Various

“ Prayer is the vital breath of the Christian life, and none the less of missionary endeavor. We ask a place evermore in the prayers of God’s people. At our Annual Meeting it is our custom to spend a season of devotion on Tuesday afternoon in concert with all our workers in the field, who gather in their homes and schools and churches to lift up their voices in thanks and supplications with us for the blessing of God upon our work. ”

“ As we intend to increase the number of our lady missionaries in the South, it is fitting that we explain our aim in sending them and the methods of their work. Their services are mainly in the home with the mothers and the children. We regard the home, the school and the church as the pivots of the Christian life, each most effective when working with the others. A home that is not neat, attractive and pure, cripples the efforts of the school and the church. ”

“ 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. ”

“ And this is proving to be choice material to make our Lord’s world-conquerors out of. Men who have lifted up axes upon the thick trees, and have come into contact with affairs, have the hardy stuff needed in the work abroad.
So the American Missionary Association is the left wing of the Congregational corps that is seeking to subdue this realm to our King, the Christ. To this end was its former work at the West, where it had its seventy-nine home missionaries. To this end is its scheme for helping in the evangelizing of the Aborigines, who have made way for us to build up our nation. ”

“ The building is nicely lathed [333] and plastered, and painted. The young men of the Society are using every means to elevate our people to respectability and intelligence: but, like everything else, it takes time. Already our Society has achieved much good, and we do tender many thanks to you and to Mrs. Clift for your influence.
“All the young men that were in the Society when you were here are still with us, except one. The young men, including myself, have never regretted signing the pledge, and we promise forever to keep it, because we have found much good in it.” ”

“ When I go back to my home I going tell all this are. A great many Indian boys are here; we are all try to learn how to work the white men way, and sometimes we have a prayer-meeting in every Saturday night, and all the Indian boys are doing very well. I think the Indian try to do how to work; when they know how to work, then they cannot stop. That is all I am going to say. We are all well here, and I think you are well, too. Some boys has going to work, and those boys going to school this afternoon. ”

“ The sirocco has been blowing all day, and the heat is something terrible. Worked hard in the hot sun to get a tent up for our nooning. We are on an immense sandy plain, the ideal desert, and the heat reflected from the sand burns like a furnace. ”

“ This improvement in farming by the Indians is gratifying to myself, as two years ago an Indian rarely cultivated to exceed from one-half to three-quarters of an acre; now some have cultivated this year 20 acres, others from four to twelve, and ask for more land for next year. Twenty Indian men, heads of families, have consented to go this fall 22 miles west of the agency, build houses and remain to farm 133 acres of land which I have had broken this summer. ”

“ I dare not say that in all cases this hope has proved to be well founded. Some have gone back to idolatry and taken to themselves, I fear, seven devils worse than the one that seemed to be exorcised. Some seem to have left their first love, though maintaining still a reputable exterior. Of many we have lost sight altogether. They are in China, or in the Hawaiian Islands, or on the frontiers in our own country, or in the Eastern or interior cities. It is simply impossible, at least with our present working force, to maintain our hold upon them by correspondence. ”

“ So our whole work on the California coast is a grand training school to fit native missionaries for China, not simply to raise up nominal preachers and teachers to go back to father land, but to make Christians of the many, who, by virtue of their discipleship, shall be commissioned of the Lord to go forth bearing the Gospel, even as the early Christians went forth everywhere preaching the Word. ”

“ Not simply may we send over there the cultivated professional men and helping women, but who knows but that, by and by, as Ireland has been emptied several times into this country—live freight being easier of shipment than dead—so may masses of our “Americans falsely called Africans,” as Lewis Tappan used to say, go over with intelligent purpose to take Africa for their home, almost transporting civilization in bulk. ”

“ We aim to build up character, and if the school, the church and the home, co-operate in harmony “according to the effectual working in the measure of every part,” the product will, under God, be men and women of intelligent minds and pure hearts, happy themselves, useful to their race and the nation, and ornaments to the church of Christ. ”

“ The people are very poor and ignorant. They are not interested in education. A strong prejudice exists against the public schools. The most of the people are servants and are content to be such. A teacher is looked upon as a bad man. I taught in a Baptist Church and they would not let me teach in the Sunday school. They want me to come back there.”
Ella Jones, from Texas: “I had charge of the girls in the place where I taught, Huntsville. I made up my mind to live a Christian life. I taught eight months. I also taught in the Sabbath School. ”

“ If a child spends six hours in a school and eighteen hours in a disorderly and immoral home, or if a man attends service in a church on Sunday and spends all the rest of the week in that same home, the progress of both boy and man in the Christian life will be slow indeed. ”

“ Some of our young people are taking hold of the work, and at times conduct meetings with the Indians during my necessary absence.
New hymns have been made in the Twana and Clallam languages, the native languages of the Indians. Hitherto we have used hymns in the Chinook language, which is generally understood by most of the Indians, yet it is by no means so good a language to convey religious truth as the native languages.
The average attendance at Sabbath-school at S’kokomish is 47, on church prayer meetings 30, on other prayer meetings among the Indians 36, on public worship 67. ”

“ In the hygienic classes, as full notes as possible are to be taken by the pupils. The magnitude of the task of teaching healthful living grows upon me, but I am glad and grateful to have the chance to go to work in the old field and to be better equipped than years ago. Miss Parmelee and I have it close at our hearts to get strong hold of our city girls, and through them of their mothers with a view toward mother’s meetings sometime and somehow. The health of the school is fair, the most serious ailments being among those who have taught in the swamp lands. ”

