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PROGRESSIVE MISSIONS
IN THE
SOUTH
AND ADDRESSES
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS AND SKETCHES OF
MISSIONARY
WORKERS AND MINISTERS AND
BISHOPS' WIVES.
BY
SARA J. DUNCAN, M.A.
GENERAL SUPERINTENDENT OF THE WOMEN'S HOME AND FOREIGN
MISSIONARY SOCIETY, A. M. E. CHURCH, APPOINTED
1897, AND RE-COMMISSIONED
AFTER
EACH GENERAL CONFERENCE
ALSO
EPISCOPAL SECRETARY OF THE SIXTH
DISTRICT
FOR TEN CONSECUTIVE YEARS.
ATLANTA, GA.
THE FRANKLIN PRINTING AND PUBLISHING COMPANY
GEO. W. HARRISON, GENERAL MANAGER
1906
Page 3
TO THE
SWEET MEMORY OF MY LOVING AND AFFECTIONATE FATHER,
S. G. HATCHER, TRUSTEE AND CLASS LEADER OF BROWN
CHAPEL, A. M. E.
CHURCH, SELMA, ALABAMA,
AND ONE OF THE FIRST LAY TRUSTEES OF
PAYNE
UNIVERSITY, A FAITHFUL WORKER
FOR CHRIST, DEPARTED THIS LIFE
SEPTEMBER
29, 1899;
TO MY SWEET, DEVOTED SISTERS, FRANCES AND GEORGIA, WHO,
BY
PERSONAL HELP AND WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT,
HAVE BID ME GODSPEED;
TO
MY DEVOTED AND FAITHFUL HUSBAND, WHO GAVE A HELPING
HAND IN TRYING HOURS OF
NEED AND
RESPONSIBILITY OF THE WORK;
TO MY DEVOTED FOSTER-MOTHER,
SARA J. MORGAN, WHO WITH
HER PRAYERS AND TEARS, UNDER THE WEIGHTY
RESPONSIBILITY OF A DEATH - BED PROMISE
TO NURTURE AND PROTECT A BABE
TO A USEFUL CHRISTIAN LIFE;
TO THE BISHOPS, PRESIDING ELDERS,
MINISTERS, BRETHREN,
SISTERS, AND FRIENDS OF AFRICAN METHODISM, AND MY
FAITHFUL CO-WORKERS, WHO HAVE GIVEN THEIR
TIME, TOIL, AND HARD-EARNED
CONTRIBUTIONS,
THROUGH SWEAT AND TEARS, TO THE
MISSIONARIES OF HIS
CROSS;
TO MY ENCOURAGING FRIENDS OF ALL DENOMINATIONS; LAST,
BUT NOT
LEAST, TO THE YOUNG WOMEN WHO WRITE AND ASK
PRAYERS AND ENCOURAGEMENT, AND
ALL INTO WHOSE
HANDS THIS LITTLE VOLUME MAY CHANCE TO
FALL, WITH THE
PRAYER FOR THE HIGHEST
LITERARY, MORAL AND SPIRITUAL EXCELLENCE
THAT CAN
COME TO A RACE
OF USEFUL WOMEN, IS THIS
DEDICATED
BY THE AUTHOR.
Page 5
OTHERS shall sing the song,
Others shall right the wrong--
Finish what I begin,
And all I fail or win.
What matter I or they?
Mine or another's day.
So the right word be said
And life the sweeter made.
Whittier.
Page 7
INTRODUCTION.
BY BISHOP HENRY MCNEAL TURNER, D.D., LL.D., D.C.U.
Christian missions, in an organized form, is the propelling power that disseminates and extends civilization and knowledge in general, among the barbarous nations of earth, and brings mankind of every nation, hue and color to the threshold of intellectual and spiritual development. It possesses the basic elements as an institution or otherwise of all that evolves man's moral nature, and makes him the creature of order, law and the operator of just and righteous deeds, thereby enabling him to do unto others as he would that others should do unto him, which is made complete in loving God with all his heart, soul, mind and strength, and his neighbor as himself. It may sound strange, nevertheless it is true, but Christian missions contain every grace, every virtue and every ornament that will correspond with man's complex nature, and impart to it a finish that will enable him to revolve in the proper sphere in this life, and prepare him for the life reserved for him in the hereafter. David Hume, the great scholar and world-renowned historian, and thousands of his way of thinking and reasoning, have assumed that what we commonly call education, mere literary culture, will mould and fashion man into what he was originally designed to be, when he came from the hands of his Creator. But dry learning, in the abstract, through the ages and ages, has presented the world with no such specimen. Homer, the great Grecian poet, Euripides, who stood at the summit of earthly culture, and Edward Gibbon, of great fame, not only as a historian, but as
Page 8
the philosopher of history, should have been the most pious, astute and orderly of men if this kind of reasoning was true.
Industrial and mechanical education and skill, and the most sensitive touch in the studio of art has not presented the world with a finished man or woman. But these combined with the basic principles and teachings which come from Christian missions, have given the completed touch, and man has been made the master of earth and an heir of heaven. And nothing that can occupy his attention deserves more protracted and patient consideration. The fact that Christ Himself descended to earth, in His entirety, as a missionary, to offer everything to the world, that it stood in need of, makes Him the prototype or model of all who should be sent after Him till millennial glory shall extend from pole to pole, and this necessarily makes the subject of Christian missions the most exalted topic that ever engaged the attention of man. Literature, history, science, philosophy, logic, including all their branches, is a mere bagatelle when compared to mission work. In other words, the study of Christian missions should be the chief topic of our consideration, while the world of mankind is so barbarous. Murder and every form of outrage is the curse of the world, and will be till mission labors shall transform it.
We are glad to see that Mrs. Sara J. Duncan, of Selma, Ala., the general superintendent of the Woman's Home and Foreign Missionary Society of the African M. E. Church, who has occupied this exalted position for ten years, has prepared a sketch of the doings and labors of the women of our race, entitled "Progressive Missions in the South," and we have been honored by being asked to write a brief introduction. We regret, however, that a multiplicity of other business and the recognized inability of the writer renders him wholly incapable of performing this duty creditably.
Page 9
After carefully and deliberately reading the synopsis of its contents, with pleasure, and uninfluenced by motives of friendship for the author, we have consented to pen a few lines. Progressive Missions in the South contains narratives and addresses which will be of benefit to the women of our race, resulting in infinite good. We take pleasure in trying to write this introduction, First, because it is in no sense an imitation of any work of the kind. Secondly, it is a splendid presentation of the sacred cause of missions, especially for the women of the A. M. E. Church. Free from selfishness, and giving ample space to that of other Christian denominations, which is a manifestation of excellent judgment, and no ordinary skill. The author, though a young woman, yet in her thirties, has evidently given much time and careful study to the subject, and has in her a spiritual influence and power for saving the lost and helping to maintain the Gospel standard of life and the church of Christ.
While the author has made the book interesting and even fascinating, by giving illustrations and many points of interest from her own city and State, it exhibits a spirit of unselfishness and a desire to show that all can be of use, for the betterment of humanity and the uplift of the race.
The religious and pious tone of the book is worthy, and even merits mention, and is given in language well chosen and acceptable. We say without exaggeration that the religious sentiment which dominates the book, and the great rewards proffered, is presented in a most attractive form.
The A. M. E. Church is blessed with two missionary societies, composed of females. One is known as the Woman's Parent Mite Missionary Society, which was organized some twenty-eight or nine years ago. And the Woman's Home and Foreign Missionary Society,
Page 10
which was organized at South Bend, Ind., in the Summer of 1893. But the Mite Society existed chiefly in the North or former free States, while the Home and Foreign Society came South and was the first to organize our Southern women, which it did by establishing subordinate societies in Arkansas, Mississippi, Georgia, South Carolina and Alabama, and the sequel has been that thousands and tens of thousands of dollars have been raised for missions, giving one-half to our Missionary Department, to be sent to foreign fields and the other half to missions at home, to help the neighboring preachers extend the work at their doors. The Mite Society has rendered infinite help to foreign fields, however, and had been the custodian and distributors of their own moneys, while the Home and Foreign Missionary Society has presumed upon the better judgment of the General Missionary Secretary and the Bishop and managing ministers of the several Annual Conferences, where they have operated.
Mrs. Duncan, however, has not confined her labors to the Church she is connected with, but recognizes other denominations and their Christian labors, has tried to review the doings, successes and even the reverses of others of her race. This book should fall into the hands of the members of every denomination, and prompt an elevation and an aspiration that will honor heaven and promote the religious interest of our people.
Thousands and tens of thousands will purchase it, and be benefited and inspired by it, and may the God of Missions sustain and bless the author and make this work productive of great results.
H. M. TURNER.
Atlanta, Ga. Feb. 26, 1906.
Page 13
SKETCHES.
4. BISHOP H. M. TURNER, D.D., LL.D., D.C.L.
Bishop H. M. Turner, D.D., LL.D., D.C.L., is the senior Bishop of the African M. E. church, and although peculiar in his views, is said to be the greatest living Negro. He is now serving his third term as Bishop of the Sixth Episcopal District, the only man in the history of Methodism who has had the distinction of being returned in succession to the same diocese. He is president of the Bishops' Counsel, President of the Sunday School Union Department at Nashville, and Chancellor of Morris Brown College. He has crossed the ocean many times and planted the gospel in South and West Africa. It was during his administration as President of the Missionary Board of the A. M. E. church that we were appointed general superintendent. It is through him that many students from the foreign fields have come to this country and matriculated in the different schools and colleges, graduated with high honors from the different departments, and have since returned to the Fatherland to teach and preach to these native sisters and brothers. In May, 1905, was celebrated at St. Louis, Mo., his twenty-fifth anniversary as bishop in the church, which proceedings of this Silver Jubilee have been published in a journal called the quarto-centennial that will do ample justice to this great hero which, with our feeble pen we are unable to do.
Page 14
executive board of Interdenominational, International State S. S. Association, and editor of the Missionary Searchlight, a woman's church paper in interest of missions, launched by her in 1898, and adopted at Columbus, Ohio, and Chicago by the last two general conferences as the woman's missionary organ. She was the legal representative to both these distinguished gatherings. In June the A. and M. College, Normal, Alabama, at its commencement, conferred upon her the degree of M. A.
Page 15
No. 6. [Home of Early Training]
Page 16
OBITUARY.
