Section 2. The congress shall have power to enforce this article (or

these articles) by appropriate legislation.—(Ratified March 30, 1870.)

NEGRO SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES

As a result of these amendments two negroes, one free born, the other a Freedman were elected to the United States senate, namely, Hiram R. Revels, 1870-1871; and Blanche K. Bruce, 1875-1881, both from Mississippi.

Twenty others have enjoyed the privilege of serving as representatives in congress, during the thirty-two years intervening between 1869 and 1901. The first of these was Jefferson Long of Georgia, who served alone in 1869 and 1870. During the next four years 1871 to 1874, there were four representatives, representing Alabama, Florida, Mississippi and South Carolina, the last having two colored representatives during this entire period. Their number was then reduced to two representatives, and finally to none since 1901, save that there were three during the terms commencing 1877, 1881 and 1883. Their last representatives were George W. Murray of South Carolina, 1893 to 1897; and George H. White of North Carolina, 1897 to 1901.

Five of these twenty representatives were re-elected and served terms of four years; three served six years, and Joseph H. Rainey of South Carolina enjoyed the unusual privilege of serving ten years, 1875 to 1885. Eight of them were from South Carolina, four from North Carolina, three from Alabama and one from Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and Virginia.

DISFRANCHISEMENTS

During the seventies and eighties the Freedmen were to a considerable extent disfranchised by means of "election devices, practices and intimidations."

Since 1890, when Mississippi took the lead, a number of the states have passed laws restricting the right of suffrage on their part to such tests as the payment of their annual taxes, previous to a certain date; ownership of a certain amount of land or personal property, the ability to read and write the constitution of the state or of the United States, and the "Grandfather Clause" which permits one unable to meet the educational or property tests to continue to vote, if he enjoyed that privilege, or is a lineal descendant of one that did so, previous to the date mentioned therein, usually 1867.

The following states have enacted laws containing the "Grandfather Clause:" South Carolina, Louisiana, Alabama, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia and in 1910, Oklahoma. This part of the Oklahoma statute reads as follows:

"But no person who was on January 1, 1866, or at any time prior thereto, entitled to vote under any form of government, or who at that time resided in some foreign nation, and no lineal descendant of such person shall be denied the right to register and vote because of his inability to so read and write such Constitution."

RESULT CONTRARY TO EXPECTATION

This historic record, of representation in the highest legislative council of the nation, is very suggestive. That the Freedmen should have been accorded the largest number of representatives just after the dawn of freedom, when their general condition has always been described as extremely deplorable, that this number should have been gradually diminished with the spread of intelligence among them; and that finally they should have no representative during the last thirteen years, when their progress in education and material prosperity has been, at their fiftieth anniversary, declared to be "wonderful," certainly does not seem to be in accordance with what one intuitively would expect to be the natural order of things.

It is quite natural the present order of things should awaken and develop a feeling of protest on the part of the Freedmen, for they appreciate rights and privileges as well as other races and nations.

Their segregation, enforced on all alike in cities, public places and conveyances results also in many disappointing and humiliating experiences to those who are leaders among them.

The existing order is, however, an expression of local public sentiment and of the wisest statesmanship of those, who claim to be the best friends of the Freedman, because they live nearest to him and know better than others how to provide for his needs, including rights and privileges.

He enjoys the privileges of public protection to life, property and the pursuit of happiness, but to a considerable extent is denied the privilege of representation in making laws and exercising the power of government.

These historic facts relating to the gradual curtailment of the privilege of representation in legislation and government have been noted, not merely because they form an important part in a full statement of the negro problem, but as a prelude to the following facts, and suggestions to the Freedmen.

PROVIDENTIAL LEADING

The history of the negro in America has been one of providential leading and apparently to enable him to work out his own destiny. From the time the Dutch slave ship in 1619 landed the first importation, consisting of 20 slaves, at Jamestown, Virginia, to the present time, every important event or change in his condition has come to him from others, who without aid or suggestion from him have been moved to act for him.

The experience of Joseph, in passing through the pit and the prison, on the way to his real mission, the experience of Israel in Egypt from the death of Joseph until the time of their deliverance at the Red Sea, and the experience of Nehemiah and Daniel, captives at Babylon, who were there providentially led and prepared for the most signal services of their lives, seem like historic parallels flashing from inspired Bible story, their comforting and prophetic light on the servile and dark experiences of the negro in America.

In all of these instances the persons were subject to the control of others, the way seemed dark, trying and utterly disappointing, and the opportunities, that prepared the way for important transitions, came unsought and in ways wholly unexpected. The things that proved of greatest importance in every instance were the intelligence, integrity, patience and piety of the individual.

The God-fearing integrity of Joseph was expressed when he resisted a great temptation by saying, "How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?"

Israel in Egypt submissively and obediently undertook to make the full tale of brick when unsympathetic taskmasters withheld the usual and necessary amount of straw.

Nehemiah, a captive cup-bearer of a heathen prince, won his confidence and when honorably permitted to return and rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, nobly answered his idle opposers, "I am doing a great work I cannot come down to you."

Daniel, when a captive youth, "purposed in his heart not to defile himself with the King's meat or the wine which he drank," or be swerved from his fidelity to the living and true God by threats of the lion's den. When the lives of the wise men of Babylon were in danger of being suddenly taken by royal command, he is introduced to King Nebuchadnezzar with the significant words, "I have found a MAN of the captives of Judah that will make known to the King the interpretation." He was a man whose power of vision enabled him to forecast the future correctly and possessed the courage to act prudently. Though a captive and denied many privileges, he proved himself an intelligent and trustworthy man and, serving as a special counsellor of five successive heathen kings, achieved for himself the worthy reputation of being the greatest statesman of his age.