“ Everybody says, it must have been that these Christianized Africo-Americans might have an open way for carrying back to their native land, as pilgrims, the same blessings which the original pilgrims had brought to this new world from the old. Nothing could be grander than this process of helping our brethren of the South on to a degree of attainment that will fit them to become the Puritan element that may yet leaven that dark continent. ”

“ He thought that colored students would do better to study in the South. He had been preaching to a white church, or to white churches. As a colored man he would make no apologies nor explanations. He had a message to carry to the people. ”

“ As to the maintaining of orphanages, our experiment, thoroughly tried in the opening of our work [323] in the South, when such asylums were more needed than now, proved to us that our broadest and best work for the colored people could not be done in them. We are persuaded that a given sum of money will do more for the effectual elevation of the colored people in connection with our regular work in church, school and home than in any other way. ”

“ A special friend in each church can secure subscribers at club-rates (12 copies for $5 or 25 copies for $10) .
3. Business men can benefit themselves by advertising in a periodical that has a circulation of 20,000 copies monthly and that goes to many of the best men and families in the land. Will not our friends aid us to make this plan a success?
We nevertheless renew the offer hitherto made, that the Missionary will be sent gratuitously, if desired, to the Missionaries of the Association; to Life Members; to all Clergymen who take up collections for the Association ”

“ The religious interest is not as great as we could wish to see; still, the weekly meetings and Sabbath services are quite well attended. We have now a small church organization, eight members. Three have united on profession of their faith; two are promising young men, members of the Band. I look for an increase of numbers in our Sunday-school next season, and we have the promise of several new teachers. ”

“ 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 ”

“ Churches, which have within a year contributed to the funds of the Association, and State Associations or Conferences of Churches, may appoint delegates to the Annual Meeting of the Association, each of such Churches and Associations or Conferences to be entitled to two delegates; such delegates, duly attested by credentials, shall be members of the Association for the year for which they were thus appointed.
Art. IV. Members shall be entitled to vote by ballot in the election of President, five Vice-Presidents, the Board of Directors, and on Amendments to the Constitution ”

“ Some of the camels with their drivers were sent back to Berber, and others substituted. We have 53 camels now. We tried to be gay and rise above our troubles. The heat is intense. There is one well at this point about 50 feet deep, but the water is bad. Started the caravan at 4 P.M., and went on till 10 o’clock. Had dinner at 12:30 A.M. Put up the tent for doctor; the rest of us went to bed with the stars looking down upon us.
Sunday, April 9th.—This is the holy [336] Sabbath and we would be glad to rest to-day, but necessity is upon us and we must move on. ”

“ 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 ”

“ As these three peoples are here to stay, and as they will ever need the foster care of their more favored brothers of the common family, we find herein the justification and the demand for far-sighted and long-continuous plans on the part of this body for the lifting up of all these three classes of lowly poor, in order to their own elevation, in order to the evangelization of our country, in order to the salvation of the world. ”

“ For the Chinamen in America, we are doing our great work on the Pacific Coast, and those who float into Eastern and Southern cities seem to have been brought providentially to the doors of the large and wealthy local churches, whose duty and privilege it is to lead these strangers to the Saviour. ”

“ By evangelical sentiments, we understand, among others, a belief in the guilty and lost condition of all men without a Saviour; the Supreme Deity, Incarnation and Atoning Sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the only Saviour of the world ”

“ We met some rather wild-looking parties, who, the guides told us, were brigands, but we were numerous and well armed, and they kept a respectful distance from us. Even the camel drivers do not dare to travel in this region without being armed with swords and spears and pistols. Met several caravans. Came to some very steep sand hills. The pass over the highest was so narrow and precipitous that I thought the camels could not possibly get safely over it, but they did. ”

“ We have had a long tramp over plain after plain, on and on to the mountains and through a high mountain [337] pass till, at length, we have reached the wells of Arieb. It is very hot. Crowds of camels, cattle and donkeys are around the principal well, all drinking. The water is not very good, but we drink it and try to imagine that it is. The tents are up, and after a good bath we tumble into our cots, glad of a little rest. ”

“ These Indians are peaceable and friendly; many would assume the position of citizens and compare favorably with the average white man if they could have lands in severalty and the protection of the law. During May and June last I had flouring gearing put in position in the agency mill for grinding wheat raised at this agency last year, and manufactured 44,000 pounds of flour of good quality ”

“ And there is another tribe come back from northwest; they came back into Yankton Agency in Fort Randall, those Indian whole tribe are call Sitting Bull. I think those people are very wild. Sitting Bull is a great many children and big tribe, and cannot get any food, so the Yankton Indians try to help them, and carry some corn or potatoes gave to them. ”

“ This is larger than ever before in the fact that we have one-fourth more Chinese in our country to-day than we had a year ago. And the work—though far from covering the field and far from being equal to the opportunity—has increased at a per cent. equal to more than twice that of the increase of Chinese population. Fifteen schools have been sustained, eleven of them throughout the entire year. Thirty-one workers are employed, eleven of them being Chinese. ”

“ The number of Indian men engaged in doing farm work is constantly increasing. In issuing wagons to Indians last fall, I required that each man receiving a wagon should farm at least five acres of land for himself, or forfeit his wagon. All, with one exception, complied with this condition. Agency Indians farmed this year 832 acres ”