Читать книгу: «The American Missionary. Volume 43, No. 02, February, 1889», страница 3

DEATH OF PROF. A. HATCH

We are called with sadness to chronicle the death of another of our noble Christian workers at the South. Prof. Azel Hatch, the Principal of our Normal School in Lexington, Ky., closed his earthly labors and entered his heavenly rest on the 31st of December, 1888. His illness began with a severe cold, but it was soon discovered that congestion of the brain had set in, and the end rapidly came.

Prof. Hatch was born January 16, 1852, was educated at Oberlin College and at the Union Theological Seminary in New York. He entered the service of this Association in 1876, and has occupied honorable positions in the schools at Montgomery, Ala., Tougaloo, Miss., and in Lexington, Ky. In every post of duty, Mr. Hatch has shown himself to be a faithful, conscientious and Christian worker, shrinking from no duty, winning the confidence of the teachers and pupils, and showing adequate results from his efficient labors. Mr. Hatch was reserved in manner, but courteous and affable, and a man of spotless integrity and of entire consecration to the work of the Master. It is a grief to record the death of such faithful men, but it is a consolation to know that their work was done and well done. The Christian life is not measured by its length, but by the discharge of the duties allotted by the Heavenly Father.

THE FIELD

1888-1889

The following list presents the names and post-office addresses of those who are employed in the Churches, Institutions and Schools aided by the American Missionary Association.

THE SOUTH

NORTH CAROLINA

¹ Deceased

SOUTH CAROLINA

GEORGIA

² This church has recently assumed self-support.

FLORIDA

ALABAMA

³  Deceased

⁴ Part of the year.

TENNESSEE

⁵ This church has recently assumed self-support.

KENTUCKY

⁶ Deceased.

KANSAS

ARKANSAS

MISSISSIPPI

LOUISIANA

TEXAS

INDIAN MISSIONS

NEW MEXICO

CHINESE MISSIONS

CONVENTION OF COLORED ROMAN CATHOLICS

"A National Convention of Colored Roman Catholics, composed of delegates from nearly all the colored Roman Catholic churches and societies in the country, began its sessions on the morning of January 1st, in the St. Augustine Colored Catholic Church in Washington. Every seat was occupied when Father Tolton, of Quincy, Ill., the only colored Catholic priest in the United States, began the celebration of solemn High Mass. Immediately in front of and beneath the pulpit sat his Eminence, Cardinal Gibbons, who delivered the sermon. He was clad in scarlet robes. At the conclusion of the sermon, the Cardinal welcomed the delegates in his own name, and in the name of the clergy and of the congregation. He said:

"'This gathering will mark an era in the history of the colored people of the United States, for never before have colored Catholics of the country met in convention.' He suggested that the convention discuss the education of the children—the religious education necessary to the life of the Republic. The universal level of the Catholic Church—its equality—was eloquently dilated upon, and attention was directed to the fact that a colored priest had celebrated mass in company with two white clergymen."

We quote the above from the People's Advocate, a paper published in Washington, D.C., by colored editors and in the interests of the colored people. In comments upon the above report, it adds:

"The presence of a Negro priest of pure lineage, born a slave, ordained at Rome, Augustus Tolton—the property of Stephen Elliot, as the record stands in the Vatican—the appearance of Cardinal Gibbons in his official robes to sanction the meeting, his eloquent reference to the universality of the Church of Rome that 'knows neither North, South, East or West; that knows neither Jew nor Gentile, Greek, Barbarian nor Scythian,' may mislead the unwary as to the real object of the movement. Its real purpose is to propagate the Roman Catholic faith among the colored people. So far as this meeting will secure from white Protestants a greater interest in, and a more Christian recognition of, the Negro as an equal participant in the Gospel plan, we regard it as Providential. We are not ready to concede that the Roman Catholic Church has been the friend of freedom, of education, of human rights and of progress. We do not see that anything is gained by claiming for Roman Catholicism to-day, or in the past, what is clearly not so. But the Roman Catholic Church has placed itself squarely on the doctrine of the Gospel as taught by Christ upon the question of universal brotherhood. Prejudiced as many may be by long years of training against the tenets of this church, all must acknowledge that this practice of the Romanists as manifested in the presence of a black man on terms of perfect equality, officiating at the altar of St. Augustine's Church, assisted on his right and left by white priests, in the presence of his Eminence Cardinal Gibbons, will be put in striking contrast with that of the white American Protestant churches who are willing on every occasion to sacrifice the Negro to secure the co-operation of the South on other than Gospel terms."

Rev. George W. Moore, of the Lincoln Memorial Congregational Church, at Washington, to whom we are indebted for a full account of the sessions of the Congress, comments upon it as follows:

"Mr. D.A. Rudd, of Cincinnati, editor of the American Catholic Tribune, a colored Catholic paper, was chosen permanent Chairman. Upon assuming the office he spoke favorably of the attitude of the Catholic Church towards the Negro, saying especially: 'The Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man is taught and practised by the Catholic Church in no doubtful terms.' He advocated the starting of Catholic schools and the aiding of those already started. The following facts were presented by the Committee on Resolutions: There are twenty colored Roman Catholic churches in the country, each of which has a school annexed. There are sixty-five other colored Roman Catholic schools; eight colored Roman Catholic orphan asylums; and three reformatories. Five thousand colored children are taught in these schools, and three hundred children in the asylums. Seven colored students are preparing to become priests. The Pope from Rome cabled his greetings in response to a cable from the Congress, saying: 'The Sovereign Pontiff gladly and proudly blesses you with all his heart.' The influence, patronage and wealth of the Roman Catholic Church are all at the service of this movement, and if Protestants build up caste-churches in the South, the Romanists will not."