary, (23,400 monthly),
Annual Reports, Clerk Hire, Postage, etc. …6,511.21
AGENCIES
NEW YORK.—Corresponding Secretary, Traveling
Expenses, Circulars, etc. …2,543.93
NEW YORK.—Woman's Bureau, Secretary,
Traveling Expenses, Circulars, etc. …1,350.75
FOR EASTERN DISTRICT.—District Secretary,
Clerk Hire, Traveling Expenses, Printing,
Rent, Postage, Stationery, etc. …4,845.68
FOR WESTERN DISTRICT.—District Secretary,
Agent, Clerk Hire, Traveling Expenses, etc. …5,999.02
ADMINISTRATION
For Corresponding Secretaries, Treasurer and
Clerk Hire …11,720.00
MISCELLANEOUS
For Rent, Care of Rooms, Furniture, Repairs, Fuel
and Light, Books and Stationery, Rent of Safe
Deposit Box, Clerk Hire, Postage, Traveling
Expenses, Expressage, Telegrams, etc. …4,985.84
Annual Meeting …770.28
Wills and Estates …171.82
Annuity Account …630.94
Amounts refunded, sent to Treasurer by mistake …28.35
––
$328,788.43
===========
RECEIPTS
Balance on hand September 30, 1887 2,193.80
From Churches, Sabbath Schools, Missionary Societies and Individuals …$202,266.76
Estates and Legacies …47,636.20
Income, Sundry Funds …10,936.46
Tuition and Public Funds …33,180.86
Rents …496.40
United States Government for Subsistence for Indians …18,186.74
Slater Fund …8,300.00
––
$320,953.42
––
323,147.22
Debt Balance September 30, 1888 5,641.21
––
328,788.43
===========
ENDOWMENT FUNDS
Estate of Rev. Benjamin Foltz, late of Rockford,
Ill., in part …$500.00
Howard Carter, of Baldwinsville, N.Y., for
Education of Students for the Ministry …500.00
–– 1,000.00
* * * * *
The receipts of Berea College, Hampton Normal and
Agricultural Institute, and Atlanta University,
are added below, as presenting at one view the
contributions for the general work in which the
Association is engaged:
American Missionary Association …$320,953.42
Endowment Funds …1,000.00
–– $321,953.42
Berea College …13,908.30
Hampton N. and A. Institute …70,379.44
Atlanta University, (not acknowledged in
above account) …7,955.00
––
Grand Total, $414,196.16
===========
H.W. HUBBARD, Treasurer,
59 Reade Street, New York.
* * * * *
REPORTS OF COMMITTEES
* * * * *
REPORT ON EDUCATIONAL WORK.
BY REV. LEWELLYN PRATT, D.D., CHAIRMAN
The report of the Educational Work of this Association shows steady advance, in spite of straitened means. New responsibilities have been assumed in consequence of gifts of school buildings, and of the appeals from the people themselves, taxing—beyond the receipts from the churches—the resources of the Association.
An important feature of the Educational Work is represented in the twenty Normal Schools, from which have gone out seven thousand young men and women now engaged in teaching at the South. It is probable that nearly half a million of scholars have been under their care. These, together with the Normal Departments in our chartered institutions, Talladega College, Atlanta University, Straight University, Tillotson Institute, Tougaloo University and Fisk University, (with Hampton Institute, Berea College and Howard University, formerly under the care of the Association) are doing a great work in training teachers, as well as leaders in industrial pursuits and in the professions of the law and the ministry.
In all these, the fact, now so generally received in mission work, is fully recognized, that the leaders and teachers of a people must be found among themselves. They have abundantly proved their eagerness for education, their capacity for scholarship and leadership, and their ability to meet the problems resting upon the future of their race and of the nation. This is true, also, of the schools among the Indians and the Chinese.
Still, the work done by the Society and by all other agencies—State and denominational—has not kept pace with the growth of population, and official statistics in some portions of the South show that the percentage of illiteracy is steadily increasing. In Louisiana, for instance, in the last eight years—i.e., from 1880 to 1888—the number of illiterate voters increased from 102,933 to 126,938, changing the relative percentage from 52.3 per cent. who could read and write, and 47.7 per cent. who could not read and write—in 1880—to 49.2 per cent. who can read and write and 50.8 per cent. who cannot read and write in 1888. During that period, of the new white voters a majority were illiterate (7.502 : 7.609); of the new negro voters ten out of eleven were illiterate (1.588 : 16.387). Facts such as these call for great enlargement in the direction of common school education, and the number of teachers; make imperative demands upon State Governments; and lead many to appeal to the National Government for relief. They certainly justify the efforts of this Association and necessitate a great increase of the yearly contributions from churches and individuals. Measures should be taken to supplant the notion that by moderate annual contributions to ordinary schools for a few years the great task can be accomplished of lifting up a race that had been held in bondage for centuries, that started in its career of freedom in absolute destitution and that pursues its course here under many disabilities; and preparing liberators, missionaries, guides and saviours for the Dark Continent.