All of these men discovered, that their imprisonment or captivity was a part of the divine plan, that providentially led and prepared them for their real mission, which in each instance proved to be one of prominent usefulness.

All of them were true patriots, but none of them were "office seekers" or "corrupt politicians." They loved more than any other their own native land, because of its sacred literature and religious institutions, but they were loyal and true to those who ruled over them in a foreign land. If any of them had manifested a political ambition, the divine plan, in regard to their promotion and usefulness, would have been immediately frustrated, and the memory of their names would have perished with their generation.

A DIVINE MISSION

May we not believe that God had a plan and purpose, in bringing the negro to the christian colonies, that established our government on the fundamental principles of civil and religious liberty. His condition during the period of servitude, which lasted 246 years, was perhaps in many places but little worse than that of most of his kinsmen in Africa, during this same period; while now, at the end of the first fifty years of freedom, the condition and prospects of the intelligent and prosperous ones among them, are declared to be better than those enjoyed by their kinsmen, any where on earth.

THE FREEDMAN'S FRIENDS

The Freedman has hosts of friends, who are interested in his welfare. He has interested neighbors, amongst whom he lives, and also friends at a distance. Both are trying to solve the problem of his true relation to American institutions and privileges. While both have been co-operating together to a considerable extent and in a very commendable manner for the betterment of his condition, it remains to note however that if one is considered by the other as moving too slowly, or too rapidly, one acts as a gentle spur or check to the other.

This is the harmonizing process that is now going on among the friends of the Freedman. He is scarcely regarded as a participating factor in this harmonizing process. There are times when to him every new event seems to be one moving him in the wrong direction. His natural impulse, on experiencing these apparently adverse movements, is to raise the voice of bitter complaint against one set of his friends. When this is done in a personal or partisan way it is offensive and always does more harm than good. This method of procedure should therefore never be approved or adopted.

FRIENDLY COUNSELS

A respectful protest against a wrong and an appeal to have it removed, addressed to the person or body having the power to remove it, is an inherent right and a proper method of procedure whenever deemed advisable.

"Love thy neighbor as thyself" should be regarded as a fundamental principle by every Freedman. When the herdmen of Abraham and Lot had a little trouble over cattle and pastures, Abraham, who had received all the land by promise and Lot was really a troublesome intruder, discovered the greatness of his soul and settled the difficulty by saying to Lot,

"Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen, for we be brethren.

"Is not the whole land before thee? Separate thyself from me, if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right, or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left."

Do not become impatient. Your friends at a distance, especially those in the churches, are generously endeavoring to help you to climb the ladder of progress, until a larger proportion of the race has been uplifted to the plane of an enlightened christian civilization.

That the Freedman, notwithstanding his wonderful progress during the last fifty years, is still in an infantile condition, is freely confessed. It was eighty years from the time the helpless babe was uplifted from the river, before Moses was called to be the leader and deliverer of Israel. The uplift from the river and training in his case came from the gentle hands of others. This fact is quite significant.

The Freedman who, avoiding the worthless and corrupt politician and over zealous office seeker, makes a good success of his farm and co-operates cordially with his friends and neighbors in effecting the educational and moral uplift of his race, will be happiest while he lives and do most to hasten the day, when political privileges, now temporarily withheld, will be restored to those who are found capable and worthy of their enjoyment.

If you happen to live in a state where your neighbor does not wish you to be a politician and hold office, do not worry. There are thousands of citizens every year and in all parts of our land, who do not vote and merely because they do not care to do so.

The voice of protest, against the useless and corrupt politician, is now heard in all parts of our land. In many of our cities, he has already been relegated to the junk heap, by the adoption of the commission form of government. Two of the states, Kansas and Oklahoma, are now vying with each other, to see which shall be first to adopt the same system in the management of the public affairs of the state, and thus dispense with a lot of unnecessary public officials.

"A public office is a public trust" and affords an opportunity to render a useful and honorable service, but holding public office is not essential to the happiness and prosperity of any of us. An over eager desire to hold public office often suggests nothing more, than an effort to find employment for the idle. The better way, as in the cases of Saul and David, kings of Israel, and of Washington and Grant, commanders-in-chief of our armies, is to let the office seek the man.

THE GOLDEN RULE

"As ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them."

The application of the Golden Rule to this part of this problem, suggests that every man is entitled to recognition according to his worth.

"Our country can fulfil its high mission among the nations of the earth, conferring lasting benefits on ourselves and all mankind, only by guaranteeing to its humblest citizen his just right to life, liberty, protection from injustice, the enjoyment of the fruits of his own labor and the pursuit of happiness in his own way, as long as he walks in the path of rectitude and duty and does not trespass upon the rights of others," declares ex-President Roosevelt.

"Morality, and not expediency, is the thing that must guide us," is the emphatic declaration of President Woodrow Wilson. The false assumption that "the end justifies the means has come from self-centered men, who see in their own interests the interests of the country, and do not have vision enough to read it in wider terms, the universal terms of equity and justice."

VI

VOICES FROM THE BLACK BELT

"If any man hear my voice and open the door."

In a discussion of the Negro problem it is eminently appropriate the Freedman and his neighbor be accorded the privilege of expressing their respective views. The thoughts expressed in this chapter have been gleaned principally from the columns of the Afro-American, a colored weekly, published by the faculty of Biddle University, Charlotte, North Carolina.

The problem of the negro relates to his capacity for improvement and self-support. Is the American negro, after centuries of slavery, that kept the race in an infantile condition, capable of development and self support?

