Various

“ What they have learned since, has been politics rather than patriotism. They look upon our nation as two great political parties, each struggling for the mastery. One they regard as hostile, and the other friendly, to them. This is the extent of their knowledge of United States history. Although they have been told that we are a great nation under a beneficent government, such a fact is difficult for them to comprehend, since all they see is the by-play of party politicians. ”

“ The security of any nation rests largely upon the patriotism of its people. America is in danger, not from foes without, but from within her own borders. How to Americanize the foreign element, is the problem which confronts the people of our great cities; a question which more directly concerns the Northern portion of our country.
Here in the South is a different case. We have eight million negroes— born Americans. The one all-absorbing question is, how to fit them for citizenship—how to make patriotic citizens of them.
Is patriotism in danger among the colored people? ”

“ The payment of the Negro by orders on stores, where the storekeeper controls price, quality and quantity, and is subject to no competition, so that the Negro must buy there and nowhere else—an arrangement by which the Negro never has a dollar to lay by, and can be kept in debt to his employer year in and year out, puts him completely at the mercy of the old master-class. He who could say to the Negro when a slave, you shall work for me or be whipped to death, can now say to him with equal emphasis, you shall work for me or I will starve you to death. ”

“ Hang the walls of the school-room with pictures of great Americans. Let incidents from their lives be used as illustrations of moral lessons. Explain the principles and form of our government. Dwell upon the extent of its domain and its vast resources. Define simply the privileges conferred, and the duties imposed, upon the citizens of our government. Four things should be taught them: the three Rs and American history. What is needed among all our citizens, is a great lifting up where a broad view of our great land can be had. ”

“ Newspapers and men talk as if they were constantly afraid the government would overstep its bounds and encroach upon the rights of the States. The Southern press is ever complaining of the sectionalism of the North. And when confronted with the necessity of teaching United States History in the public schools, it rejects the current school histories. It is not the present object to remark further upon this than to call attention to the fact that there is a state of public sentiment which is not productive of warm patriotism. ”

“ Let a part of the Indian money be spent in educating the Indian in his home to work and to earn something. The church or the Government ought to devise some plan by which Indians at their homes can earn money. I do all I can, but the expense is more than I can bear. There is no market for the Indian, and no work to be done by which he can earn anything, and no man can become self-supporting until he is provided with a way to support himself. ”

“ The American people are governed, not only by laws and selfish interests, but by large ideas of moral and material civilization. The spirit of justice, liberty, and fair play is abroad in the land. It is in the air. ”

“ Every colored Sunday-school in the neighborhood has a large number of its teachers from the Normal school. We consider this missionary work of the students most important in keeping up their interest in their own people, and in developing the Christ-like spirit of work for others.
Our school for Bible study, though cramped for room, is exerting an important influence on this community. Almost all the colored pastors of the place have received instruction in its classes. All the white pastors of the place, with one exception, take part in the instruction of their colored brethren. ”

“ By her genial spirit, unselfish life and faithful labor in school, church, Sunday-School and the community, she greatly endeared herself to the people as well as to pupils and fellow teachers, who sincerely mourn her departure. ”

“ O, such a little scamp as he is! and yet so full of good nature in his mischief, that it is not easy to scold him for naughtiness. Living only across the lane, he runs in and out as much as he pleases, and if one starts after him, he is often found just outside on the step, peeping through a crack, and grinning at authority. ”

“ Our friends who are denying themselves, oftentimes, to aid in sustaining our work, will be cheered to know that the funds they contribute are not thrown into a slough and lost, but are touching mind and heart and industry, and thus stimulating the people whom we benefit to help themselves. ”

“ The only possible relief that we can see is by educating the Negro, till he shall rise to a position that will challenge the respect of his fellow-citizens and secure to him his equal rights under the glorious Constitution of the United States of America. ”

“ There is a time in our work, if it progresses as we would like, when it seems to go beyond us. The work here now is at that point. When I came here the people were beggars. Their acquaintance with the Agency people and the Army people had been such as to cause them to think that white people were all wealthy, and that one had only to ask for a thing to receive it. I have labored diligently to induce them to earn what they have. It is very seldom now that any one begs, but I am over-run with applications for work. ”

“ The Chinese Sunday-schools of California, though started with great éclat, would long ago have perished utterly, but for the mission schools whose work knows no cessation. Our Christian Chinese are now so widely scattered that it seems as though there could scarcely be anywhere Eastward a city of considerable size without at least one of them. If there is one, he will hear of your Sunday-school and will be there. ”

“ Few colored men in the United States have occupied a more prominent position than Frederick Douglass; and there are none whose opinions are more worthy of respect. His address delivered at the celebration of the Twenty-seventh Anniversary of the Emancipation of the Slaves in the District of Columbia was thoughtful, well-expressed and emphatic in its utterances. ”