The death angel knocked at the door of our family home and took from us our dear father. To me, the baby child, the wound can never be healed; yet in all things, from the blade of grass that withereth to the man who falls at the decree of God, we bow our heads and submit and say. "Thy will be done." To us he was mother and father, too, and we can only try to show how we wish to follow in his footsteps by ever striving and always working to make ourselves as useful as he was to the church of God for near fifty years of the sixty-three years and nineteen days of his life.
The Lord enabled us to reach his bedside two days before he left, although 300 miles away, and to have the pleasure of having him know that we were with him, as had always been his living request, that each of his three daughters to be at his bedside during his last moments. He kept me near him to the last holding my hand, and was conscious of my presence. He seemed to feel that I was stronger than the other two girls, and seemed to feel that I understood that he was going and the others did not, and although I knew it, and the pain was almost unbearable. We prayed that God would enable us to have strength to be calm, that he might have peace to pass over the river, and God gave me strength to sit quietly and hold his hand as he crossed the river, and to listen and call others to listen, while he would whisper to me, "Angels," a part of the band being composed of thirteen of his own little ones, saying, "I'm coming, come on, come along. Alright, I'm coming." And then beckon his head and wave his hand, beckon his finger and repeat the words, "coming, coming."
The most beautiful sermon we have ever heard in our lifetime was preached by our pastor, Rev. J. W. Walker, D. D., the theme being, "True Greatness." Text, Second
Page 17
Sam. iii, 38: "A great man is fallen this day in Israel."
The choir sang the beautiful songs, "Jerusalem, My Happy Home," "Servant of God, Well Done," "It Is Well with My Soul," "We'll Never Say Good-bye in Heaven."
Oh, the consolation of such a sermon, such a beautiful life picture of usefulness as a servant of Christ, the pastor saying it was no trouble to preach such a sermon, when in the life of the deceased he would ask him to rest from such duties as class leader and other offices of the church, he would say: "No, I want to die at my post."
He was a member of St. Mark's Lodge, No. 4, A. F. and A. M. He was buried with Masonic honors. He was also one of the founders of Daughters of Conference, who lost a faithful member. A large concourse of people, one of the largest processions ever witnessed from Brown Chapel. We beg that our friends pray that we may continue to gain strength from on high, and that we may never tire of doing the will of the Master, looking to Him in this awful time of trial, who doeth all things well, and pray that we may receive a double portion of strength to help pour the oil of consolation into the hearts of his dear wife, and our dear sisters, who can not see God's will as we do, although Christian women, need more strength, pray for them and help me to help them to make this covenant--
TRUSTING.
I can not always see the way that leads
To heights above;
I sometimes quite forget He leads me on
With hand of love;
But yet I know the path must lead me to
Immanuel's land.
And when I reach life's summit I shall know
And understand.
Page 18
I can not always trace the onward course
My ship must take;
But, looking backward, I behold afar
Its shining wake
Illumined with God's light of love, and so
I onward go,
In perfect trust, that he who holds the helm
The course must know.
I can not always see the plan on which
He builds my life,
For oft the sound of hammers, blow on blow,
The noise of strife,
Confuse me till I quite forget He knows
And oversees,
And that in all details, with His good plan,
My life agrees.
Geo. Hatcher died as he had
lived, a faithful and worthy citizen, enjoying the respect of all classes. He
was a brother of Burrell, so well and favorably known here, and who died a few
years ago; was a son of that familiar character of Reconstruction days, Jordan
Hatcher, who for many years after the war held the position
of postmaster at Cahaba, and at one time a member of the famous
Constitutional Convention of 1868 in this State. After the death of Jordan,
which cancelled his official commission, George was awarded the contract for
carrying the mails between this city and Cahaba, a position he held with credit
to himself and with honor to the general government. In addition to a wife, three
daughters survive him, viz.: Georgia Anderson, Frances Brown and Sara J. Duncan,
superintendent, lecturer and general organizer of the Woman's Home and Foreign
Missionary Society of the A. M. E. church. Funeral takes place this a.
m. at 10:30 from Brown Chapel A. M. E. Church. Geo. Hatcher, one of the best
known colored citizens of Selma, died at his home in this city Friday night,
after a brief illness. He has been engaged in the jewelry business in Selma for
more than twenty-five years, during which time he has, by sobriety, honesty and
faithfulness, gained for himself friends, among both white and colored. His
funeral takes place from Brown Chapel this morning at half-past 10
o'clock.--Selma Daily Times. Whereas, It has pleased
Almighty God to remove from earth Brother S. G. Hatcher, a leader and trustee of
Brown Chapel; and, Whereas, Brother Hatcher was
a Christian gentleman, loyal to his church and race, for which he gave his life
since Reconstruction days, was a devoted husband, an
affectionate father, and was held in high esteem by all who knew him;
therefore, Resolved, That in the
death of Brother Hatcher the church loses a loyal member and faithful worker and
the race a true friend. Resolved, 2d, That in
Brown Chapel's loss of so useful a member we implicitly yield to the Divine
will. Resolved, 3d, That in
token of our sorrow we revere his life, labors and memory, and that the
secretary of the church be and is hereby instructed to transmit a copy of these
resolutions to the family of our deceased brother, and for them we invoke the
consolation of the Christian faith.
R. M. GOODWIN. JAMES W. WALKER,
Mrs. Sara J. Morgan was born
in Virginia, and is now about eighty-three years old. She has the distinction of
being one of the old school, being sold from her mother while quite a child and
reared in the house with her mistress. She is an excellent house-keeper a good
manager, a splendid seamstress and in her day received prizes for her beautiful
and artistic handwork on undergarments and tailoring. She has had the
distinction of being the mother for eight unfortunate children and a
faster mother for five, the youngest being a young man now grown whose mother
died when he was seven days old, and little Sara, the author, whose mother died
when she was a year and one month old. To each of these she tried to give as
much of an education as they would willingly receive. She is an earnest worker
and consistent Christian woman, and in whose crown will be many stars for being
a mother to the motherless and handing a cup of cold water to the least of
these, my little ones.
S. G. Hatcher, the father of
the author, was one of a large family of boys, all of which are now dead. Their
father, Jordan Hatcher, was considered in slave days a very well-to-do colored
man. He hired his own time and that of his boys from his master at so much per
day and taught them the trades, blacksmithing, wheelwrighting and carpentry
which these boys as fathers have handed down to their posterity and some of
their children are now teaching these trades in the schools and making a fair
living for their own families. Jordan Hatcher was also a teacher in the public
schools of Dallas county, and was ten years postmaster at Cahaba, Ala., the old
capital of the State. He was also one of the three colored members of the first
Constitutional Convention of the State, after the emancipation. He was a devout
Christian and lived to be seventy-three years of age. S. G. Hatcher was, by
trade, a blacksmith and silversmith, but after some years, owing to ill health,
abandoned that occupation, taking up gunsmithing and silversmithing, having
successfully run in two different towns a wholesale and retail grocery business
and bar-room. After some years' reflection, his
decision was that the sale of whiskey was not for Christian men, and he,
without hesitation, gave up the same. He was married four times, first, to Miss
Laura English, second, Miss Eliza English, third, Miss Virginia Tarte, fourth,
Miss Fannie Mumford, who still survives him. To these unions were born sixteen
children, all of which are gone to the better land, save the three daughters,
Frances, Georgia and Sara. All children of the second wife, Miss Eliza English,
who was from one of the oldest and best families of white and colored in the
State. At the time of his death he was class leader and trustee, having held all
other positions connected with the church. His example in church work was worthy
of emulation, and among his last admonitions while on his deathbed was,
"Conference meets here in a few weeks, and be sure to pay my dollar money." He
was over sixty-three years of age at the time of his death.
Mrs. C. M. Wilson, relict of
Dr. M. R. Wilson, one of the most prominent pastors in the State of Georgia, and
was at the time of his demise pastor at Americus. Before his marriage to Mrs. C.
M. Aldridge he was a son-in-law of Bishop J. M. Shorter, from which marriage
survives one daughter, Miss Bessie E. Wilson, a young lady of excellent parts,
who is a graduate from the academic course of Morris Brown College, of Atlanta,
Ga., and who is also, by trade, a tailoress and a milliner, all of which she has
attained through her stepmother and a scholarship from the Southwest Georgia
Conference. Mrs. Wilson is now a
confirmed invalid, having worked very hard, and going through the most heroic
sacrifices for Bessie's education. She has been a great missionary and church
worker, and was the first manager and associate editor of the Missionary
Searchlight, and was also assistant general organizer of the Sixth District
for three years. Died on July 18, 1906.
Miss Ella J. Lamar was born
and reared at Shelman, Ga. Her school days were few, owing to a feeble mother
and no one to push her education. She joined the church quite early and has been
instrumental in spreading the borders of Christianity and continuing to study,
being tutored by such gentlemen as J. P. Vandergriff, D. J. Jordan and W. J.
Thomas. In 1905, she matriculated at Morris Brown College and, in connection
with her other studies, took the missionary course under the principal of that
department, Miss L. P. Lemon. Miss Lamar, of Dawson, Ga., is a teacher in the
public schools and declares that she would lay down her life for the cause of
missions, and her greatest pleasure is when in discharge of her Christian
duties. Though poor and an orphan, she given her time and means to the great
cause of missions, and is at present president of the Albany District W. H. and
F. M. Society.
Mrs. Georgia A. Levens, Mrs.
Frances Vaughn, sisters of the author, good Christian women, helping in all
causes of the spreading of the gospel; kind and loving in family relations and
benevolent to the poor, both members of the Ladies' Aid Society of P. U.
Since entering upon the
threshold of the twentieth century, let us pause for a moment before taking a
seat in the reception-hall, awaiting the entrance of the mistress who will
preside over the next few decades. But while waiting her coming in answer to the
summons of the doorbell, let us take a retrospection somewhat regarding our
race, that we may be better prepared to take in the living photographs of the
future. In asking the question which shall it be, to form or to reform? we would
not discourage you with the first view which presents itself regarding the dear
mothers who have prayed for the future generations for, all things taken
together, they have done well. But it is to the coming mothers and those of the
present time principally in viewing their pictures is the why of the three
chapters. For, regardless of their ignorance and superstition, and the
schoolrooms of slavery through which they had to pass, these old mothers worked
hard for the future of the children and thought more of example and practice in
the homes and around the fireside than these of our present day. We feel like
stopping just here to pay a tribute to Sister Johannah Moore, the organizer and
founder of the fireside school. How she labored and toiled among us. May God
bless her. For, as Dr. Thurkiel, that eminent teacher of theology, when taking
leave of Gammon Theological Seminary, said to the brethren, "I come not among
you because you were ignorant, but because you were men; I come not among you
because you were black, but because you are brethren." Many of us are enemies to
ourselves and our future posterity.