Over this question the people of our country have expressed differing opinions, many insisting that the servant condition is the better one for the American negro. The Presbyterian Standard, published at Charlotte, N. C., a section of country in which the latter sentiment still prevails, recently bore this testimony to their progress.

"While it is true of them as a mass that they are an infantile race, it is not true of them in many individual cases. There are thousands of them, who have advanced wonderfully during the last fifty years. They have made progress in every line. They are owning more farms every year, and in our cities they are buying homes, which sometimes would do credit to a more enlightened people. Their churches are not only built in better taste, but their preachers are becoming better educated, and are exerting a stronger moral influence than ever before."

This frank statement fairly represents the sentiment of the thoughtful christian people of the south. Some who have thought otherwise have been led to admit that, "while great advance has been made by a race only fifty years old, it is still in its infancy and therefore in the servant condition." Nor is it any exception in this respect.

Through adversity and hard treatment, the Irish people who first came to this country were largely in a servant condition. They accepted it. They became our domestics and built our railroads. But "Pat" is not on the railroad now. He is found occupying the seat of the chief justice, or serving as private secretary of the president and filling many other positions of honor and influence throughout the country.

What is thus true of the Irishman, is also true of other Europeans, who came to this country. It is an honor to them, that they truly appreciated their condition, accepted it and, through an honest and valiant struggle, rose above that condition to something better.

The American negro is now making it evident, that he is no exception to this general law of progress, under favorable conditions. It is neither necessary nor prudent to blind their eyes in regard to their real condition and status. Their best friends are those who encourage them to accept the situation in which they have been placed by an over ruling providence, and, through a noble endeavor, worthy of divine favor, rise to something better.

Their friends assist them best by aiding and encouraging them to make this noble endeavor, without which they cannot rise. The mass of the people must have native teachers and preachers to serve as leaders. This suggests the need of two kinds of educational facilities. A common industrial education, that will enable the mass of the people to achieve success in their daily avocations; and some special educational facilities of a higher grade, to prepare the needed supply of teachers, preachers and other leaders.

The mass of the people need an education, the scope of which will reach their physical, mental and spiritual natures. Their greatest need is instruction in the Bible, that it may exert its saving power on their early lives and animate them with noble aspirations.

THE CRY OF THE BLACK BELT

"They shall cry unto the Lord because of the oppressors and he shall send them a Saviour and a great one and he shall deliver them."—Isaiah.

The following appeal in behalf of the Freedmen, by Rev. A. W. Verner, D. D., president of Scotia Seminary, Concord, North Carolina, one of the five normal schools of the Presbyterian board, especially intended for girls, is so well and forcibly expressed, we are sure it will be appreciated by every reader.

"The urgent call from the black belt is the cry of souls in distress, the cry of humanity. Fifty years of unprecedented progress, in every line of industrial and intellectual pursuits and religious development, on the part of a considerable number of the colored people, show clearly, that the negro is capable of receiving and using to good advantage the education and training of the christian school."

"Industrial education, that lacks genuine christian culture, does not provide leaders of the right character to redeem the race, and many of our friends in the south do not care to open to the negro the doors of opportunity, to develop and manifest the best that is in him. It is therefore to the christian church of the north and to individuals, who have come to recognize the bond of human brotherhood, to whom this infant race still makes its appeal."

"The sad and degraded condition of great masses of the race in many localities of the south, ought to be an appeal, silent indeed but sufficiently strong, to awaken the sympathy of every one, capable of being touched by the cry of needy humanity. As a representative of the great Presbyterian church, that has called me into a very important and necessary field of her work, I earnestly appeal to our people to do more for the establishment and fostering of christian schools among the great masses of the black belt."

"The christian church and the christian school have something to give, that can be gotten nowhere else. The public school where established and industrial training where available are good and necessary. But the christian school is still needed and very greatly, to give moral and spiritual ballast to the individual. The leaven of gospel power and purity is needed, to give moral strength to the character and the highest degree of usefulness in life."

CHRISTIAN EDUCATION

"Christian education is not narrow, it takes in every phase of training that is essential to produce a well developed and useful life. It touches and tints industrial training with a brighter and richer glow. It quickens the faculties of the mind, adds keenness to the power of perception, forms permanent habits of industry and strengthens the will or purpose to do right.

"Christian education emphasizes the fact that it is not merely book learning—storing the mind with knowledge of facts or training the hands to work, but includes moral elevation, as well as intellectual development. It includes everything that tends to make the life purer, better and more useful. It begets and fosters a spirit of hopefulness. It develops that patience and perseverance that is needed for the best performance of every day's duties.

"Christian education emphasizes personal purity, purity of the family life and the sacredness of the marriage relation. Its whole trend and effect is upward. Its genius is moral, spiritual, industrial, domestic, social and individual elevation. It creates a hunger and thirst for higher and better things. It is the mountain summit from whose height one gets a broader vision, a clearer view of the possibilities and demands of life and a truer conception of all human relations.

"This is the provision that must be made for our black brother. Nothing less will meet his needs. A great responsibility rests with negro leaders who have attained a good degree of intelligence and refinement, but a greater responsibility still rests upon the people of richer blessing and greater power.

"If the spirit of true democracy, which declares, 'opportunity for every one, according to his capacity and merit,' and the spirit of Christianity, whose principle is, 'Help for the weaker as the stronger is able to give it,' be exercised toward the negro, many of the difficulties will vanish, better conditions will prevail and more desirable results will be secured."

This cry of humanity from the black belt of our land is very touching and suggestive. It suggests the negro's greatest and most urgent needs, the Bible, the Bible school and the christian teacher.