At the same time, it is the belief of your committee that the pressing need of the hour is the fuller development of the leading institutions already established and larger equipment for the arduous work set before the American people in our Southern States. For this end, steps should be taken towards securing their permanent endowment. While in every way the general work of reaching the masses and saving them from their illiteracy is to be pressed, the time has come to place these leading schools upon a firmer foundation and to make them more conspicuous as centres. For this they need to be amply endowed and maintained with steadily advancing educational courses, suited to giving those who are to become the leaders of a great people a broad and comprehensive education, abreast with the best in the times in which they are to do their work.
It is time to take comprehensive views and to plan for years to come. Neither this generation nor the next is to see the end of the special work to be done to fit the freedmen successfully to meet the conditions of their freedom. It has required centuries to qualify the Anglo-Saxon people for freedom; and we must expect that generation after generation will pass, even with the benefits of our experiments, experience and methods, before this people, upon whom the duties of free men have been thrust, can successfully discharge them. There is call for great patience, for far-reaching plans, for large beneficence. This question of the training of these eight millions of people is one of the most difficult set before the American people, and is worthy of the best thought of statesmen, patriots, philanthropists and Christians.
For our encouragement is the ardor of the people themselves; their readiness to receive an education; their position in a republic now far advanced; the progress already made; the growing interest in the States where they are most numerous to provide for them the means of a common school education; the army of teachers already in the field.
Believing in a wise Providence over-ruling the present and the future, we regard the problems before us, though great, not insoluble to faithful, wise and patient Christian effort along the lines upon which this Association has wrought.
We commend the wisdom and the foresight of this Association in the planting of these institutions of learning in favorable positions, its judicious economy in their management and its great skill in steadily advancing their scope and capability with insufficient resources and equipment. Upon these foundations the work should be carried on, and large and permanent universities should be reared; and we commend these to the Christian people for increased annual gifts and larger permanent endowments that the great undertaking fail not.
* * * * *
REPORT ON CHURCH WORK.
BY REV. DAVID GREGG, D.D., CHAIRMAN
The report of your Executive Committee on church work submitted for our review is very brief. There is a statement or two and a few figures. It puts things in the very best light, and uses figures in the most telling way. Its very brevity should act as a call to the churches for more means, and more men, and more prayer, and more enterprise. If the churches had done more there would have been more to tabulate.
The report reads: Four new churches organized; 972 added to Christian fellowship; 2 church edifices built; 1 church edifice enlarged; 2 parsonages built; a one-year-old church the centre of four Sunday-schools filled with scholars who never before attended religious instruction, and ten churches blessed with a revival of religion.
Four new churches organized! Only four? And yet the territory awaiting churches holds twelve States, and each State is an empire. Only four? And yet the darkest spot in the republic is crying for the light of the Gospel. Only four? And yet three-fourths of the illiteracy of the whole nation must be grappled with. Four new churches versus ten millions of immortal souls! What are these among so many? This is the question which the report of the American Missionary Association for 1888 sends through the length and breadth of American Congregationalism.
To keep us in cheer the Executive Committee puts these facts by the side of the four new churches:
First—"In each school" (and there are seventy-six schools) "we have an incipient church." This predicts a golden future. "Each school is a torch of Christ in a dark place." This means advancing illumination.
Second—There are one hundred and thirty-two old churches fully organized and completely vitalized. All of these are centred at strategic points.
Third—There is a living army of 8,452 adults, and of 17,114 children carrying the banner of the Lord. These give themselves, and give their substance, to the cause of Christ, and to the good of their fellowmen, in a way worthy of emulation.
Fourth—These churches and this army are under, and are led by pastors who are for the most part the children of this Association. This means thorough equipment, and discipline, and effectiveness, and aggressive work.
When we look at what has been done in the line of church work in our vast field, and compare it with our limited resources, we are satisfied and speak the praises of the noble men and women in the field and in the office. We have garnered fruit grandly proportionated to the planting. But when we look at the work which has been done and contrast it with what remains to be done, we are far from being satisfied. Instinctively we are impelled to repeat the call of the prophet in the hearing of the Church of Christ: "Arise, shine, for thy light has come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee." Proportioning the means used to the products reaped, we look forward with hope, expecting a future that shall correspond with the promises of God. The statistics in this department of the Association's labors may look like "Holy Trifles;" and comparatively they are "Holy Trifles;" but so is the "handful of corn" in the Messianic psalm, which depicts the future growth of Christendom. The things tabulated in these statistics are the "handful of corn" in our Southland, but as we contemplate them, we may use the old, old song of the church and sing ourselves into an ecstasy: "There shall be an handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountains; the fruit thereof shall shake like the cedars on Lebanon; and they of the city shall flourish like the grass of the earth. His name shall endure for ever; his name shall be continued as long as the sun; and men shall be blessed in him and all nations shall call him blessed. Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things. And blessed be his glorious name forever; and let the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen and amen."