It seems that we, as women,
are more of an enemy to ourselves than any one else, yet we quarrel with the men
a great deal about hindering us, which is true in many instances, by those who
are jealous of the progress made by some of us and fear that we will take their
places in many things. But have we stopped to think what enemies we are to
ourselves? If we have not, let us do so now and at once, for at the rate we are
traveling now, some of us will have nothing but close-fisted, jealous,
inquisitive, gossiping, meddlesome children for the next three generations, for
what the mothers are, the children will certainly be, yet we talk of having a
better race, but how, we, for one, can not see. Let us stop calling the men our
enemies, when we are the worst enemies to each other to be found anywhere. We
are so much afraid that some one will have more recognition than we, that we
will not accord them what is due them, instead of bidding them godspeed. For
some of those who are so very jealous of the progress made by others, who get
what they have, attain what they know and reach what little eminence they can,
by hard study when others are asleep, expect to go on till they reach the very
highest round in the ladder of fame, for some people are not so easily "scared,"
and while we are trying to pull others down to a level with us from jealousy
because they have done and are still doing that which we can not, and will never
be able to accomplish, we should be trying with all our might to do something in
some line equally as good that the future generations of our race will be able
to make some history. For anything in this life ever attained that is worth
having was gained by hard work and devotion for the same, so bear in mind the
same ladder stands yet for you to begin to climb, and if you take precaution in
every way, perseverance as a knapsack, a love to help those who are trying to
follow, and to reach back now and then to lend a
helping hand, and if one climbs a little faster than you to stand aside and
let her go by, you yourself still keeping on, you will reach whatever you are
striving for, for the ladder of fame and distinction has no easy rungs. As he came so came she, and
has done much for the elevation of our race. Her teachings has helped the
mothers, reminding them to sow and they will reap a harvest, and sowing a
harvest will reap a character, and sowing characters reap destinies. After all
of the encumbrances pictured to us of the future through prospective views as
the wheels of time roll on, we have much to be thankful for, for while other
races have reared a Benedict Arnold, the Negro woman has reared a Chrispus
Attucks. While other races were bringing up a John Wilkes Booth, the Negro was
bringing up a Henry McNeil Turner, while other races have tenderly cared for and
brought up an Emma Goldman the Negro woman has brought up a Frances Harper.
Other races have reared a Leon Czolcoltz to assassinate presidents; the Negro
woman reared up a James B. Parker to ward off the deadly weapon. Poor woman! No marshaling
troops, no bivouac songs, no banners to flaunt and wave, but oh! their battles,
they last so long. From the cradle to the grave. The daughters in this day and
generation are not taught what the lack of obedience means, and but few mothers
have implicit confidence in the daughters; neither are they taught to have
abiding and faithful confidence in the mother. They never think mother knows
best, forgetting the injunction of the Holy Bible: "Honor thy father and thy
mother, that thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God giveth
thee." Then
some stand up and shudder at disobedience; others shed tears when the girl
goes astray and all groan under the weight that follows the soul when the girl
or boy turns into the wayward path; yet this would not be if we would guard the
infant in the younger days, being sure that it is so much better to form
than to reform. As Christian mothers, be more
diligent in prayer, seeing that faith moveth mountains. Be faithful to the trust
imposed upon you as mothers in bringing up the dear children in the nurture and
admonition and fear of the Lord. For upon them depends the future of many
generations to come. You mothers of the Nineteenth Century, have you faithfully
served your calling; did you form or did you depend upon
reforming? Dear sisters, was there not
some child whom you could have snatched from the coils of sin, some wayward boy
or girl, you could have saved had you put yourselves to some little trouble or
have gone a little out of your way to have done so. If not, begin now, for a
life, the life of the child upon which depends the future should be
formed in its early age. Don't say to yourselves, the dear little thing, how
cute; oh! my, who would have thought that he knew that? dear me; where did he
learn it? Teaching him to knock the thing that hurts him, to beat the cat that
scratches him; to strike the chair that bumps him, forming the spirit of
retaliation for every little hurt he receives, forming in him the spirit of a
fighter, later to become, maybe, a revengeful murderer. Then, when he stands
upon the gallows, ready to be hurled into eternity, comes to your heart and
conscience that you should have formed instead of depending upon
reforming. Thoughtless mothers, either
from curiosity, or more often ignorance, witness tragedies, look upon crimes, at
times when they should guard every tendency that would weigh upon or influence
the tender, developing being,
which God is preparing them soon to bring forth into this world of misery.
Thus forming tendencies which will lead in the future to make murderers,
cut-throats and lecherous young mothers; for the sake of humanity stop before it
is too late and consider the tendencies you are bringing up in the children For
children have souls to be provided for and the character of the child should be
formed, yes, ere it is born in the mother. The boys that are allowed to play in
the back yard that they are having a lynching-bee with the dog or cat and
sometimes another child, as the criminal, will indeed make first-class lynchers
when they get a little older. Crime formed in young children can not be
reformed out of the man. When the great case of evil-doers and crime
increase was up in Georgia in 1899 many things were written on the subject, but
among the many none caught the attention of the writer more than the following
from Mrs. John King Ottley: "As long as there is one girl, white or black in the
State, who is in need of reformatory influences, every woman in Georgia should
stand firm for her having them." Is a criminal woman less harm to society than a
criminal man? The arrest of minors in the police court quoted below will show:
"In 1893, white females, five; 1893, colored females, ninety-six; 1894, white
females, twenty-one; colored, forty-nine; 1895 (exposition year) white,
forty-four; colored, 590; 1896, white, twenty-nine; colored, 558; 1897, white,
fifty-five; colored, 654; 1898, white, sixty-seven; colored, 773. In six years
in city, 221 whites and 2,790 Negro girls tried in the courts." Now, dear
sisters, can we see the need of form instead of reform? For in these statistics
something must be wrong. Then, I pray you, let it be form instead of reform. "Opportunity has hair in
front, behind she is bald; if once suffered to escape, Jupiter himself can never
catch her again."
FINES IN POLICE COURT REACHED
NEARLY $100,000. IN 1905. POLICE COURT LAST YEAR NETTED
REVENUE OF $55,149.60. A total of $55,149.60, as
shown by the annual report of Recorder Broyles, was paid into the city treasury
in police court fines during the past year. Almost $100,000 was imposed in
fines, the remainder of the amount having been worked out in the city
stockade. The following figures show
the interesting results of the police court for the year:
I can not always know and understand
The Master's rule;
I can not always do the tasks He gives
In life's hard school;
But I am learning with His help to solve
Them, one by one;
And when I can not understand, to say,
"Thy will be done." SKETCH OF HIS LIFE.
Page 19
RESOLUTIONS UPON THE LATE S. G. HATCHER, ADOPTED BY THE
OFFICERS OF BROWN CHAPEL, SELMA, ALA., OCTOBER 6TH.
Page 20
B. S. NIXON.
W. F. CLARK.
C. G. BROWN.
E. W. STONE.
MORRIS GRAHAM.
A. D. EVANS
Secretary.
Pastor.8. MRS. SARA J. MORGAN.
Page 21
9. S. G. HATCHER.
Page 22
10. MRS. C. M. WILSON.
Page 23
11. MISS ELLA J. LAMAR.
12 AND 13. MRS. GEORGIA A. LEVENS.
Page 24
WHICH SHALL IT BE, TO FORM OR REFORM?
CHAPTER I.
Page 25
Page 26
CHAPTER II.
Page 27
Page 28
Page 29
Number of cases docketed
15,439
Cash received from fines
$55,149 60
Amount of fines worked out
42,461 90
Fines remitted by the mayor
2,359 75
Total fines imposed
99,971 25
Of the total cases, 1,011 were against juveniles, apportioned as follows:
| White boys | 188 |
| White girls | 4 |
| Negro boys | 777 |
| Negro girls | 42 |
| Total fines imposed | 532 |
| Cases dismissed | 338 |
| Bound over to State courts | 90 |
| Put on probation, under direction of Probation Officer Gloer | 47 |
--Atlanta Nervs.
Just so it is with a child, mothers should take heed to the above, while the child is young, yet if having failed in the start out feel assured that they are never too far out of the reach of God's grace, saying within your hearts: "Rescue the perishing." If it be not your child it is "some mother's child." So reach out a helping hand
Page 30
with this prayer in your heart, "what would Jesus do?" The women of the Negro race have more to contend with than any other race upon God's globe, when it comes to virtue and morality. I will not invite you to take a view of that photograph, for it is not a picturesque one. They have every race to contend with, and yet they are trying to climb, and there are yet a few gallant men of the race who have lain their lives upon the altar, and others who are helping us to prove that we have all the integrities, virtue, morality and all other high qualities to be found in other women, and many times as the years pass by and we feel that we are being ushered into some far beyond; some wide, extensive sea, whose depths we are unable to fathom and that God's hand is the only true hand that is tried and true, stretched out to us in the darkness. We go on, not knowing what awaits us, for the way is dark and the clouds obscure our sight; yet we mean to work, watch and pray, for ourselves and the future generations, remembering that the boys and girls of to-day will be the men and women of to-morrow. For as a race we must be trained and disciplined, coaxed and driven, petted and punished, for who prays and helps to save the morals of his country saves himself, saves all things. Who lets the morality of his country die lets all things die and dies himself. Young women, who are interested in the welfare of this proscribed race let your young lives be well formed, for form is better than reform. While laying the foundation broad and deep for intellectual training and setting forth the great importance of industrial and material training, pray do not forget your moral and religious training, for what the race needs now more than anything else is character.
Brains are good, skill in the industries are good, but my dear one, nothing can take the place of righteous conduct and righteous lives. The spiritual workers for
Page 31
humanity are now seeing the need not so much in the problem of civil, political and social rights with the great progression of agriculture and labor, neither the problem of education, but the problem of morals. A better status in home, church and State will mean great things for us as a race, for formation is better than reformation. Which shall it be?