It is the silent appeal of Joseph while passing through the pit and the prison in the land of Israel's enslavement. Beyond these dark and unpleasant experiences there awaited for Joseph a career of great usefulness in the land of his previous imprisonment.

Let us recognize the fact that God has a great use for the Freedman in this our native land, because he has providentially brought him here and increased his number so greatly.

A spirit of true patriotism, as well as the tie of christian brotherhood, prompts the lending of a helping hand and an encouraging word, while he solves the problem of his own destiny of great usefulness in the home, the school, the church, in the shop, on the farm and in the fields of professional opportunity and business activity.

It may be truly said of the Freedmen that they represent the poor of this world, of whom the Lord Jesus said, "Ye have the poor always with you, Me ye have not always. Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, my brethren, ye have done it unto Me."

VII

UPLIFTING INFLUENCES

FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT.—AN HISTORIC COMPARISON.

"Look unto the rock whence ye were hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye were digged."—Isaiah 51:1.

FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT

The historic incidents, having an uplifting influence that occurred among the Choctaw Freedmen of Indian Territory, from the time of their first instruction in the Bible to the establishment and present development of Oak Hill Industrial Academy, when briefly summarized, seem like a reproduction on a miniature scale of those greater events that occurred among the Christian nations of Europe and America preceding the adoption of their systems of public instruction.

I. THE CHOCTAW FREEDMEN

Rev. Cyrus Kingsbury, a generous hearted missionary to the Indians, having charge of a church building at Doaksville, encourages the slaves in the vicinity to meet in it occasionally on Sabbath afternoons, for the purpose of receiving instruction in the Bible and shorter catechism.

This Bible instruction does not result in the organization of a church at that place, but opportunity is given for the manifestation and development of the religious instinct of a number of persons, amongst whom there are two young men, who were destined later to become influential leaders among the enslaved people whom they represented.

After their emancipation, one locates on the west bank of the Kiamichi river and later becomes known as Parson Stewart, the organizer and circuit rider of a sufficient number of churches, at the time of his decease in 1896, to form the Presbytery of Ki a mich i.

The other, accompanied by several personal friends, migrates fifteen miles eastward and founds a home in the Oak Hill neighborhood. In the course of a short time he is visited by the parson and his home becomes a house of worship, where a church is organized and Henry Crittenden is ordained as its ruling elder.

A Sunday school for Bible instruction follows the establishment of public worship, and two years later it is followed by the establishment of a week-day school, for the benefit of all the children and youth in the neighborhood. Eight years later, when the trained missionary teacher arrives, the inspiration of a new life is infused into the church and Sunday school, and the week-day school becomes an important industrial academy, where the Bible is the basis of the moral and religious instruction. In 1905 they receive an allotment of lands that they may become independent owners of their own homes. In 1908 statehood brings the rural public school and in 1912, an intelligent Freedman is entrusted with the management of the Industrial Academy, church and farm.

This sequence of events includes the dark period of slavery and illiteracy followed by instruction in the Bible, the light of the world; the development of the native preacher of the gospel as a leader, the organization of the church, followed by the Sunday school, the week-day school, the academy, normal, public school and finally a native superintendent of the academy and independent ownership of land.

II. THE EUROPEANS AND AMERICANS

THE DARK AGES

The period from the 8th to the 12th centuries of the christian era has been classed by historians as the "Dark Ages" of the world, because of the general prevalence in Europe of ignorance, superstition and barbarism. Some of the leading events that occurred during this gloomy period, immediately following the decline and fall of the Roman Empire, tended almost wholly to check the spread of intelligence and the prosperity of the people, rather than to promote their welfare. The Scriptures were neglected and the clergy as well as the people became worldly, ignorant, selfish and superstitious.

THE SARACENS AND NORMANS

These unfavorable events included, at the beginning of this period, the invasion of Palestine and southern Europe including Spain, its most western state, by the Mohammedans of Arabia, often called Saracens and Infidels, who were fanatically inflamed with a passion to destroy with the sword all the people of the world, who would not obey Mohammed, their prophet. During the next century Germany, Britain, Holland and France, then called Gaul, were ruthlessly invaded by conquering hordes of the adventurous and barbarous Normans, who came from Norway, Sweden and Denmark, countries north of the Baltic Sea.

THE CRUSADERS OR CROSS-BEARERS

These invasions were followed by the period of the Crusaders, 1096 to 1271, when as many as seven great armies or multitudes of people were assembled at the call of the popes, and wearing crosses on their shoulders, marched through the intervening countries to Palestine. Their object was to rescue the city of Jerusalem and the holy sepulchre from the infidels. The first crusade was organized in France, and it enlisted an army of 800,000. Godfrey, duke of Lorraine, was placed in command, and the multitude was arranged for the march in three divisions. Peter, the hermit, a wrong-headed monk, was appointed leader of the first division and experienced an inglorious and irreparable defeat on the way. Godfrey, after the siege and conquest of Jerusalem in 1099, was chosen King to rule over Palestine and the holy city, as his kingdom. At the time of his coronation he made the noble remark, that,

"He could not bear the thought of wearing a crown of gold in that city, where the King of Kings had been crowned with thorns."

The brave soldier and manly man, who gave expression to this noble sentiment, died the next year.

Under weak and unskilful chiefs the crusaders while on the way wandered about like undisciplined bands of robbers, plundering cities, committing the most abominable enormities, and spreading misery and desolation where-ever they passed. There was no kind of insolence, injustice and barbarity of which they were not guilty. The seven successive crusades drained the wealth of the fairest provinces and caused the loss of a prodigious number of people.

