Various

“ Well, when Auntie gave us our missionary boxes in the Sunday-school class, she told us to be sure and remember what was printed on them, and she read on one side something about people giving their first fruits, and she said it meant their best things, and on top it said, 'Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, ye have done it unto me.' Now Susy is my best doll—any way I love her best, and there couldn't be anybody much leaster than a little girl like me way down in Tougaloo, could there, mamma? ”

“ Although we are not many people here, yet I always command them to give heed to the words of the Grandfather. And I bear witness to their constant attendance at the house (the school and church) that stands here. Although I am wholly an Indian, yet these are my judgments and so I tell them. And I write them in order that some may think about the Indians. My friends, I wish you to hear these words and so I write them. I shake hands with a good heart. ”

“ DEATH OF REV. JAMES POWELL, D.D.
"He whom thou lovest is dead," were the sorrowful words of the stricken sisters concerning their brother; we repeat them to our many friends who enjoyed the personal friendship of our beloved brother Powell. These friends cannot restore him to us, as the Friend restored Lazarus to his family; but they can sympathize with us in our great bereavement. ”

“ Powell has been removed almost as suddenly, and we can scarcely hope to find one to take his place. Our only consolation is, that God makes no mistakes, and that, while men die, His work goes on.
The death of Dr. Powell was unexpected, but its cause lay far back. When only nineteen years of age, he entered the service of the Christian Commission, and in the malarial regions of the South, the germs of disease were planted in his system. They were the cause of frequent and distressing turns of illness, while his irrepressible energy never allowed him to take the rest necessary for recovery. ”

“ Nothing but a consecration that becomes a passion of the soul in Christ's love and for Christ's sake, and an abiding faith in the triumph of his kingdom of love and righteousness, will explain the earnestness and labor of the devoted souls in our mission work, who are God's kings and priests ministering to the lowly, and crowding their days with service for those who have been the victims of the strong, and who, now weak and poor, are despised in their poverty and weakness. ”

“ The pitiless centuries cannot be redeemed in one day. Doubtless the work may seem slow and the time may seem long, but every good deed counts, and no prayer is unheard. The good work is not in vain. The progress already made is wonderful. ”

“ One pastor reported that his county went almost solidly against prohibition, and there was only one colored man in the county, so far as he knew, and he was a staunch prohibitionist. Some argued that while so many churches and Women's Christian Temperance Unions and Young Men's Christian Associations shut out respectable colored people, and saloons welcomed those who were not respectable, it would be a difficult task for the better class to induce the more ignorant to vote against those who welcomed them and in favor of those who shut them out. ”

“ At the time of his death he was pastor of the Congregational Church and teacher of the Association's school, at Troy, N.C. He was a graduate of Williams College and continued his habits of study during the years of his arduous labor as a missionary.
He had been for a long time in feeble health, but was unwilling to leave his post of duty even temporarily to secure his recovery. His services in this field of the A.M.A. have been characterized by self-denial, patience and faithfulness. He was intensely loyal to his convictions and died having fought the good fight, a Christian hero. ”

“ I am glad to report that the church at Savannah has taken upon itself the support of its pastor and local expenses for the next year. The churches in this Association, although poor and often in serious financial straits themselves, showed their appreciation of other lines of Christian work by passing the following resolution:
Resolved, That in view of the financial embarrassments of the Home Missionary Society, the pastors of the churches urge upon their people the duty of taking up a collection for the benefit of that Society. ”

“ No! They will last until the world shall be saved, for the inspirations which come from the spirit of God and from the cross of Christ will live in hearts which will burn to save those who need to be saved.
Since the death of Dr. Powell, we have received numerous letters from all parts of the country expressing sympathy in our great bereavement, which the writers shared profoundly with us. The admiration and love entertained by the writers, and uttered in these letters, toward our beloved brother, is gratifying to us, as it is also to his family. ”

“ Trinity School opened its doors wide and offered generous hospitality to the pastors and delegates. On the whole, it was one of the best meetings the Association has ever enjoyed.
The Congregational Association of the State of Georgia met with the church at Macon, November 9th-14th. The church and its new pastor, a son of Connecticut, did their utmost to make the meetings pleasant and helpful. The band of earnest Christian teachers of Lewis Normal Institute, {45} the A.M.A. school at Macon, joined hands with the church and pastor in helping to make the sessions of the Association profitable. ”

“ Powell, who had the oversight and burden of the collecting fields.
Never was our work more critical, never more urgent and never more hopeful.
The winter months, on which we must chiefly rely, are here, and are fast moving into the past. The work has been laid upon us and it would seem faithless to our sacred trust to sacrifice any part of it. But we must not take on a debt. We can only be saved from putting the knife to our work or of trying to do what we cannot pay for, if the faithful pastors of the churches will give their very present help. ”

“ Here, too, as in the Central South Association, the temperance question held a prominent place in the discussions. There was not a member of the Association but was heartily in favor of prohibition. The Atlanta campaign was on in all its heat and passion, and beseeching requests were made by the delegates from that city that prayer might be offered for them as they passed through the heat of this battle against legalizing crime. Almost every church in the Association was represented in this meeting and one new church applied for admission. ”

“ All honor to those who are giving themselves to break down the injustices of a cruel and unchristian caste, all honor to the noble men and women who are working to rescue millions from the woeful inheritance of centuries, as well as to save them from the dominion of the sin which is common to man. ”