When Mary Church Terrell was president of the National Association of Colored Women, in her address she made our hearts glad. We quote some of her sayings:
As individuals colored women have always been ambitions for their race from the day when shackles first fell from their fettered limbs till now. They have often, single-handed and alone, struggled against the most desperate and discouraging odds in order to secure for their loved ones and themselves that culture of the head and heart for which they hungered and thirsted so long in vain. What a revolution we should work, for instance by the time the next generation stands at the head of the children of to-day, if they were taught that they are responsible for their thoughts; that they can learn to control them; that an impure light is the result of impure thoughts; that crime is conceived in thought before it is executed in deed.
Homes for the orphans and aged must be established; sanitariums, hospitals and training schools for nurses founded, unfortunate women and tempted girls encircled by the loving arms of those who would woo them back to the path of rectitude and virtue; class form for cultivating the mind; schools of domestic science opened in every city and village in which our women and girls can be found. It is useless to talk about elevating the race if we do not come in closer touch with the masses of our women, where we may correct many of the evils which militate so seriously against us and inaugurate the reforms
Page 32
without which as a race, we can not hope to succeed.
As a mother of the dominant race looks into the sweet, innocent face of her babe, her heart thrills not only with happiness in the present, but with joyful anticipation of the future, but how bitter is the contrast under the feelings of joy and hope which thrills the heart of the white mother and those which stir the heart and soul of her colored sister, for, before her babe she sees the thorny path of prejudice and proscription his little feet must pass. She knows that no matter how great his ability or how lofty his ambition, she knows that no matter how skillful his hands, how honest his heart, or how great his need, trades unions will close their doors in his face and make his struggle for existence desperate indeed. So rough does the way of her infant appear to many a poor colored mother as she thinks of the hardships and humiliations to which he will be subjected when he tries to earn his daily bread, that instead a thrilling with joy and hope she trembles with apprehension and despair.
"In spite of rock and tempest roar,
In spite of false lights on the shore,
Sail on nor fear to breast the sea,
Our hearts, our hopes, are all with thee.
Something over twenty years
ago parents were more careful regarding the rearing of children than now. In
those days could be found little ones under good control, but now it is a
rare thing to find one or two out of ten under any control whatever. It was at
that time considered impertinence for a child to make the second request for
anything after having been refused, but now I have known children even eight
years old who cry, whine, fume and fret, pout, fuss and everything else that can
be done for even a half day at the time, till their requests are granted. Now,
mothers, what do you intend to do with such children? You have failed to
form, shall you depend upon reform? Many children practice
falsehoods and every-day punishment does not matter. As a child I remember
telling one falsehood, and my lesson then was well learned. I was placed in a
crocus bag and tied up trembling with fear that a whipping while in the bag was
forthcoming. Just then a tap was heard at the door. My mother picked me up and
stood me behind the door telling me to hush crying for some one is coming and
having been taught that punishment of any kind was a disgrace, I tried to be
very still, but being in a very cramped position and trembling with fear and
suppressed sobs my heart was thumping so hard, I must have jumped, for I tumbled
and there being no way to catch myself I rolled out into the floor before the
company, which was punishment enough for me forever; no other punishment was
needed forever after. But now parents laugh at the simple falsehood told by the
child, and if you do not teach them in time what falsehoods are they will go on
and on and pretty soon the simple falsehoods practiced from early life turn to
lies. There are women personally
known by me who indulge in great exaggeration even in every simple conversation.
They have practiced this so much that now, lying has become with them a disease
that is eating up their very
beings and we take authority to announce it incurable. Was it not better to
depend upon form than reform? One woman writing upon the
rearing of children tells us to teach the child the difference in lying and
imagination. The child comes to the mother with some little incident he has
witnessed, adding to and continuing to do so till the story is finished. The
mother should teach the child at this juncture what is wrong and the difference
between imagination and exaggeration. She says further when the child begins to
draw on its imagination, she should say that is a beautiful story and I will
write it down for you. This will form in the child a great desire for writing
stories and relating what he has seen or heard with additions of his own. And it
will further give him a great desire for truthfulness, and form in him the great
difference in imagination and reality. Thus we will have one liar less in the
race. One has said, give me the first five years of a child's life and you may
have him for all time afterwards. It is also true that the
first five years of a child's life is influenced greatly by its mother. Though
it is a custom of some parents to have brought up their children to obey only
from threats. The idea of a mother threatening the child with "never mind; I'll
tell your papa when he comes," which instill in the child that father must be
obeyed because he is father, and if he should ask the father why, the answer
would promptly come: "Because I say so." Well, why not teach the child to obey
mother, because it is mother. A mother should confide in the father about things
passed among the children during his absence, that he may show her some way out,
or get comfort from him. He should not stir the matter the second time, but
should say to her quietly and alone what he thinks right or wrong. And never
criticize her actions before the children. company or servants,
for the mother will soon lose that confiding sweetness after so long a time
and things that happen he will never know it. And the children will be less
careful about doing things, for mamma will either be afraid to tell papa,
fearing that he will punish me again or scold her for punishing me. Instill in these young hearts
love, and that father and mother has perfect confidence in me and I must come up
to their expectations. I am personally acquainted
with some fathers who do not allow the mother to punish the child in any form.
Then what does the child say? "I'll tell my papa when he comes." These words are
the first lessons in disobedience, revolt and disrespect and they go on and on,
and if the father should die and leave them she will be unable to make their
daily bread. And their end will be reformatories, prisons and ofttimes the
scaffold. Love, perfect love, for
father or mother will do wonders. Disobedience can be so candidly placed in the
child's mind that he can soon feel and remember what the parents' desires are; I
so loved my foster-mother that I would not disobey her in so simple a thing as
changing directions to and from school to be with my chums, but would always go
or come the way she told me, and knowing that she could not see me I obeyed, for
the all-seeing eye of God was upon me, and if she labored under one impression
regarding any of my actions I could not close my eye in sleep till I had
confided in her while lying in my little bed. That is true love. She would say
to me often, "Sara, I do not watch you, for I have confidence in you, and if you
love me you will obey me. For your mother placed you in my arms, her last act on
her deathbed, and I am to guide you safely that you may be able to meet her, for
she is waiting and watching for you and me. And when I meet her I want to be
able to say: 'Eliza, I have taken
good and perfect care of the charge you gave me at your bedside and have not
betrayed my trust.' You must tell no falsehoods, for that will bring shame and
disgrace upon your family name. Falsehoods make very bad, bad women; liars make
robbers and a robber will do all degrading things." Dear mothers, truth leads to
heaven; it matters not how otherwise we may strive, truth will take us across
many a precipice, and let us set an example of, "Do not as I say, but come with
me and let us go together." Practical training will do more to bring up children
than all the books read. At the home of a dear friend
some time ago, while listening to the prattling of her little six-year-old one,
all during his narrative he would say: "Mamma, it is really true and if you do
not believe me you may ask my teacher." The mother said, "No, Jimmie, I will not
ask your teacher, for I do not doubt your word. I have no cause, for you never
tell me falsehoods." This formed in the child the thought always of his mother's
confidence, and as far as truthfulness is concerned, in this large family of
children, little reforming will be needed, for the older boy will help
those under him to tell the truth; then is not form better than
reform? I ask my readers if it seems
that I have referred so much to my child life in these three chapters, that you
take these lines in the spirit they are given and believe me that it is not
egotism but a prayer that some mother may see the result of practical training.
I know that there are a few mothers this day and time (though very few) who are
doing all they can to rear their children who some day will be a great
ornamentation to our race, but the writer is not acquainted with them, and she
did know and was personally acquainted with her mother and her mother's little
girl. She can only ask forgiveness if the subject has become a bore, her only
excuse being
her love to deal with practice more than theory and to illustrate realities,
believing them greater than imagination. So strive, watch, pray and wait, asking
yourselves which shall it be, form or reform?
St. Paul A. M. E. church, at
Cahaba, a brick structure, recently renovated and one of the oldest landmarks of
Christianity in the State, and the spiritual birthplace of the author.
We are now standing upon the
threshold of the twentieth century, but have paused to look back over the last
declining years of the nineteenth century, regretting our long delay; but as we
do so, let us call to the Watchman and ask, "Watchman, what of the night?" When we wish to know what the
time is during the day or night, without hesitation we look upon our time-pieces
which tell us in a very few moments. But now the question
confronts the race, "What of the night?" And we should know all of the
conspicuous phenomena to see how we are progressing. Therefore, we call to the
watchman and ask him to tell us of the night. The answer comes first from the
industrial sources that we as a race are making strides that forces
us to be recognized as fit for other positions than the "hewers of wood and
drawers of water." When freedom came to the
Negro, he had neither education nor money; neither education nor money; neither
did he own a foot of land. The nation treated him as though he was nothing. It
gave him freedom to save its own life, and left him to struggle for a livelihood
or die. A careful and conservative
estimate sums up to us about one-third that have fallen to a lower level than
before emancipation, another one-third that is ten per cent. better or above
that level, and the remaining third have risen to a state of superiority that
rivals the energies and enterprises of the Anglo-Saxon race. Then, "What of the night"? As
one eminent writer of the race says that society advances everywhere by
minorities, just so industries. In society it is the few who lift up and give
character to the many. In industrial enterprises it is the same. We have industrial
enterprises of which we need be proud; also mechanics and builders of which few
races can boast. Granting that now and then we come to one of whom we are
ashamed. But that being common to all races, we, the Negro, feel not one bit
less; knowing that in due time "Ethiopia shall stretch forth her hand." The watchman on the wall
tells us that today the Negro is possessed of wide domains of land; immense
tracts have been brought into cultivation, and this people have become producers
of the most valuable staples of this whole Southern country. We own in the principal
Southern States something over 600,000 acres of land, and if prejudice was not
so high, we would go down in history side by side with the predominant races and
not be compelled to prepare a history of our own.
Why, within the last few
months three mills have substituted colored labor for white, viz., a cotton
mill, one shoe factory and one knitting mill. Now, pause again, and ask "What of
the night?" When looking over the time
past and recalling even this much the answer comes to the question thus: The
bell has rung for seven. Seven? Why, we did not hear the first, second, third,
fourth, fifth and sixth bells! Because some of us were asleep, some in slavery
under the whip and the lash; but when the proclamation of liberty rang over
America some three decades ago and proclaimed us a free nationality, the
awakening came. Well did that great Southern
man and President of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis, say, as he surveyed the
Southern picture with his searching eye, "Gentlemen, I do not like the picture."