Those of the first crusade, that remained in Palestine, were divided by sordid ambition and avarice, and in 1187 Saladin, sultan of Egypt and Syria, the most valiant chief of the Mohammedan warriors, recaptured Jerusalem and subsequent crusaders were not able to regain it.

FIRST RAYS OF LIGHT

The first rays of light, that serve to dispel the darkness of prevailing night, may be briefly summarized in the following leading events.

In 901 =Alfred the Great=, king of England, founds a seminary at Oxford to promote the study of sacred literature. Later it becomes a university, the first one in Europe, and it is still distinguished as one of the greatest institutions in the world for publishing the Scriptures in a form suited for the use of preachers and christian teachers. Two centuries later the second university is founded at Cambridge, England.

About 1170 =Peter Waldo= of Lyons, France, committing to memory such portions of the Scriptures as he could obtain, and taking for his favorite saying, the command of our Lord to the rich youth, "If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come, follow me," commences to preach the gospel, as the Apostles had done, in the homes of the people and in their market places. As he attracts followers, who also commit portions of the Scriptures, he sends them out like the seventy, two and two, to preach the Word of God. They are called Waldenses, after the name of their leader, and oppose corrupt doctrines and practices with the plain truths of the Word of God. They oppose the crusades, as fanatical expeditions on the part of those who were not Jews, and therefore were unjust and unlawful. They insist the church consists not merely of the clergy or priests, but includes the whole family of believers.

The advocacy of these principles and by laymen, causes them to be excommunicated, then anathematized and finally to be condemned by a council at Rome in 1179. Peter Waldo, their leader, flees from land to land, preaching as he goes and dies in Bohemia in 1197.

In 1215, King John of England, yielding to the insistent demand of the barons, issued the Magna Charta, (Great Charter) the first grant of English constitutional liberty, pledging the right of trial by jury and protection of life, liberty and property from unlawful deprivation. It is immediately denounced by the pope, Innocent III, who absolves the king from all obligation to keep the pledges therein expressed and solemnized by the royal oath.

In 1366 =John Wiclif=, a graduate of Oxford and member of the English Parliament, presents to that body indisputable reasons, why, without the approval of the Parliament, not even the king of England could make their lands subject to a tax claimed by a foreign sovereign, representing the papacy. As a religious leader, he instructs his followers, called "poor priests," to pass from village to village and city to city, and to preach, admonish and instruct the people in "God's Law." He accomplishes the translation of the Latin Vulgate into the English of his day, that his countrymen might have the Scriptures in their own language.

=Charles V=, king of France, has the scriptures translated into the French language, for the enlightenment of his people.

During this 14th century seventeen universities are founded and they include the one at Geneva in Switzerland, Heidelberg in Germany and Prague in Bohemia.

THE MORNING STAR

In 1401 John Huss of Bohemia, the Morning Star or John Baptist of the Reformation, appears as "the voice of one crying in the wilderness." His mother, left a widow in early life, gave him to the service of the Lord as he lay in the cradle, and later, like Hannah of old, took him to the school at Prague.

When he became a preacher he found the Lord's vineyard a desert, the ministers of religion, the priests, ignorant, worldly and dissolute, and the popes of that period no better than the priests. The people, designedly chained to the basest superstitions and following the example of their leaders, have cast aside the restraints of chastity and morality. His heart touched with pity at the sight of the religious destitution of the people, his anger, like that of Moses "waxed hot" against those, who should have given them the gospel of their salvation. Encouraged by the example of Wiclif to make known the truth, he affirms the supreme authority of the scriptures, proclaims against the abuse of the clergy and endeavors to regenerate the religious life of both priests and people. His glowing zeal for the honor of God and the church move the people in a way until then unknown; but the priests, unwilling to reform or longer endure his piercing protests, falsely accuse him of heresy. In 1416, after fifteen years of self denying and heroic service, he is condemned at Constance and suffers martyrdom at the stake. A century later Luther, who imbibed his heroic spirit, said of him, "The gospel we now have was born out of the blood of John Huss."

THE FIRST PRINTED BIBLE

The art of printing is invented and the Vulgate, a Latin Bible, is the first book printed. It is issued in 1450 and is printed on a hand press at Mentz, Germany. Previous to this event and date all books were in the form of costly manuscripts and their number could be increased, only one copy at a time, by penmen called copyists.

The mariners compass is invented and in 1492 Columbus discovers America, and thirty years later Magellan sails around the world.

During this 15th century the universities of Glasgow and St. Andrews are founded in Scotland, Mentz and eighteen others, on the continent.

III. THE REFORMATION

MARTIN LUTHER

"Arise, shine, for thy Light is Come."

In 1517, Martin Luther, the apostle of the German nation, a man of learning and undaunted courage, whose equal had not been known since the days of Paul, appears as the valiant and steadfast leader of the Reformation in Germany. In 1530 he becomes the founder of the Evangelical Lutheran church, and aided by Melancthon, succeeds in translating and giving to the German people the Bible in their own language, and in preparing the Augsburg confession that has since served as a standard of faith and bond of union for the Lutheran churches in Europe and America.

Emotion and imaginative piety have become the hand-maids of superstition; and patriotism, lacking courage, has covered its face. He writes hymns and patriotic songs, that inspire the German heart with loyalty to the truth and devotion to their Fatherland.

JOHN CALVIN

In 1527, John Calvin, a man of great learning and glowing eloquence with burning zeal for the honor of his Master, appears as the leader of the Reformation in France, but nine years later, joins Farrel, the successor of the zealous but fallen Zwingli, in Switzerland, and becomes head of the university at Geneva. He secures the adoption of a constitution, that gave and also limited the authority of the church to spiritual, and of the state to temporal matters; and thus prepares the way for the separation anew of church and state, and the enjoyment of civil and religious liberty.