“ Francis Frazier, son of Pastor Ehnamani of Santee, has now been their teacher two years.
Loafer Redhorse is anything but a loafer. He is one of the most industrious men. He is one who would naturally be first in war, as he says, and now also is first in following the plow, and learning the ways of the white man. Among other things it is interesting to know what he thinks of prohibiting the use of the Dakota language. ”

“ And though the Indian people had all of these customs, I know not one of them that made the people prosper or brought life to them. I have not seen that brought life to the people. And thus from where I am now, I am always looking to the future. On this account I am looking forward. The Indians have been told the words of the Grandfather, (the President) . And they tell us that by these words the people will prosper. ”

“ A young colored man, who had been a preacher in one of the old churches of the South and had become disgusted with its ignorance, superstition and immorality, presented his credentials and applied for admission into the Congregational Association of the State. ”

“ We who have our work and responsibilities in the field, no less than those who were in {44} the office with Dr. Powell, would bear our tribute of love, and scatter the blossoms of holy memories upon this new-made grave.
Two State Associations of unusual interest were held during the month of November. The Central South Association met with the Trinity Church, in Athens, Ala., Nov. 3d. This Association includes the churches of Tennessee and two or three of those in Alabama. ”

“ If the pastors who believe in the work, which includes the education and salvation of the needy among four races, will give their churches and Christian stewards a good chance to know how great the cause is and what its honest appeals are, we are confident that the Lord will deliver us from impending trouble. ”

“ Some young men of the Sunday-school paid a month's rent for a poor woman. We are doing more than ever this year in getting the young people to go and hold prayer meetings, or read to those who cannot get out to church."
FOR THE CHILDREN. HOW SUSY WENT TO TOUGALOO.
You never could guess just how she went, if you should try from now until your next birthday, so I'll tell you first how she came to go to Tougaloo at all.
To begin with, Mamma Bradley had been rummaging about in the attic a long time, when little Fay set out to find her.
"What are you doing up here, mamma?" said Fay. ”

“ This action of his is a straw which shows which way the wind of religious thought blows among the intelligent colored people of the South. The weather-vane points toward Congregationalism. An aged pastor, who had endured ostracism and violence in New York State in the early times, on account of his anti-slavery opinions, was present during the meetings of the Association, and added greatly to their interest. ”

“ Therefore, though I have settled here and desire to busy myself in all the white man's ways that I am able, I have not yet become independent. And therefore, I earnestly wish, if it were possible, that the Grandfather would enable us to receive {48} a year's rations at a time, and then we would make speedy progress in the white man's way. ”

“ She has just completed a missionary tour in Maine, which has been most fruitful of good, and will now give a few weeks to the churches of New Hampshire, speaking to meetings of ladies, or to mixed audiences, as may be desired. Applications for her services can be made to Miss Emerson, of the Woman's Bureau, 56 Reade St., New York, or to Rev. Cyrus Richardson, Nashua, N. H.
A teacher in the South writes:—"We have had a Merry Christmas trying to make others happy. The people have never done so much for others before. ”

“ Powell, who had shown remarkable gifts as a speaker, was at once selected as District Secretary of our Western department. Here he remained for nearly ten years, when some changes were required in our district offices and he was called to New York as Assistant Corresponding Secretary, and entrusted with the supervision of the entire collecting field. The work he had done so acceptably and efficiently at the West was followed by equally effective services in his wider field at the East. In the three years of the recent burden of debt upon the Association, the energies of Dr. ”

“ We will gladly furnish every pastor, and others who will send to us for them, such facts and figures as may be helpful in representing the work. Surely we can depend upon those who love God and their country for thoughtful remembrance and ready response.
The Rev. C.J. Ryder who has been assigned to the District Secretaryship of the Eastern district for the collecting field in New England, will, upon his return from a supervisory tour in the extreme South, succeed our friend, Dr. ”

“ It means consecration, responsibility and self-sacrifice on the part of those who take upon themselves and into themselves, the sins and the sorrows, and the struggles and failures of those who are to be saved. ”

“ The Grandfather has for his own the Indians all over the land, and he always helps them according to what may be for their welfare. Now he is measuring off the land for them, but I hear it said that he measures it very, very small, and I am sad about that. ”

“ He was installed as pastor of the church at Newburyport in November, 1869, his only pastorate, and remained there till February, 1873. His health being impaired by his incessant labors as pastor, he was persuaded by his friend, Rev. Mr. Pike, to aid in introducing the Jubilee Singers to the English public, with the further purpose of either remaining abroad to manage the affairs of the Singers in Great Britain, or of returning and temporarily taking Mr. Pike's place in {30} Connecticut and New York, as District Secretary of the Association. ”

“ And the Indian people were made happy because of the buffalo. The people would move their camps and pitch their tents again and the buffalo would come right in among their tents with a great noise. Then it was that the people had great joy. ”

“ Rogers," said Miss Bliss, and taking a pencil she wrote on a little slip of paper, "My name is Susy, and I should like to go to some little girl who will take good care of me." This she read and pinned the slip on Susy's pretty dress when she was safely seated in "Miss Blout's bunnit," in which odd carriage, made of roses and ribbons, Susy started on her long journey to Tougaloo. Her little mother, Fay, would like some day to get a letter from Susy's new mother, though she has not yet heard from her.
FROM N.Y. OBSERVER
{51}
RECEIPTS FOR DECEMBER, 1887. ”