And his astounded listeners asked the question, "Honored sir, why?" "Well, the
Negro is now asleep beside his bale of cotton, but the question that now comes
to my mind is, What will that Negro do when he wakes up?" Well, when the awakening came
some of us went to work with a will after the abolition of that great
curse--slavery. That is why the result of industry is so grandly portrayed. Already knowing that
agriculture and some of the other industries made the ladder of three decades
much easier to climb, yet in the distance ahead I see another mountain! "Watchman,"--socially--"tell
us of the night." In our race we have both gentlemen and ladies that can cope
with other races in society, and whose social abilities are second to none, and
we find them doing all that can be done to make this Negro race of the twentieth
century prove to be a race that, regardless of discrimination and prejudice, all
nations will be proud. Therefore the watchman, who
is ever watchful, looks
over the battlements of the tower and with trumpet in hand, blows a
thundering blast to the question, "What of the night?" answering back these
words: Work, for the night is coming, when no man can work, for the bell has
rung for eight, and still there is another mountain. Financially, the Negro race
has concluded that education, morality and money will have more to do with
solving this great problem than anything else. Having reached this conclusion,
we have gone to work with a will to accumulate wealth, and the last history
points out to us not only men worth their thousands, but four colored
millionaires. And we can emphatically say to you that morality and education
have just as high a standard in this race of ours as in any race to whom we
should look for example; for our advantages are limited and our time has been
counted, not only by the years, but by the hours. The great and good men of our
race, who have already climbed so many mountains, scanned so many cliffs, and
reached next to the last round of the ladder, with torn and bleeding hands, cut
and blistered feet, have been considered by the predominant race as the very
scum of civilization. Nevertheless they have reached next to the last round with
the right hand on the top ready to ascend. The grand and queenly women
of our race (for we have them) who have reached a successful eminence, have gone
through every chasm to which others have seen fit to push her; and those who are
now trying to climb have every hindrance put in the way that will lead them from
the path of virtue and morality. For have they not every race on the globe to
contend with? Yet through it all we mean to climb and reach the top. Though the
mountain is high, the sides rough and steep, the clinging rocks rend and break,
we take courage in the thought that "Into each life some rain must fall,
some days must be dark and dreary." For from behind every dark cloud will
come the "silver lining." Therefore, call to the
watchman, as we see his beckoning hand, and ask was it not we, the Negro women,
that helped you to answer "What of the night?" It has been truly said that
"The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world." Yet the caution is still
repeated, "Work while it is day for the dial points to nine." Commercially, "Watchman, what
of the night?" Will you tell us? Yes, I can tell you. The Negro oversees his own
farm, keeps his own store, can mix his own drugs, visit and prescribe for his
own race in sickness, and run his own bank. Has he not made great advancement?
The dial has nearly reached the hour of ten; but before the bell rings he will
have achieved more, considering the many disadvantages he has undergone, and the
time he has had, than any other race. Yet there is another mountain. But run the
race with patience. Educationally, the Negro has
excelled any race gone before him. Fifteen or more years ago you may have passed
and heard them say, "The Negro is coming," and in their hearts say he must be
kept back, and all that I can do must be done. What do you hear now as you pass
them? "The Negro is not coming, but is already here." Our advancement compels
these remarks. We have our own institutions
of learning, where we graduate our own ministers, lawyers, doctors and teachers.
We have philosophers, poets, authors, editors, and, in fact, every calling that
the white race has had since the discovery of America by Columbus, from the
lowest to the highest. We, the Negro, have acquired them since the emancipation,
and we are still keeping pace with everything that comes. Some of the finest school
buildings in America are controlled by and belong to this race of ours. We have
had twenty-five thousand teachers and professors in
schools and colleges and fifty thousand educated men and women in
professions, even to the Congress of the United States as Senators and
Representatives. Now, this has been
accomplished in a little more than forty years, despite the prejudice and hatred
we have had to fight against; for, regardless of small wages and needy
circumstances, the Negro will educate. We had occasion some days ago
to be conversing with one of the ladies of our race who has four daughters and
three sons, all of whom she is trying to give a respectable education. The
oldest daughter, having received her education some time ago at home, desired a
higher education, and this noble woman, hearing our commendation and opinion,
said: "I have decide that the greatest legacy I can leave to my children is an
education. Though it will be hard for me, and many sacrifices must be made, yet
I must try." Now, the watchman, who is
ever watchful, looking from the tower and listening to such noble words from a
hard-working woman of this despised race, takes up the bugling trumpet, and to
the question, "What of the night?" answers back that the dial points to eleven;
but before the noon, which is only one hour away, some great work must be done.
And when the bell rings at the end of the next three decades, this race of ours
will have made such progress that other races will lift the hand to the brow in
astonishment, and will be compelled to hoist their hands to shade themselves
from the great heat and intense light made by this colored phalanx as they come
marching up the dusty road through trials, temptations, mobs, lynchings, lash
and oppressions of every kind, and with amazement say, "Of everything we have
done, of all the besetments we have put in the way, of every obstacle we have
planted, must we now stand aside and let them pass us by unnoticed?" For the
"one
man up the road," whom the Negro has kept in sight, has been overtaken. Then that will be the
fulfillment of the prophecy that "Ethiopia shall stretch forth her hand." But in
all of these lines of Industry, Commerce, Society, Education, Finance, and every
standard of life that is worth striving for, besides having energy, pluck, and
race pride, remember that on ahead, through the mist of many obstacles, we must
fight our way; and if the way seems not to be found, make it. For the solving of
this great problem that is before the world must be found. If to-day we find that we
have accomplished more than we had a year ago, why, persevere on, remembering
that the mountain ahead has been climbed and must be climbed again. Then, after the above
precautions, during the next three decades, at the end, call to the watchman and
ask him, "What of the night?" Now, ask him religiously what he will tell us of
the one great flag that has trailed in the dust so long. Listen attentively and
hear what he will say. Religion is the grandest
theme of earth, for the Son of God left this mark of high calling, and we must
bend our heads and read the inscription: It is a subject before talked
and preached by many divines, but at last the speaker for the "Woman's Home and
Foreign Missionary Society" and will in a few humble words try to impress upon
your minds the great need of this band and the work to be done by them. The women of the African
Methodist Episcopal Church, and others loyal to the race, have taken up this
trailing flag and are trying to carry it across the mission fields. As she lifts
the banner high, see the golden letters
written thereon, "Home and Foreign Missions." This is our new field of labor,
and pray that we may not labor in vain. As we launch out across the
mission fields, we ask you to lend your ears to catch the sound of the trumpet,
for the trumpeter stands afar off and blows with a loud voice, "Watchman, what
of the night?" He returns the answer across the ocean to Africa's strand and the
isles of the sea that the women of the Home and Foreign Missionary Society have
those at heart who are in those benighted lands, and that in a few more risings
and settings of the sun the darkest jungles shall know there is a watchman on
the wall pointing out the path to heaven, offering life and peace to all. This is an age of missionary
zeal, and we should rejoice even now that the Bible and hymn book are being
carried to the heathen the west coast of Africa, in the interior, in the
southwest of Africa is the banner of missions seen to wave. We have asked the watchman,
What are the women of the African Methodist Episcopal Church doing for missions
in the foreign lands? The answer comes that in our own Liberia we have our own
teachers and missionaries. What answer do we need to
this part of the question, "What of the night?" Only to work, watch, and
pray If we call again to the
watchman for home, he will tell us that some years back our dear women, but few
of them, knew what the word missions meant; but God in His great providence saw
fit to send them missionaries, and now they understand and are trying to be
missionaries themselves. And we have grasped hold on this great theme of
Christianity, and feel that at last we, the women of the African Methodist
Episcopal Church, are able to stand upon our own feet and, besides helping the
people in foreign lands, we are doing
much good in helping to plant our mission churches, and our poor ministers
carry the gospel to the poor. "For this gospel shall be preached." We are learning to go into
the byways and lift up the fallen and search the hedges to find the erring ones,
and when found, bring them to the marriage supper of the Lord. We are trying to make our
march steadily into dark places and help all whosoever will to come. There are
many great and demanding needs in our great church, and, dear sisters, continue
to fall in line, for through discouragements and difficulties "marching must be
done." I appeal to you; humanity
calls to you. The "Watchman on the wall" of Zion cries aloud for you to turn
your faces toward Zion and move onward and upward, and pray that as you march to
be joined to thousands of women, waving their banners toward the cross and
crying "The world for Christ!" Every day comes the answer
wafted on the breeze that the women of America can not give their thousands, but
they will give the widow's mite, knowing the least done for Jesus is very
precious in His sight. Isaiah, 21st chapter and 5th
verse, says: "Prepare the table, watch in the watchtower. Eat, drink, arise, ye
princes, and anoint the shield." We are first commanded to prepare the table,
and to do this we must get our hearts in readiness to spread upon the board that
which is acceptable to the Lord. Now, to know what He would
have us put upon the table is very simple. Everything must be clean and neat.
The dust must be brushed away before the cloth is laid. Then set the table with
the china, silver, and glass, all rubbed to their complete brightness. If you would know how and
with what this must be done to make it acceptable to the Lord, go first to the
secret chamber, fall upon your knees, pour out to the Lord your unclean
heart, is how. Then ask His forgiveness with an humble and contrite spirit, is
the brush wherewith the work is done. The delicacies which He would
have us spread upon the table must be all that our Lord and Master would require
of His servants. Vigilance of the eye, that
the enemy may not come upon us unawares; trusting the Word of God that His
promises are everlasting; love for His commandments, knowing that we will
receive our reward; Hope as the anchor on which we must lean, knowing that it is
steadfast forever. Faith that the waves upon
which we step will not let us sink, for the Master is near, ever ready to
stretch out to us His hand as He did to Peter on the sea and say, "Follow
Me." The drink of which He
commands us is the pure and living water, that cools the panting heart, thrills
the soul, and calms the troubled breast, and makes us to thirst no more. Now we have prepared the
table with vigilance, Trust, Love, Hope, Faith, and the pure water of life,
which has been drawn from the fountain that never runs dry. Now we must watch in
the watchtower. Upon whom can we call to fill
such a responsible position? We call upon the presiding elders and ministers of
our grand old church. With Rt. Rev. H. M. Turner and other bishops in the lead
for missions, we will be able to lay trophies at the feet of Jesus. Brethren, will you stand upon
the tower and watch while we lift the banner high that we, through your aid, may
be the cause of the heathen at home, over the ocean, and in the isles of the sea
to come to Christ and live. We can not all go to foreign
lands, but our mites can, and we who stay at home must stand on "Zion's wall."
pointing out the path to heaven, showing that indelible scroll that "I am the
way, the truth, and the life." Jeremiah says make the watch
strong. What is the best strength we can give to the watchman? Prayer.
