Various

“ Students and church members, teachers, professors, president and pastor—we all felt this truth. But when every member of the College who felt that he was not a Christian, was asked to write his or her name on a slip of paper, and put it into the contribution basket at the chapel door when coming into the first meeting—and lest any should fail, from any cause, to give us his own name, every student was asked to furnish the name of any unsaved fellow-student of whom he knew—the real object sought in the meetings was brought home to every member of the College and Church. ”

“ At the same time, the parents ill understand that discipline of love which adjusts itself to these new circumstances, and when it can no longer compel, succeeds in wooing and winning and molding aright the boyish heart. Demons incarnate, both American and Chinese, tempt these boys, while they are unprotected by any reverence either for the ancestors and idols of their own people or for the American God whom Americans by their conduct so cruelly belie. ”

“ Asia, with its millennium of transmitted achievements; Europe, with its centuries of enlightened development; the United States, with their wonderful improvements on the best the world had produced, were all to be there. ”

“ The testimony to her nobility and earnestness of character was manifested in signal ways by the church and people during her sickness, and she has evidently left behind a precious memory of her short life in St. Albans. I have before me a letter written to a teacher in Fisk University less than three weeks before her death, and it will interest her friends to learn how the years of her life which she spent in the work of giving help to the struggling colored youth of the South looked to her as she lay upon her dying bed in her pleasant home surrounded by the friends that loved her so well. ”

“ But when they were told of what had already been done by the American Missionary Association and others toward establishing and maintaining schools and churches among them, of the devoted missionaries and teachers that had carried already so much of comfort and help into their sad lives, of the steady upward progress they were making in knowledge and intelligence, in the acquirement of homes and ability to care for themselves, all seemed to appreciate as never before the importance of the work that is being done in the South. ”

“ And this is intensified by the thought of the children now quite numerous in our Chinese communities. We know to what the daughters are destined. We know what it is that gives them, in this country, a special money value; and as to the sons, one can scarcely conceive circumstances more perilous than those in which they are placed. Breathing our free American air, entering readily into the Young America spirit, they will not brook the harsh discipline which, in their native land, would have been submissively and perhaps with profit accepted. ”

“ Never in all our history has the work been more abundantly blessed. Our schools have been crowded and God's Spirit has come down in great power upon the hearts of our pupils. In one school the revival character of the religious services had to cease, because there were none left to be converted! ”

“ Let writers on the negro stop theorizing about his capacity for this or that calling, and unite in demanding that he have a fair chance to become what God has made him capable of becoming. It is wrong, it is wicked for men who by voice and pen influence public sentiment, to conclude that because the negro is now a waiter, a boot-black, a barber, a laborer, that therefore he cannot be anything else, or even that he cannot probably be anything else. ”

“ Those who thought that the negro has no higher mission than to be a "hewer of wood and drawer of water," were compelled either to change their minds or else to say they did not believe that the colored people did the work. It was amusing to hear the remarks of some of the latter class, as they looked at some beautiful specimens of negro handicraft or ingenuity.
It may interest the readers of the Missionary to glance at the great variety of lines along which negro ability put itself on exhibition. ”

“ One woman, taking writing materials from a satchel, which she contrived to use for a desk, became utterly oblivious to everything as her pencil flew over the letter that would carry comfort and cheer to a far-off loved one. ”

“ And this suggests another added difficulty: the contrast which our Chinese Christians cannot but observe between the precepts of the Bible, the example of Christ, the exhortations of those who led them to Jesus, and the practices of multitudes of American professors of religion. And, too often, they are led to do as we do, and not as we say. While at the same time the indifference of many professed Christians to the salvation of this Chinese, and the attitude of many churches toward those already converted, loads the problem down with difficulties such as might well drive us to despair. ”

“ Notwithstanding the hard times, our receipts from the churches and living donors are larger by several thousand dollars than they were at this time last year. These facts are the indications of a living cause and an able constituency. They call upon us to lift our heads in hope and to inspire one another to still greater activity, and, if need be, to self-denial. We have no legacies in sight, and we certainly do not desire our friends to die. Our prayer is that they may live; that they may live long. ”

“ Two hours later we met again in the college chapel. One of the most pressing needs of this church is a house of worship. There has not been, rain or shine, since I came here, a Sabbath congregation that was not too large for our chapel. Growth is impossible. How it will be during the college vacation, I cannot say; but during this college year it has always been uncomfortably crowded, and every Sabbath has overflowed up on to the platform. ”

“ The practice-teaching class is always of especial interest and significance, as over ninety per cent of Hampton's students devote themselves to teaching as their life mission. A dozen little bright-eyed, brown-faced primaries from the "Butler" training school received a geography lesson from one of the senior girls, criticised by her class-mates. Its grand finale was a miniature volcanic eruption, creating a sensation among the Butler mites.
The industrial exhibits and the training shops, with their Negro and Indian apprentices, attracted interested attention, as usual. ”

“ Since the close of the protracted meeting, each Sabbath-school class has had its own weekly prayer meeting—a means of great good. Also a general young Christians' prayer meeting has been held weekly. In it effort has been made, not only to lead these new converts to take part in prayer and conference, but to instruct them upon some points too often neglected. Those who on this day united with the church could each, I think, give an intelligent statement of reasons why they should unite with the church ”