Educated for the priesthood, he is assigned a parish and there obtained a copy of the Scriptures. When he discovered the erroneous teaching and practices of the church of Rome, he resigns his charge and completes a course in law and another in theology in the University of Paris. He becomes a man void of fear and is borne onward on the wings of a living faith. Following the example of Paul in his letters to the churches, and of Augustine, bishop of Hippo (391-446) in North Africa, he undertakes to state in a systematic form the great facts and doctrines of the Bible, as one of the best means of opposing and overcoming prevailing errors and corrupt practices in church and state.

He feels the Spirit of God moving him to blazon triumphantly, the thought of God's sovereignty and man's utter dependency, in order to dash in pieces the prevalent self righteousness. His writings, by emphasizing the supreme authority of the Divine Word, have tended to raise the moral standard of individuals and communities, and by emphasizing the moral law, to lessen the distinction between the "sins" of the Bible and "crimes" of the civil law. Their tendency has been to make the moral law the rule for states as well as persons.

Presbyterianism, or government of the church by ruling elders and presbyters as in the apostolic period, and Republicanism, government by representatives, are advocated with transcendent ability, and success. After the death of Luther in 1546, Calvin exerts a great influence over the thinking men of that notable period in Switzerland, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, England and Scotland. The young preachers, sent out from the university at Geneva, establish 2,150 reformed congregations in these countries, and in 1564, the last year of his life, the confession of the reformed churches in France is officially recognized by the state.

An ardent and effective friend of civil liberty, he makes the city of his adoption the nursery of a pure, noble civilization; and the little republic of Geneva becomes the sun of the European world. Animated by his example and principles, William, prince of Orange, in 1580, establishes the Dutch Republic in Holland, and it becomes "the first free nation to put a girdle of empire around the world."

Bancroft, the historian, in summarizing the influences that contributed to American Independence makes this creditable reference to Calvinism.

"We are proud of the free states that fringe the Atlantic. The Pilgrims of Plymouth were Calvinists, the best influences in South Carolina came from the Calvinists of France. William Penn was a disciple of the Huguenots; the ships from Holland, that in 1614 brought the first colonists to Manhattan (New York), were filled with Calvinists. He that will not honor the memory and respect the influence of Calvin, knows but little of the origin of American Liberty."

WILLIAM TYNDALE

In 1530 Henry VIII aided by William Tyndale, the new translator of the New Testament and Pentateuch, and in 1547 Edward VI, his successor, promote the establishment of the Reformation in England. A change of rulers in 1553 leads to the martyrdom of Archbishop Cranmer, bishops, Latimer and Ridley, and of John Rogers, the zealous reformer—four of the noblest men England ever produced.

It was the noble-hearted, youthful Tyndale who, when he came to perceive that the Word of God was the gift of God to all mankind and all had a right to read it, that declared to one of the clergy opposing him, "If God spares my life, ere many years, I will cause a boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than you do."

JOHN KNOX

In 1560, John Knox, a pupil of Calvin, establishes the Reformation in Scotland and under his leadership the church of Scotland from the first adopts the system of doctrines and the forms of worship and of government established at Geneva.

HUGUENOTS OF FRANCE

In 1557, Admiral Coligny, taken prisoner at the battle of St. Quentin, is confined at Gaud in Spain. Securing a copy of the Scriptures he reads it, and, after his release, becomes the enthusiastic leader of the Hu gue nots of France. They represent the most moral, industrious and intelligent of the French people, but those who love the "Mass", which involves no moral obligation, hate them on account of their chaste and devout lives. In 1572, when a bloody persecution arises against them, they begin to emigrate to England, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland and the Colonies of North America.

It was Fenelon, one of the preachers of the Huguenots in France under the feudal system, about the year 1710, that gave utterance to the patriotic sentiment, emphasized in this country since the rise of the great trusts, "That governments exist and have a right to exist, only for the good of the people, and that the many are not made for the use and enjoyment of one."

THE BIBLE

In 1559 the Puritans protest against the act of uniformity passed by the English Parliament, imposing uniformity in religious worship.

The Bible has now come to be regarded as of so much importance to the clergy and people, that as many as fifty-five learned men during this 16th century devote their time and attention to its exposition and illustration; and twenty-seven new universities are established.

The Reformation is an insurrection or revolution against ecclesiastical monarchy and absolute power in the church, or spiritual matters. It establishes freedom of inquiry and liberty of mind in Europe. The Bible and theology occupy the attention of the greatest minds, and every question, whether philosophical, political or historical is considered from the religious point of view.

THE INQUISITION

In 1235, Pope Gregory IX, establishes the Inquisition, a cruel court of inquiry for the suppression of those who question the authority of the papacy to rule over them in the church. It becomes very active in Italy, France, Spain, Portugal and Ireland. It is not suppressed in France until 1834, after a period of six centuries.

In 1540, Ignatius Loy o la, an illiterate Spanish soldier and priest, with papal authority, organizes the society of the Jesuits, to require Christians to renounce whatever opinions may separate them, and, accepting the doctrines and worship of the Roman Catholic church to acknowledge the pope as Christ's sole vicegerent on earth.

The Inquisition had previously proved a bloody court but this order is intended to make it more effective in suppressing freedom of thought and action in matters relating to education and religion.

The events that occur during the period of the Inquisition are harrowing to relate. The historians of that period have recorded, among others, the following executions and massacres.