Therefore, when the trumpeter calls from across the ocean and asks us, "What of
the night?" we may send the answer floating on the breeze that we both watch and
pray. The working women of the
African Methodist Episcopal Church, who have so loyally taken up the cause of
missions, ask your prayers that we may make valiant soldiers in the cause, and
to give us strength; keep the words of Mark before you; "Watch ye, and pray."
"Arise, ye princes, and anoint the shield." We now call to the princes of the
African Methodist Episcopal Church, for every true born soldier is a prince of
God, the King. The daughters have aroused
themselves with the thought that "I must be up and doing," for "the harvest is
white, but the laborers are few." Then what of the night? As we go up to stand
upon the watchtower we must anoint the shield. As we take up the shield of faith
annointed with prayer and the power of His might, let us
put on the whole armor of God that we may be able to stand against the wiles of
the devil, and that we may be able to quench the fiery darts of the wicked. Then
the God of heaven will hand to us the shield of faith and the helmet of
salvation, which is the Word of God. The question, "What of the
night?" often makes us spiritually strong. When the pathway ahead seems to be
blockaded, and the light of prosperity has gone out and we have to grope our way
as best we can, stop and ask ourselves the question, "What of the night?" They
make up our minds that our destination is the City of the Throne.
The night is passing away.
The morning cometh. Arising in the east is the
beautiful star of the morning for which we have looked so long. As the beautiful
star arises and gives light in the blue sky, we see coming with it the working
women of the Home and Foreign Missionary Society. The banner they uphold to view
has written thereon, "Wanted, Missionaries for This and for Foreign Lands." As I
tell you, the women of our church are being aroused to the sense of their duty.
She has decided that there is more for her to do than the common routine of
household duties that surround the home of wife and mother. She has begun with
missions but where she will end will the God of heaven only tell. What other example do we need
than Christ with His disciples going from place to place, shedding the beautiful
light of the gospel, which is the grandest theme the world has ever known? His
chief object while on earth was to lift up the fallen one and seek out the
erring. Our Savior suffered and died on the Roman cross that we through His
blood might have a right to the tree of life. Heretofore the women have sat
silent, listened and waited, but at last the thought has inspired her heart that
"I must be up and doing, for women are wanted, women are needed." The result is,
those who can are leaving their homes at every convenience to carry on the
mission work, and those who are compelled to remain at home are seen to push the
cradle with the foot and the pen with the hand, for they are interested as to
the welfare of their sons and daughters, husbands and brothers. The grand work done in
foreign lands has begun to shine out in many bright places, it is true, but the
half has not been done. Ere long Africa will help illumine America with an
unexpected light, but write this motto on your hearts that "Africa must be
redeemed."
Brethren, as well as sisters,
you must bestir yourselves because of missions. You who can not give your
thousands, give what you can to carry on the Master's Kingdom. We ask you to be
our armor bearers for God and Africa, and pray that we may not let the
bloodstained banner of Christ trail in the dust. "Finally, my brethren, whatsover things are true, whatsoever things are honest,
whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are
lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue and if
there be any praise, think on these things."
Dr. H. B. Parks, the great
Secretary of Missions in the A. M. E. church, one of the greatest preachers of
the age and on whom the church expects to confer the honor of the bishopric.
Bishop James A. Handy, D.D.,
one of the pioneer bishops, who was president of the Missionary Board for four
years and who confirmed our second appointment as G. S.
Dear Sisters and Brethren, Ladies and Gentlemen: Again the time has come for
me to try, in my humble way, to present to you some of the grandest causes that
today is fast becoming the greatest theme in the churches of every denomination
and every nationality.
In this age of missionary
zeal of the African Methodist Episcopal Church it behooves all of its members to
help in this grand cause. The women of the church must be loyal to every
undertaking that has been planted by the head of the church. And the sons of
Allen must hold up the arms of the women in order to make the cause a great
one. We are in debt to Africa; we
are in debt to the heathen of the islands of the sea, and every place on which
the A. M. E. Church is called to help. We are also indebted to this world of the
Negro race, for our church is a leader in every undertaking of civilization. Picture yourself on this
grand continent of Africa some centuries ago, looking on at what was called the
slave trade, when ships were anchored and men were sent ashore to buy up human
souls as they would so many beasts, to bring them to America to till the soil
and to make brutes of them and treat them as if they were so many dumb animals,
not thinking that the twenty slaves and their descendants would in a few
centuries make them squirm with fear and trembling lest they should surpass them
in every and all of their undertakings. But such is the case, and we
are reminded that of the twenty slaves brought to this continent in a Dutch ship
there are now 10,000,000 descendants; and of this number, we have connected with
this church of ours 700,000. And the most of them are true, loyal Christians and
loyal African Methodists. Has not the "morning star"
arisen in the African Methodist Episcopal Church? Who dares to dispute its
truth? None. For if we turn our face toward the east and look into the blue sky,
we there see the rising star of African Methodism; for just a little more than
century ago Richard Allen arose from the communion
altar and walked out of the church where he was not allowed to take the blood
and body of Christ with faces whiter than his own. As he stepped out he resolved
that, "I am a man. I am a Christian. I will step right down the street here, and
go into the blacksmith shop, and there lay a cornerstone, there establish a
tabernacle, there plant a nation that shall be gathered under His feet, and He
shall keep them forever, and there shall we stand forever, till 'Shiloh comes.'
" The stones have multiplied
one upon the other till now the children from generation to generation have seen
the work of the fathers and know what these stones mean. The fame of the tabernacle
has been noised abroad, and numbers have come to worship, for He has said: "On
this rock will I build my church, and nothing shall prevail against it." This great nation of African
Methodists has been gathered under His wings, "sheltered under His everlasting
arms," and are standing on the promises of Christ our King; and there we shall
stand and not be removed till "Shiloh comes." From that one man, Richard
Allen, has sprung one of the greatest churches of history. No church has so
prospered under besetments and hindering causes as the African Methodist
Episcopal Church, of only a century's growth. She stands today dependent
upon her own resources for sustenance and livelihood. Every department that any
church has we can today point with pride to one under the same head or for the
same purposes, granting it is not always known by the same name. But in all the great moves of
this day and generation there is none to which we point with more pride than the
great missionary movements. We, the daughters of
Allen, have looked in the distance and see ahead that there are mountains
that we can climb, there are cliffs which we can scale, there are streams which
we can wade through and help bring about this millennial day. In the churches of every
denomination and every nationality the women of the church have taken hold and
are doing what they can in every field and on every plain to do the work that
can not be done by their brothers, husbands and ministers. There is a certain
amount of good work allotted to woman alone. The women of our church at one time
thought that it was unladylike to try to go to the front and work for the
upbuilding of the Kingdom of Christ, and very often met with discouragement from
the ministers and brethren, saying, "You must stay in your places." But, thanks to the Great God
of heaven, who gave the first great commission of earth to woman, again moved it
upon the minds of the Bishops of the African Methodists at the last General
Conference to make the work of missions an official establishment of the church,
that the women who were trying to help bring about the establishment of the
Kingdom of Christ would find work enough to do, for woman has a certain sphere
in which she can move that man and the ministers of the gospel can not
reach. So, sisters, in this great
work which you have been commissioned, take pride therein, and go to work with a
will, for there is much to do. Do not be discouraged; be like Peter when they
were in the fishing boat. When we feel His presence near, call to the Savior,
and ask Him to let us venture out on the waves and come to Him; and when the
waves get too high around us, if we ask His help He will lift us up, and if the
storm is too great and we fear that we will be shipwrecked. let us step up
gently to the Master and awaken Him and say, "Master, the storm is raging; we
perish;" and He will say to us,
"Have faith," and will rebuke the storm and say, "Peace, be still!" And the
billows around will cease their raging, the thunder will withdraw, the lightning
subdue its flashings, and the ocean of sorrow and tribulation will be as quiet
as the babe in its mother's arms. We know there are persons in
all churches whom we would not like to take for associates in everyday life; we
acknowledge that there are persons whom if we should be in their company,
society would frown down upon us. Dear sisters, society is one
thing and Christianity is another. It, of course, does not become us to take any
person who is frowned on by society and make them our associates in life, for it
is true society judges us "by the company we keep." But in our homes, by our
firesides, around our table, making social visits, is as far as we must let this
institution, formed by man, rule in our hearts, for I am one who loves you all,
am sent to tell you that we are bringing sociality too much into our churches,
and that is causing strife, and some of us are tearing down God's Kingdom where
we mean to build it up. In the Stewardess' Boards,
the Auxiliary Boards, the Woman's Home and Foreign Missionary Societies of our
churches, now and then comes the cry from some member to the minister, "Mrs. So
and So is on such and such a board, and I will not work on it." Now, come and let us reason
together for awhile: In the first instance, is it not true that any person
coming to God's church and asking for admittance and we accept them, do they not
come into the church promising to work for God and for the church? And have we
any right to try to prohibit them from so doing? And if they disobey any rules
which the church can not tolerate, can we not call them to task in keeping with
the church laws and have them removed?
Ah! dear sisters, let us take
sociality out of God's church, for the holy words say, "There is none without
sin," which means if we are upright in one thing, we are sinful in another.
Therefore, let us pray more, work harder, and lay these things aside, for He
says; "Other sheep have I which are not of this fold," but "when I come there
will be one fold and one shepherd." Now, when Christ was on earth
He was the only man born without sin, for He was "born of the Virgin," so as to
be free from human passion. He could endure all things and not be tempted, and
fill the demands of the prophecy. Is it not true that He came, suffered, died on
the Roman cross that "all men might be saved by His blood?" Then does not
Christianity bid us help the weak, we that are strong, and to set our faces
toward the city of our God, and reach down as we pass by and lift others out of
the mire? Again, dear sisters, if
Christ is our King, and we do our duty as Christians, who will receive the
reward? Are we to care more for the statute and government of man than we do the
commandment of God? When He comes He will "separate the chaff from the wheat,"
and the wheat will be gathered in His garner. Dear sisters and brethren, we
must learn to obey God rather than man, and we must obey God and love His
commandments before we can reverence the Son. Some of us in our everyday
life would crucify human hearts, send souls to perdition, cause human beings to
be lost, because of some social wrong, which so long as it does not come into
our own homes, around our tea-tables, in our social clubs, leave it to our God,
who doeth all things well. Must not the poor have the gospel preached to them?
