Various

“ We have been wonderfully prospered thus far, and things look bright ahead. God grant that the New Year, so soon to dawn, may be as rich with His favor and blessing as the old, which is now passing away! ”

“ Only as we give do we get anything that is worth getting. Only in our giving do we find the real pleasure of living. If we find that our affection, our ministry, our presence, is a source of comfort or pleasure, we recognize a blessing just there. ”

“ Let him be blessed day and night, sleeping and waking, in eating, in drinking, and in playing, when he speaks and when he keeps silence! May not his eyes be blinded, his ears be deaf, and his tongue be dumb! ”

“ Straitened circumstances are quite likely to increase with growing accumulations of wealth; and unsatisfied cravings for riches are exaggerated by every effort at their satisfying. “There is”—indeed there is—“that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty.” And the pinch of poverty itself can never nip so sharply as the pinch of withholding avarice. ”

“ He is one of the three Indians who graduated with the present class, the first who have finished the regular English course of the school.
“Our Race,” by one of the early graduates of the school, told of the discouraged feeling which he had when he arrived at Hampton and found that most of the students had to work hard with their hands every day. He showed of what advantage that same training had been to him, of how he had been able to build his own school-house. He spoke of lack of industry as being one great obstacle in the way of the success of the colored people. ”

“ His words of appreciation and sympathy were especially grateful to the workers. He reminded them that any institution which outlives the trying period of training and sending out its first graduates and of nourishing and giving strength to its first alumni was destined to live and grow. Alma Mater is a name dear to every good student, and Fisk University has a history and a future. The delightful exercises were brought to a fitting close by all rising and singing the doxology, “Praise God from Whom all blessings flow.” ”

“ An evening is given to the subject of temperance, especially to the business of reconstructing, reorganizing and resupplying the temperance army after its recent defeat in the State, and preparatory to the next intended assault upon the devil’s stronghold. The process of recruiting was beautifully illustrated when Miss Jewitt, with her class and a blackboard before the great assembly, brought up the enthusiasm as they represented the deadly poison of alcohol, how it is made, what its effects upon the physical system, upon the mental and moral nature. ”

“ One is the righteous purpose exhibited in the work of the A. M. A. South. Both whites and blacks realize that our institutions are based upon the great fundamental principles of the Gospel. They witness the self-sacrifice of the teachers, their prayerful devotion to the welfare of their pupils, the frequent revivals resulting from their efforts, the large number of students sent forth to teach, and the churches planted and supplied with a responsible and educated ministry. The work done inspires confidence. ”

“ God give us strength that we may educate and Christianize the Indian. William and Mary College, now almost ready to perish, is the monument of their endeavor. They did not see the answer to their prayer. God works in His own way, in His own time, with His own men. ”

“ We have kept further from the river than we supposed we should, and are practically on the desert. We have seen the river only once. Then we proposed to camp at it, but our guides disagreed and we went on, and finally, it being Sunday night, we camped, earlier than usual, about a mile from the river at El Hefera.
Monday, Dec. 26.—The men are getting worn out and begin to lag. It was 8:15 A.M. before we could get them started. Proximity to water has a bad effect on camel drivers. It is very hot. We turn out of our road a few steps to see the ruins of an ancient church at a place called Merre. ”

“ To preach the Gospel to the poor. It originated in a sympathy with the almost friendless slaves. Since Emancipation it has devoted its main efforts to preparing the Freedmen for their duties as citizens and Christians in America, and as missionaries in Africa. As closely related to this, it seeks to benefit the caste-persecuted Chinese in America, and to co-operate with the Government in its humane and Christian policy toward the Indians. It has also a mission in Africa. ”

“ Our two lady missionaries for the State, Miss Farrington, supported by the ladies of Maine, to labor in connection with this mission in Wilmington, and Miss E. P. Hayes, sustained by the W. H. M. A., of Boston, laboring at Raleigh, where she had taught many years, were present to report their work and to add to the inspiration of the occasion. It is said that there are not many models of patents in the Patent Office in Washington furnished by women; but these women show a wonderful ingenuity in devising ways and means for doing the people good, and reveal a vast amount of good accomplished. ”

“ Now I maintain that such a spirit is unworthy not only of a true Christian but of a true man, and I have determined never to let it appear in my character.”—New York Tribune.
GIVING IS GETTING.
One of the plain paradoxes in the realm of mind, matter, nature and grace, is that true gain comes only through loss; that hoarding is impoverishing; that there is no way of keeping one’s hold on a desired good, like parting with it; that acquisition is a result of expenditure; that dividing is multiplying; that scattering is increasing; that spending is saving; that giving is getting. ”

“ The exercises were witnessed by over 800 people, some of them outside, at the window. Those within entered by tickets, an experiment which fully succeeded in the presence of those who have some real interest in the work, and in securing better attention. The new Music Department was justified by its fruits, especially in a short cantata in which the Queen of the Fairies crowned the virtues.
Like the latest wonder, the exhibition is universally declared the finest ever witnessed here. The deliverances warned against alcohol, tobacco, ignorance and laziness, and recommended labor and piety. ”

“ Brown and Miss McKinley, both natives of Charleston and of kindred blood with their pupils. The performances in dialogue, recital and music of these little ones did not differ from those in Northern schools of the same grade, which is enough to say both for the culture received and the faculty displayed. There were as many faces, too, of ideal childhood beauty, and obviously as much parental pride somewhere back of this their juvenile début, as if their race was not just making its début upon the stage of Saxon civilization. ”

“ Bodily strength comes from its expenditure, not from its hoarding. Every wise use of a muscle adds to the power of that muscle.
It is the use, not the possession, of any material treasure that gives it its highest value. ”