“ States may lag, parties may hesitate, leaders may halt, but to this complexion it must come at last. States, parties and leaders must, and will in the end, adjust themselves to this overwhelming and irresistible tendency. ”

“ It is required of married candidates for admission to the church, that they be married in a Christian way. This sometimes seems hard, as in a case which has been before our Oahe church for some time. A woman of fine character whom we believe to be a sincere Christian, desires to unite with the church. Her husband, who is a veritable heathen, refuses to marry her. He says he never has had another wife and does not intend to take one, but he is a Dakota and does not wish to adopt white people's ways. ”

“ At what time in the coming hundred years of the Constitution this new struggle may come, no one can predict. The crisis will not be averted by merely deprecating it, and we know of no Compromise that can reach it. ”

“ A missionary society cannot make its expenditures as a man provides for his family—from day to day—but must lay out its plans for the year. The missionaries, the teachers, the matrons and all employés must be engaged for that length of time. ”

“ It is exceedingly important that as much as possible be learned of English in the first few lessons, in order to prepossess the pupils favorably and get them interested in the school. Those who have already learned to read can, of course, be put into Bible classes, but beginners ought to be at liberty to take, each one his own pace, and get on as fast as possible ”

“ These are some of the ways in which the colored people may be aroused from their apathy and indifference toward their country, and inspired with a patriotism, not blind and spasmodic, but intelligent and permanent. ”

“ I cannot say to a man, "It is a disgrace to beg bread for your hungry child," and then refuse to give him work. Now, let some of your wise people in the East who are friends of the Indian try to remedy this great difficulty. ”

“ It seems odd to speak of men and their wives coming to be married—it is meant that they are husbands and wives after the Dakota custom. When they come to understand Christian marriage, and especially if they desire to unite with the church, they ask to have the marriage solemnized in a Christian manner. Sometimes a man and woman who have several children, perhaps a baby in arms, present themselves for marriage. ”

“ The vast majority of the colored children can remain in school only long enough to get a knowledge of the elements, and among these should be American history. What if children cannot pronounce the names of all the cities in Siberia? ”

“ Each individual is jealous of another, if I give one work and refuse another. If I hire a woman to wash, I must hire another to iron, another to bring in my wood, another to wash the floor and still another to clean up my yard. If I hire a man to make some repairs, I must hire another to cut wood, another to haul water or ice, and so it is. ”

“ A NEGRO GIRL'S PROSE POEM.
In attendance at one of the ward schools of Indianapolis is a little colored girl nine years old. She is miserable, indeed, for at home she is ill treated, and the shoes she wears, and often the clothes, are supplied by the teachers or some of her classmates. There is a tender, poetic vein in her make-up, and it found vent in a composition. The teacher took a little pansy plant to school one day and told the pupils of the flower. ”

“ Necessarily much of the work in these local societies must be for building up the church, helping toward the minister's salary and caring for the destitute in the immediate vicinity; but it was most encouraging to note that aside from this, work had been done for the foreign field through the American Board and for the Home Missionary Society, while several societies had contributed toward the support of a teacher at Fort Berthold, Dakota, under the American Missionary Association. ”

“ The necessity under which many labor, of teaching school in order to pay their own school bills, makes attendance somewhat irregular. The grade of the school is being steadily advanced, and under efficient teachers and Principal, the pupils are making solid advancement. ”

“ In fact, if a woman tells a woman, they lose all their curative properties. But these are the words they use to charm away the botts in horses. I think they ought to be given to the public for the benefit of stock growers generally. Putting the fingers on the animal's nose, they pass the hand along the head and spine, repeating, "King Solomon plows with a golden plow. He plows deep and he plows shallow, and he kills all the worms." ”

“ Under the new wording, local societies may work for any branch of missions, home or foreign, contributions being sent through the established agencies of the Congregational churches. By thus broadening the field, it [173] is hoped that more and better work will be done, and that an intelligent interest will be created in many branches of the Master's work. ”

“ Then sing the gospel to them, asking them to read the verse after you, word by word, and then sing it with you. I will gladly supply, at bare cost, Song Rolls in Chinese, containing familiar gospel hymns translated into Chinese and so conformed in metre to the English original that the time remains unchanged, and the teachers can sing the English words, if desirable, while the Chinese use their own. There is no more effective preaching of the gospel than that in song.
6. The Sunday-school, at its best, needs to be supplemented by some sort of week-day work. ”

“ Our graduates have started a Young Men's Christian Association in the town of Hampton, hired rooms, chosen one of their number secretary, paid a large part of the expense out of their own pockets, have fitted up the rooms prettily and made an attractive, pleasant place for the young men of the town. ”

“ Only a few days ago, armed resistance was made in North Carolina to colored emigration from that State, and the first exodus to Kansas was arrested by the old master-class with shotguns and Winchester rifles. The desire to get rid of the negro is a hollow sham. His labor is wanted to-day in the South just as it was wanted in the old times when he was hunted by two-legged and four-legged bloodhounds. ”