Must not captives of vice, drunkenness, the gambling dens, houses of ill-fame,
all be set free? "It may not be in your time, and it may not be
in my time," but in "God's own time" every knee shall bow and every tongue
confess that "Jesus is the Christ," the Son of the living God; for He came to
bring deliverance to the captives, gospel to the poor, sight to the blind,
hearing to the deaf, and to "heal the broken-hearted." Therefore, if we take the
second thought, instead of shutting out the poor, passing the blind without a
word of cheer, never giving the deaf a pleasant look, and no healing balm to a
poor, downtrodden woman, who has at last seen that her only refuge is the house
of God. What will become of those
whom Christ bade us to go out and search for? Let us treat all men as brother
and sister. Let us not nail them to the cross of crucifixion with the social
hammer, and when asked, "What wrong has he done?" as the friends of Jesus did of
the Roman soldiers, what answer can we give? But instead, as Christians who
would leave every man's sin with God, and pray for forgiveness of our own, let
us take a new start. Lend the poor a helping hand, for this gospel shall be
preached to them; and blind, halt, and deaf, help them to see one ray of light.
Take them by the arm and help them one step toward Jesus. And put the
ear-trumpet and say to them that "Jesus is the way, the truth and the life," and
it is time for you to "repent of your sins." And the poor, struggling piece of
humanity in woman's garb, don't turn your back on her, but show her by your pure
living and upright steps that if she will turn and come to Christ, you will help
her on the way. For the man that caused her ruin spurned her and married another
woman, and society lifts him high. But the poor woman who has fallen, no one
will give her a helping hand. She has gone from home; even that door was locked
upon her. She tried to drown her sorrows in vice, but that did not help. Her
friends who used to speak to her now pass her by
unnoticed, for she is a sinner. And, lo! where must she turn? She is ashamed
to go to the church, for she used to go there, and to the Sabbath-school, but
now every one looks across the street when she approaches. But, dear sisters, the poor
woman who had sinned was brought to Christ and He said to her accusers: "He that
is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her." Now, let us take the fallen
by the hand as Christians, and say: "If you will go with me to yonder garden and
see where Jesus rested on a stone, with the sins of the world on His shoulders;
if you will climb Golgotha and view the cross, so you may look to Him who died
thereon, I will help you with my prayers. I will give you my encouragement, for
He died that all men through His blood might have a right to the Tree of
Life." There is no gambler that by
looking at Him can not lay aside that which impedes his progress. There is no
thief, although his sins may be many and grievous, whom He will not "remember in
Paradise," if he ask "Lord, when Thou comest into Thy kingdom, remember me."
Why, then, can not any woman, the weakest vessel of earth, be forgiven of her
vilest sin? O yes! if your faith is not too weak. Only touch the hem of His
garment and He will speak the life-giving word, "Go in peace, and sin no
more." Dear sisters, let us decide
to love one another, and that we are all the daughters of one King, and if
perchance we find one whom we desire to turn into our own path, we can show her
the way better than we can to scorn her, for scornful Christians are not the
children of the King, for "in forgiving one fault we may inspire a virtue. The
gospel means not law over men, but law to love them." It is indeed high time for
the Christians to awake out of sleep. We have now entered into the twentieth
century, and as we pass on in everything let us also gird on our Christian
armor and work for God. This can not be done in a
better way than to begin with missions. God has now in His providence, opened a
way for gospel in the whole world, and this church of ours must be one in the
lead in the cause of Christian missions, as in every other line. The lost world is pleading.
Christ's call to action is: "Awake, Christians, awake!" Church of the living
God, go forward to victory and to conquest. Not a year hence, not a
century hence, not a generation hence, but now! for the harvest is white but the
laborers are few. Arise and shine and fight for the everlasting right! If these thousand millions of
generations perish through our guilty failure to obey now our God's
command, we can not escape responsibility and judgment. Let each Christian move
forward obediently in his place, and that will mean the moving forward of all
Christendom. Then will come the speedy and final conquest for missions in this
one glorious opportunity of the ages. In these times is almost
needed the clarion call from prophets as like Jeremiah of old to arouse
Christendom to the realization of the fact that all men must come to Christ
through those who have already come. The one great failure of the
church today in thought is, they do not seem to understand the situation. One
thing is needed, to study the Word of God, so as to be able to give the great
commission sent by the Master; and that is Christ's call upon his people to give
the gospel of salvation to all the world now, without delay. The next essential thing is
to pour out the Holy Spirit that the church may be filled with the Holy
Ghost to the work which the Master calls. When these two things are supplied we
may expect an onward march
of the Christian hosts which will reach and conquer the world for Christ. And in this work for the
Woman's Home and Foreign Missionary Society let us make up our minds not to see
it in the light of "Ladies" Home and Foreign Missionary Society. But see the
word woman, and that takes in the woman universally. For Christ said let
all come. "Whosoever will, let him come and drink of the water of life freely.
The spirit the bride say come. Let him that heareth come. Let him that is
athirst come and drink of the water of life freely." In one of John Wesley's poems
he says:
As we see, the church is
largely missionary in character, and the church will not fully comprehend its
main duty until the true missionary spirit permeates its every fibre. Do we know that the lack of a
missionary conscience is an unmistakable sign of an incomplete Christian
character? The cry from the missionary
fields into which our church has entered is imperative and should be heeded by
all true Christians. From South and West Africa, also Central Africa; from
Haiti, South America, and the islands of the sea comes the cry of those who need
the ministration of the church. Our missionaries are crying
for help. Those to whom they are ministering are looking to our church in
America for what they need in the way of religious instruction. Shall they not
have it? We claim to have nearly 700,000 members on this side of the sea. Just
think what one cent per month would enable the Secretary of Missions to do for
the foreign work! Some say we have the heathen
at home. To some extent this is true, for we have some parts of this heathen
country yet to contend with; but the few here have the immediate Christian
influences and their chances for salvation are infinitely better than those of
the brethren in far-off lands. For the real heathen is not in America, but this
grand old A. M. E. Church is, and upon her rests the responsibility of
enlightening at least a portion of the heathen in foreign lands. Let the missionary conscience
of the church be aroused. Let the greatest Negro organization on earth do the
greatest amount of work in Christianizing the heathen in the fatherland and
other parts of the globe. We have Bermuda, Nova Scotia,
Barbadoes, Demarara, in South America; Tuscumbia, British Guiana, San Domingo,
in the West Indies, and Turks Island
and Monte Cristo in Hayti; Port Depax and Port-au-Prince, besides our own
fatherland, Africa. This church of ours, finding
encumbrances in other churches, came together in one phalanx, and with Richard
Allen as a leader, named herself the African Methodist Episcopal Church. This
church, that was established in a blacksmith shop in the city of Philadelphia,
where now stands the beloved edifice, the mother of African Methodism, from
which sprang this great church. And now in every State in America stand today
many handsome edifices, brick and stone, besides frame structures, that are
dotted over every land, even the isles of the sea and foreign lands where the
Negro can have rights, and voice as loud as he please to praise his "God under
his own vine and fig tree." Dear sisters and friends,
this effort brought about by the first Negro Bishop Richard Allen, a slave from
Africa's soil, was the founder of this great church. And the footprints he has
left behind him have been stamped in the earth and independently has done more
grand work, owns more property and has more members than any Negro church in the
world. It is one of the greatest movements of civilization. And Ethiopia shall continue
to "stretch forth her hand" till the wilds of our fatherland, the jungles and
cliffs shall re-echo to the ringing of bells calling the slaves of previous
nations, the heathen from the darkest crevices of earth to come to the house of
God, for before the "end of time" "every knee shall bow and every tongue confess
that Jesus Christ is our king, and Him only will we serve." I entreat you in behalf of
the Woman's Home and Foreign Missionary Society to let us join heart and hand,
agreeing for one purpose, with faces turned toward Zion, working with one aim to
bring the heathen to Christ.
Do we not hear them calling,
asking for assistance? In 1896, 3,000 members from the Ethiopian M. E. Church in
Southwest Africa came seeking and asking admittance into this church of ours.
They, being already established in Africa came to us with their property and
asking to take us by the hand and help carry all to Christ. Although in America, among a
grand and civilized nation, we are proud of this adoption, and hope by the grace
of God to be ready in a few more years to render an account of our stewardship,
that we have taken this ten talents and have a double portion. In an illustration of the
"River of Death," which I had the chance of once reviewing, showing the two
roads, the railroad to heaven, No. 1, was Holiness Railroad; No. 2 represented
Lost Souls Railroad, to eternal doom. No. 1 is absolutely safe and
sure, beautiful scenery, delicious fare, delightful company. For particulars,
consult Bible. Now, our duty is not done until we helps as many as will go on
this railroad. The illustration says all
trains on No. 2 make fast time, and though they pass through the Swamp of Sin
and plunge madly over the fearful Chasm of Doom, yet it is very popular; and the
fare on this road is the soul. Then the Cross of Mercy, with
Salvation, Prayer, Faith as the mileposts--will we not point out the way? Then, again, the question is
asked on the chart, "Which road are you on?" And again, "Have you your ticket
for heaven?" Soon the office will be closed and the Gospel train will be
gone. So don't let us, dear
sisters, wait for tomorrow or the next day to do good, but let us do now before
it is too late. Let us try to show them their lost condition by putting our
pennies together and sending them the Word of God. Show them the need of a
Savior and
that Christ comes to their rescue, and the acceptation of Him is life
eternal. Millions have been lost in
this "River of Death." Millions are still perishing. So sisters and brethren,
haste to the rescue. We know that "Life is like a mountain railroad," but the
blessed Savior will guide us all our journey through. Song--"Some Mother's
Child."
Home of the author, 305
Franklin street, Sehma, Ala. This home is not very palatial in appearance, but
on the inside is comfortable and inviting.