The duke of Alva, a Spanish general and persecutor who died in 1582, condemned 36,000 of his countrymen to be executed.

On the night of August 24, 1572, the anniversary of St. Bartholomew, Charles IX, of France, by offering his sister in marriage to the prince of Navarro, a Huguenot, assembles at the nuptials in Paris five hundred of the most prominent of the Huguenots, including Admiral Coligny, their venerable leader, and, at a given signal an unparalleled scene of horror ensues. Before the break of day, these noble leaders and 10,000 of their faithful followers, in Paris that night, are ruthlessly slaughtered. The horrid carnage, against these defenceless friends of truth and right, is extended to Lyons, Orleans, Rouen and other cities until 50,000 are massacred at this particular time. The total loss of France by the Inquisition has been estimated at 100,000 persons.

It is estimated that, during a period of seven years Pope Julius II effected the massacre of 200,000 persons. The Irish massacre at Ulster in 1641 cost Ireland the loss of more than 100,000 of her best citizenship. It is estimated that during a period of thirty years as many as 900,000 persons suffered martyrdom for the truth at the hands of the secret order of Jesuits. During the entire period of persecution by the papacy, a vast multitude, numbering many millions in addition to these, were proscribed, banished, starved, suffocated, drowned, imprisoned for life, buried alive, burned at the stake or assassinated.

These dark historic events illustrate the price that had to be paid for letting the light shine when darkness prevailed in the high places of the world. Every martyr for the truth was a torch bearer, whose light was extinguished. The countries that suffered the greatest loss of their best citizenship received a check of more than a century's growth. The hand on the dial of progress was turned backward wherever the blighting inquisition was felt. Its blighting effects may yet be seen in Italy, Spain, Portugal, Ireland and other countries where the papacy exerts a controlling influence. Men, whose deeds are evil and they are unwilling to repent, hate the light and endeavor to suppress it, by killing the torch bearer, "lest their deeds should be reproved."

A knowledge of these conditions that prevailed at the time is necessary to enable one to appreciate the importance and greatness of the work of the Reformers and their faithful followers during the 16th century in giving the Bible to the people at the risk of their lives.

INDEPENDENT OWNERSHIP OF LAND

In 1620 the Pilgrim Fathers, bringing with them the Bible as a precious treasure, establish a colony at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts, where they hope to enjoy civil and religious liberty to a fuller extent than they were able to do elsewhere. Other colonies are established along the Atlantic coast, from New England to Georgia, but no one of them exerts a moral influence, quite so potent as this one, in the events and councils that precede the laying of the foundations for this great government.

They now enjoy individual or independent ownership of lands, a privilege they did not enjoy under the feudal system that had its rise in the 10th century and was continued until the French Revolution in 1799. Under the feudal system the land was owned by dukes, earls and barons, who, as members of the House of Lords, alone participated in the government.

The orators of the pulpit, commonly called preachers of the gospel, aside from the academies, colleges and universities, are the principal teachers of the people, and for the purpose of instruction, they use but one book—the Bible.

In 1635 other colonies of Puritans, under Roger Williams and Thomas Hooker settle Rhode Island and Connecticut, respectively; and religious liberty is accorded Rhode Island by its charter in 1663.

WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY

In 1648, the Westminster Assembly, convened by the Long Parliament five years previous, and composed of 10 Lords, 20 Commoners and 121 Clergymen, representing the churches in England, Scotland and Ireland, to prepare a statement of the doctrines of the Bible, that might form the basis of religious liberty and a bond of union of the Protestant churches, completes its work, by publishing a Confession of Faith, Form of Government, Larger and Shorter Catechisms. This confession does not give rise to any new denominations nor result in any union; but it is received and adopted as the standard of faith by all the branches of the Presbyterian church in England, Scotland, Ireland and America. This confession is a natural sequence of the authorized King James Version of the Bible in 1611.

In 1704, the newspaper is established in America; and the first postoffice, in 1710.

RISE OF METHODISM

In 1738 John and Charles Wesley, young preachers of the Church of England, having spent three years as missionaries among the Moravians in Georgia, return to London, where, preaching the gospel as a proclamation of free forgiveness to sinners, and with it, repentance and faith in Christ, they soon find the pulpits of that city closed against them. Supported by Lady Huntington and aided at the first by George Whitefield, the most gifted of their early associates and the first Methodist to preach in the open air, they lay the foundations that soon develop into the Methodist church, by establishing now congregations and organizing them into classes, each under a local leader, who by means of weekly testimonies, exhortations and corrections was to look after the moral conduct and promote the spiritual life of the members.

SUNDAY SCHOOLS AND MISSIONARY SOCIETIES

In 1782 when there are a sufficient number of printed Bibles available for use, Robert Raikes of London makes the suggestion and Sunday schools are established, that the people in every worshipping congregation may co-operate with their preachers in instructing the young and rising generation in the great truths contained in the Bible.

From 1792 to 1800, the three great modern missionary societies of England are organized, and during the next ten years the first two are organized in this country.

In 1804, the British and Foreign Bible Society, and in 1816, the American Bible Society, are established in London and New York, to promote the multiplication and circulation of the Bible.

CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY

In 1776 the Declaration of Independence and American Revolution develop brave and patriotic leaders like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Patrick Henry, John Witherspoon and others, who fight the battles and solve the problems of civil and religious liberty in America. Liberty and independence become familiar watchwords.

In 1787 when the Constitution of the United States is adopted, civil and religious liberty is assured. Protection is to be given to religion but there shall be no taxation for its support in church or school, and public education is left to the several states.