“ 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 ”

“ It is a grotesque object lesson which we are now exhibiting at the Golden Gate—our ministers of Government standing there and watching for any stray vessel ready to send back the few Chinamen, who, following the star in the east of Christian civilization, have ventured over the waters to compare with it their pagan religion. Fifty millions of Christian people seem afraid to bring their system into competition with the effete superstitions of a hundred thousand heathen sojourners. ”

“ The stage was handsomely decorated, and above was the class motto, “Perseverance overcomes all obstacles.” After the essays, songs and choruses, the diplomas of the Institute were awarded to the three graduates by the Principal of the Institute, who took occasion to commend the graduates for their perseverance and to congratulate them upon their success. The Rev. E. J. Meynardie then delivered an eloquent address on “National Responsibility,” arguing that no civilization is perfect which is not founded upon the fundamental principles of revealed religion. ”

“ Wildcatt Alford, a young Indian chief, made a strong plea for the education of his people. He said that one educated Indian could do more for the benefit of his people in one year than a regiment of soldiers in ten years. ”

“ The older Indians are taking more interest than heretofore, asking for extra meetings, and some of the younger ones who have been in school are helping very greatly in them, and in my absence taking charge of some of the meetings with entire acceptance to their older friends. ”

“ We find it numbering 220 pupils; we find custom work done; we find the temperance text-books proposed by the A. M. A. introduced, as in all its schools of the South, and working wonders in laying the foundations for a temperance-loving generation. We test the capacity of the Home and find it elastic enough to take in sixteen guests beyond the fifteen of the regular family; we find it a marvel of convenience and taste and economy. We find the church [209] edifice a gem of beauty, with its noble bell, which does double duty in serving the church and the school ”

“ The conscience, the principle of the nation, will be at work. Demands for labor in subduing and developing that majestic Farther West will yet be heard. Before we are aware of it, the floodgates may be raised and a great tide of immigration may set in from the neighboring country over the Western sea. ”

“ He said: “For many years after the beginning of this institution, we were accustomed in this part of the country to speak of the Hampton school as an experiment; to-day, by the help of Almighty God, we can say that Hampton school is a magnificent success.” He spoke of the work that was being done for the colored race, of the manly characters that were being developed by the school training. He referred to the Indians, and especially to the speech which one of them had made. ”

“ Stone Hall at Atlanta will also be completed, which, though not a dormitory building, will nevertheless relieve the other buildings so that greater accommodations for students can be secured; but still the pressing need at Atlanta will be more room for the girls’ department.
The growth of interest among the colored people in our schools is outstripping the growth of conveniences for them, and new dormitory buildings at several points are becoming an imperative necessity. ”

“ The slate formation along the bank has in some places been fused and looks much like coal. We stop for lunch at a point where we can get a good view of the cataract in both directions, called Wady El Hamar. Then we leave the river for about two hours, ascend another high desert plateau, and gradually descend again to an open plain, where nestles a village called Genenila. We camp for the night opposite the large, fruitful island of Artoli, where one of our guides lives. ”

“ All the boats on the river here have one or more of these women, who grind the durra on flat stones and cook for the men. We have decided not to put up our flag, but to sail under the Egyptian colors, as this is a government boat, and ours for the time only through the kindness of Raouf Pasha. ”

“ We cannot fail to be encouraged and strengthened by this mutual interchange of thoughts, and to have our hearts drawn out in closer sympathy, while listening to the prayers of those for whom we are laboring that they may become sons and daughters of the Great King. ”

“ The promises are many, and we can go cheerfully forward.
Sunday, Jan. 1, 1882.—Happy New Year! We are on board the government dahabeah, ready to start for Khartoum. Our boat is moored to the upper landing to receive her provisions. At last everything was ready. The noise and confusion at the landing was so great that toward night, for the sake of a little quiet, and to hasten forward on this, the Lord’s business, we allowed the men to spread the sail, and soon left Berber and the noisy rabble on the bank in the distance, the solitary minaret being the last object seen. ”

“ Our mental faculties gain through their using. Giving out thought in speech or writing increases one’s treasures of thought, as well as one’s ease and power of expression. In our moral nature the same principle prevails. ”

“ In response to a call from Tougaloo, two quilts were made and sent to help replace those lost by fire. In connection with the mission workers, they have contributed the sum of $50, $26.75 of which was sent to the A. M. A. as a special gift, the balance being expended for the church. A ladies’ prayer-meeting, three sewing classes and children’s meeting had been sustained during the week. A Young People’s Literary Society was held on alternate Monday nights.
Talladega showed a very prosperous year in the monthly gatherings of the Mission Band, mothers’ meetings and two sewing classes. ”

“ When a child receives gifts, or selfishly employs what has been given him, his desires are exercised, and by their very exercise they are strengthened and intensified. But when the child gives to others, it is his affections which are exercised, and which are enlarged by their exercise. ”

“ With funds collected they had purchased a carpet for the platform of the chapel, secured a [211] share in the John Brown steamer, defrayed the funeral expenses of a poor woman and aided many needy and destitute around them. The young people of both sexes are being educated in the direction of missionary labors through the different committees which have been formed for that purpose. ”

“ Their heroism at the burning of our church and school building last January, and their cheerful endurance for Christ’s sake of the hardships that have followed, have been beautiful object lessons to their pupils and any spectators. As the [208] scattering of the early disciples from Jerusalem advanced the Kingdom, so our dispersion to two different sections of the city, it is believed, has accomplished the hope of our night.
No colored man has co-operated with us more efficiently than Rev. A. F. Owens, pastor of the Third Baptist Church. ”