“ In all my weakness I am resting in the Everlasting Arms, and find there strength sufficient to support, trusting entirely to the blood that cleanseth from all sin and saves unto the uttermost."
The news of Mrs. Stevens' death was telegraphed to Fisk University, and on the Sunday night following, an impressive memorial service was held in the chapel of Livingstone Hall. The story of her life and labors, as told by those who knew her well, produced a deep impression upon the students, and will bear in their lives fruit in greater consecration and the spirit of self-sacrifice. ”

“ The darkness of the picture makes the present opportunities and privileges of the colored people to shine out all the brighter. Heartily can we thank God that these terrible things are now only a memory. ”

“ A very important part of the evening's work must not be omitted from mention. This was the presentation of certificates to the graduating class on the completion of the Elementary Normal Course ending with the 10th year or grade. The members of this class, one young man and two young ladies, have been reared up in our school, and would be a credit to any school. This is the first graduation from the course; and although the class is small, it has incited others to say, "I mean to stick to the school until I can stand where they did." ”

“ Open doors should welcome to honorable competition, white and black alike. Let this be so, and in less than half a century there will not be a trade, nor profession, nor calling, in which black men will not be found in the front. There will be preachers and professors, and editors, and physicians, and lawyers, and statesmen, and teachers, and bankers, and business men, and artisans, and [Pg 191] mechanics and farmers, of African descent, of whom, as brethren, the very greatest of white men will not need to be ashamed. ”

“ Opposition may meet them. Difficulties may lie in the path. Evil men may oppose them, and good men, misinterpreting their motives and misunderstanding their work, may misrepresent them. But what matters it? Conscious in the strength that they are doing right, they will work on unhindered and undisturbed. Christian virtue finds in its own development all the reward necessary to stimulate continuance in well doing.
THE COLORED PEOPLE AT THE NEW ORLEANS EXPOSITION.
The colored people of the United States are just twenty years out of the house of bondage. ”

“ The present's pathos was represented by "Lo" the very "poor Indian" and squaw in shabby blankets, bewailing—as their Indian interpreter explained—the loss of lands and buffalo, asking where to go next—"white man everywhere"; the future's hope by a promising pair of Hampton students, able to speak for themselves, work for themselves and teach their people, with their white brethren's help, in the Christian's road. ”

“ That threatening forty thousand dollars' deficit does not let up in its indications of approach. The black clouds are plainly discernible. We have been for months anxiously watching their movements. Our prayers and efforts have been steadily turned towards their dissipation. We do not lose faith. We believe in our work. We believe in our friends. The work has merit. Our friends have ability. ”

“ Exclusion is only a make-shift of the politicians, not the offspring of real statesmanship. It has not solved the problem, and it never will.
What then shall we do? Educate and Christianize these heathen, we reply: So you will make them to be Chinese no longer, but Americans. This is the right answer, but, alas, how much easier said than done! The undertaking, hard enough at first, grows harder, in some respects, as the years roll on. ”

“ The studies are the Bible and Bible history, pastoral theology and composition. In cultivating better understanding and kindly relations between these colored and white neighbors, and the relations of the school with both, as well as in helping meet the great need of an intelligent ministry, this pastor's class is doing important work. Some of its members board at the school, working their way in part like the other students, sometimes entering their classes. Some are helped to come by their congregations, who appreciate the opportunity. ”

“ Work for the Chinese ought now to be prosecuted, not simply in Sunday schools, but in Mission schools, kept in session every evening and alt through the year in most of the principal cities of the whole Union, as well as on the Pacific Coast. ”

“ God has led me on, and now I am a student in Talladega College, and expect soon to have finished a course of study which will enable me to go forth to lead men to Christ and to teach them better methods of living. ”

“ We advise all leaders of public sentiment who do not desire twenty-five or thirty years hence to be found eating their words of to-day, or explaining how it was that they came to be on ground so untenable, to heed the lessons of this Exposition, and range themselves with those who look at facts, and who recognize the prophetic power of facts, and heartily accept the prophecy, even if this prophecy run counter to what have been their fancies. ”

“ Neither the negroes nor their friends have any reason to regret that an exhibit was made. It was in every sense of the word creditable. It marks a progress simply wonderful, when all the circumstances are taken into the account. ”

“ It demonstrates that the negro race can enter every profession and calling in which the white man is found. It proclaims in tones that no one should misunderstand, that he who writes or speaks of the colored people should be careful how he pronounces judgment in regard to their capacity. They should be given a white man's chance. No trade nor occupation should be closed against them. ”

“ Now, a nation cannot knock out its own foundation stones, cannot defy the laws of its own organic life without becoming divided against itself; and in the conflict ensuing, either its vital principles will be reaffirmed and rehabilitated, or else the nation dies. ”

“ Although my master did not have so many slaves and was not so mean as some other slave-holders about him, still, the treatment which his slaves received was shockingly cruel. I remember very distinctly the paddling block, the paddle, and the great whip used upon that place. There comes very vividly before my mind the whipping of a hired man. ”

“ The emotions of anniversary day culminated in the afternoon exercises, in which were several incidents of unusual interest. The pretty and graceful salutatorian, fair as most of her hearers, was introduced as a young representative of the family of faithful Mary Peake, who, just escaped from slavery herself, taught the first "contraband school" at Hampton. ”

“ The pupils have, as a rule, worked well, and in many cases the progress has been very marked. While we are not completely satisfied with the results, yet there has been very much to encourage our labors. The Lord has been merciful in keeping the workers in good health, and there has been no death and but few cases of sickness among the pupils.
The last week was taken up with examinations, both oral and written, and in perfecting arrangements for the anxiously looked-for event among our people, the closing exhibition. ”