The great Buckeye State and
the land of Here We Rest has joined both heart and hands by blending two lives
in one, in the holy bonds of wedlock, and it gives us unbounded pleasure to
welcome this the beautiful bride in our midst, who come to us with heart of love
full to overflowing, and re-echoing to the vibrating response of our honored son
and brother. We welcome you, first, to our picturesque State, whose lovely
cities are always glad to welcome honored visitors. But with what infinite
pleasure will they throw open their gates to welcome the lovely daughter of
Ohio, who has sacrificed
much to come under the protection of this our beloved son of Alabama--whose
prominence in the State not only in the African M. E. Church, make the members
of the State, regardless of denomination, proud of him. Then the city of Selma,
with her quiet and serene loveliness, throws wide her portals and invites you to
freely partake of all her pleasures, perhaps not so elaborate as some of other
cities, yet with open hearts and outstretched hands, in behalf of these her most
honored citizens and loyal-hearted friends. We welcome you. We invite you to the
lovely streams and beautiful fountains whose everflowing waters leap out in
plenty, and hope as flows their bubbling streams, so may the love of your hearts
made one always flow to the end. We also invite you to sit under the shade of
our lovely oaks, and as they send out their zephyr breezes and spread their
branches to protect you from the glare of the sun, so may the protecting care of
a beloved husband and the great God of heaven watch over you. Our homes, not so
beautiful as some to which you have been invited, but whose "latch-string" is
always on the outside, open wide their doors to show you in, where all things
are made ready for your comfort, to have you feel not as an adopted daughter,
but as one born and reared with us, and to these we freely welcome you. Suffice
it to say that we, the citizens of Selma's quiet vicinity, in welcoming Mrs.
Elizabeth Jackson Mixon into our midst, hope that as time rolls on, in the home
made happy by her coming, that the life of Rev. Winfield Henri Mixon, D.D.,
Acting Bishop of Alabama, may have only clouds enough to make the sunshine
brighter when the sky breaks through. As his bride we welcome you, and our
entire wish is that the three P's--peace, plenty and prosperity--attend you.
Again, we welcome you.
Bishop C. T. Chaffer, D.D.,
who is at present president of the Missionary Board, who has confirmed our third
appointment.
To the Bishop and P. E. Now in Council: The pleasure it gives me to
be with you in this assembly can not very easily be expressed, for as a coworker
and laborer in the cause of Christ I feel near to all. I come before you as acting
superintendent of the missionary department of this great church of ours, and as
successor to that great woman of the North, Rev. Mrs. Lillian F. Thurman. I
would be glad were I able to lay before you the miles traveled, the
organizations effected, number of members since my appointment; but owing to the
misfortune of losing my "hand-grip," lost all of these reports, and am only able
to lay out from the beginning of this year. I have traveled, January, 1898,
5,250 miles, organized societies since January, 1898, 58; lectures given, 116;
annual conventions of women held (both State and district), 10. Now, this is an
account of my travels since the beginning of the year, but it is impossible for
me to remember previous to that time, having lost my reports. Now, my brethren, I have
endeavored to hold up the missionary banner of the church since my appointment,
and I have had great pride in the same; first, because the honor conferred is
the first in the history of the church to be given a woman of the South, and
although feeling my incompetency as a public speaker at the beginning to
follow such a noted woman of such wide experience, with willing hands, yet
with some reluctance I made a start, and continued to pray that the responsible
position should be jealously watched over and so well taken care of that your
children in after years could look upon my grave or the book containing my
biography and there pledge themselves to not let the missionary banner trail in
the dust; secondly, because I have felt that from my earliest existence, from
the time of my mother's death, when only a babe of one year and one month old,
that "there was a destiny that shaped my end." And having been reared in the
African Methodist Episcopal church, and taught to be a missionary from my
earliest childhood by a good foster-mother, I felt that this great man of God
whom the world reverences one of the greatest men in the church, the greatest
Negro in the world, had me pointed out to him by an unseen hand, as in the days
of old, saying, "Mount the iron horse, go to the city of Selma, Ala., in the
church of Brown Chapel; there will you find an earnest worker, a willing
servant, who is willing to do my bidding if you point out to her the way. Tell
her, her time, her talent, though but small, is required of her by the God of
heaven, to overlook the seeming difficulties and the usual besetments that
attend such work, and Go, for lo! I am with her always, even to the end. That
when she passeth through the waters I will be with her, and the rivers shall not
overflow her, and when she passeth through fire, she shall not be burned;
neither shall the flame be kindled against her." And God has been with me. But,
my brethren, how often in the hours of disappointment, solitude, want and
deprivation have I wondered if I had the sympathy of the P. E. and ministers who
should be my standard bearers, and if they could understand that with the little
experience had in the hardships of life, and knowing how
much was before me in such a position, how much I sacrificed to carry on the
work. And that my husband must have
been a good man and a Christian to allow me to take such a responsibility and
have to remain from home for weeks and sometimes for months, to help carry on
the work of the African Methodist Episcopal church. And for the sake of the
church and the honor of the men composing the same, I have borne my trials in
silence, not telling even him. Now, brethren, the disappointments came in
numbers of ways. When a P. E. would get me to take up his district to work
through I would look to him, as chief, to notify the ministers of my coming, and
some engagement made for my board. Then the ministers in some places have,
instead of preparing for me, left the place, not even telling the people of my
coming, and some invited minister of another denomination having charge of the
church--having, then, spent $3 to get to that place and had to hire public
conveyance to get to the next place at $2.50. And not only that incident,
but more often have I left a place with not means enough to get to the next, and
telegraph my husband to send me money to the next place to pay my railroad fare.
Then meet up with some who say, "Well, sister, you have done a lot of good for
the church and people in general, and I am sorry we can not get up your
expenses, but we hope, if you come again, to do more for you." I have spent as
much as $7 to get to a place and received only $2.35 for expenses; and just so
have I gone on till I find myself already in debt for traveling to the amount of
$47.85. Such has been the disappointments; yet the most of the ministers and
presiding elders have given me a hearty encouragement, and have done what they
could, but too much of "Sister, you can't meet the women of the church to-day;
this is the Baptist day, and next Sunday is ours." In
solitude have I gone to the Lord in prayer and asked him to help me to bear
my burden and to be able to stand through evil report as well as good. When
having been turned away from doors where I should have been comfortable with "I
wish I could take you, but I am unprepared"; and "Rev., I would take the
missionary, but what kind of a looking woman is she? Well, I will go down to the
train and see her"; and upon seeing me getting off the train, "Reverend, let me
have her," and "Please let me have her." But your humble servant went to the
home of the poor widow and shared her bed, and ate fruit till the night train
came. The poor woman, who by her ways and actions said, "Silver and gold have I
none, but such as I have give I unto you," for the minister of that place was so
very indifferent as to the cause of missions he had not even prepared to give me
a cup of tea. Some have sent me from the
parsonage after speaking at night and closing at 11 o'clock, to walk through
sand ankle-deep for one and a half miles to spend the night with one of their
members, to sleep upon straw and cover with my wearing clothes that I did not
take off, to keep warm, with only a collection of 35 cents. Yet this minister
wishes the church to know that there is no gift in the A. M. E. church which he
does not expect to reach. And he is a nice looking man, and does wear a
beautiful suit, but the generosity of his heart and love for missions does not
fit or hang like his handsome coat. Again in the darkness of the night, when I
have reached places at 10 o'clock and no one meet me, and strange men looking
upon me as I take the road, would take compassion on me and say: "Lady, I will
take you where you can spend the night if you go with me. It is through the
woods, though, but if you will trust yourself I will take you there safe. I am a
member of that church, but I did not hear the pastor say anything about you
coming,
and he is not at home." After arriving at the place, where I was made more
than welcome to such as was there, with a man, his wife and six children, with
one room and a shed made on the outside, where the "bunk," beside the wall,
floor and all made of rived boards, bed of straw taken from under the children
and across these but I bowed in prayer and thanked God for even that rough place
to lay my weary bones, and arise next morning to take the train for the next
place where my destination was directly to the church, to speak and not have
anything to eat till 1 o'clock. But I have found fruit to be a great help to
appease hunger, when able to buy it to carry with me. Yet it may not be so
healthy going to new places, so often. But, my brethren, I was born in the
African Methodist Episcopal church, not in some other church, and come over here
to reap now the few loaves and fishes, for there are none; but for the love of
the church and its promotion have sacrificed my home and school-room, where I
have made $40 per month and over, and suffered the hardships laid out to you
without compensation. It is with my heart and soul that I love the work assigned
me. But I ask in the name of
heaven, is it right; is it justice to myself and husband or does God require
su
Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears,
Our faith triumphant o'er our fears,
Are all with thee, are all with thee." CHAPTER III.
WHICH SHALL IT BE: FORM OR REFORM?
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15. ST. PAUL A. M. E. CHURCH.
WATCHMAN, WHAT OF THE NIGHT?
THE NEGRO INDUSTRIALLY, SOCIALLY, COMMERCIALLY, FINANCIALLY,
EDUCATIONALLY, RELIGIOUSLY.
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"MISSIONS."
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17. DR. H. B. PARKS.
18. BISHOP JAMES A. HANDY, D.D.
THE DUTY OF CHRISTIAN WOMEN.
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"Now, though the ancient dragon rage
And call forth all the hosts of hell;
Though earth's self-righteous sons engage,
Them and their god alike I dare.
Jesus, the sinner's friend, proclaim;
Jesus, the sinner's friend the same.
"Outcast of men, to you I call,
Harlots, publicans, and thieves;
He spreads His arms to embrace you all--
Sinners alone His grace receive.
No need of Him the righteous have;
He came the lost to seek and save.
"Come, ye vagabonds in lust,
Ye ruffians fell, in murders old;
Repent and live, despair and trust;
Jesus for you to death was sold.
Though hell protest and earth repine,
He died for crimes like yours and mine."
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20. HOME OF THE AUTHOR.
WELCOME ADDRESS TO MRS. E. L. J. MIXON AS BRIDE OF REV. W. H.
MIXON, D.D., AT THE LITERARY EXERCISES AND BANQUET AT BROWN CHAPEL A. M. E.
CHURCH AND SYLVAN STREET HALL, JUNE 20, 1898, IN BEHALF OF STATE AND CITY.
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22. BISHOP C. T. CHAFFER, D.D.
FIRST REPORT OF G. S. TO P. E.'S COUNCIL AT AMERICUS, GA.,
AUGUST, 1898.
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