Those, who framed this remarkable Constitution and thus prepared the way for America to become the land of "Liberty Enlightening the World," expressed their sentiments in regard to the urgent need of general instruction in the Bible, in the ordinance for the government of the Northwest—the country north of the Ohio, as follows: "Religion, morality and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged."

In 1841 Congress makes provision for grants of unoccupied lands in the states for the better support of the public schools and the establishment of state universities.

In 1862 Congress makes provision by further grants of unoccupied lands for the establishment of State Agricultural Colleges. About this same period Normal Schools are established in the states and they gradually take the place of many of the Academies previously established by Christian people.

In 1863 Abraham Lincoln in order to maintain the Union "one and inseparable," becomes the emancipator of 4,000,000 slaves; and America becomes "the land of the free" as well as "the home of the brave."

The Boston News Letter, the first American newspaper is established in 1704, and the New England Courant, the second one in 1720. The first Colonial post office is established in 1710. In 1765, when the Stamp Act was passed, there are forty newspapers published in America; and one of the most influential of these is the Philadelphia Gazette, by Benjamin Franklin, the man who "wrested the lightning from heaven and scepters from tyrants."

The religious papers of the Presbyterian church are established a half century later, and as follows: The Herald and Presbyter, at Cincinnati in 1830; the Presbyterian at Philadelphia in 1831; and the Interior, now Continent, at Chicago in 1870. As a civilizing agency the press not only rivals but increases many fold the power of the pulpit.

The public press, especially the religious newspaper, noting the progress of events relating to the extension of the Redeemer's Kingdom becomes a very potent factor in promoting an enlightened Christian civilization.

UPLIFTING INVENTIONS

During the 19th century civilization receives a general and wonderful uplift as a result of many important inventions, that, to a greater or less extent, are enjoyed by all the people. They include the steam engine, steamer, railway, telegraph, telephone, phonograph, cylinder printing press and folder, electric light and motor, gasoline and kerosene engines, cotton gin, spinning jenny, sewing machine, mower, reaper, steam thresher and separator, mammoth corn sheller, tractor, gang plow, typewriter, automobile, bicycle, aeroplane, vaccine, serum and wireless telegraph.

THE COMPARISON.

The intelligent American citizen of the present time is the product of all these forces, to the extent he has come under their uplifting influences. He is the product of centuries of enlightened struggle and successful effort. If the early Roman was proud of his history and privileges as a citizen much more profoundly thankful may be the American of this twentieth century.

The forces that have given him the uplift from the Dark Ages include the Bible in his own language, the faithful preacher of the Gospel, the Evangelical Reformer, the brave Military Leader, the God-fearing Statesman, the Church, Sunday school, the public, high and Normal school, the Academy, Christian College, Agricultural College, University, ownership of land, civil and religious liberty.

What these institutions have done for the intelligent American citizen they are now beginning to do for the Freedman, as he is brought under their uplifting influence. They suggest both to him and his friends, the greatest or most important needs of the Freedmen.

See Cottage Bible on Revelation XVII 6.

VIII

THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.

IT EMPHASIZES THE BIBLE AS FUNDAMENTAL IN EDUCATION.—A ZEALOUS MISSIONARY ORGANIZATION.—AS CATHOLIC IN SPIRIT AS THE GOSPEL.

"Walk about Zion, tell the towers thereof; mark ye well her bulwarks, that ye may tell it to the generation following."—David.

The Presbyterian Church has always stood for Religion and Education—Religion as the basis of true education, and Education as the promoter of positive practical religion.

CHRISTIAN LEADERS.

The Presbyterian Church wishes to see the young people of every generation provided with the best means for their intellectual and spiritual progress. It wishes to see them prepared, not merely for active and successful participation in the onward work of the world, but also in full and hearty sympathy with the great work of Christ and his people, for the spiritual salvation of the nations. It knows there is no good reason, why a stirring leader of men should not be a Christian; nor why a Christian should not be eminently successful, in taking his place among men as a forceful factor in the life of the world.

The Presbyterian Church believes in the system of state schools from the primary, public and high schools, to the University. These schools provide for general education. Millions of children would never be in school, were it not for these state provisions and for compulsory public education. These schools are however not all perfect, since they do not provide for moral and religious training, the great underlying principles of reverence and righteousness, that must enter into every life in order to fit it for the performance of Christian and patriotic duty.

The Presbyterian church takes a patriotic interest in our whole public school system, and believes that all the children should be trained in those that are under public direction, so that all the children and youth of the nation shall be a united, intelligent and patriotic body, fitted for good citizenship.

At the same time it believes in special church institutions of higher learning, that shall be adapted to train our young people for intelligent leadership in the church, and enable them to become doubly useful in the home, social circle and in public life. Our Christian academies and colleges are valuable institutions. These furnish to the church and the world the greatest number of ministers, missionaries, college presidents and Christian statesmen. Parents everywhere, find these Christian institutions furnish the best advantages, and that they are the safest and most economical. No institutions furnish higher or more profitable culture. They combine all that is best in real culture and education of the intelligent faculties, with a true religious conception of life; so that all who yield to their best influences go forth from them pure-hearted, stronger and better prepared to engage in life's duties successfully; for they take with them the personal assurance of the gracious presence and abiding blessing of our Father in Heaven.

In a christian educational institution, the spirit of the instructor is one that regards the student, as of more value than the subject taught. Its aim including the christian college, is not research, the work of a university, but to make men. The ordinary branches that are taught are regarded as instrumentalities, for making a well trained man of the student.

The key to success in the battle of life, is found in the struggle, which insures control of one's self. This is the secret of a good education. In an important sense, all education must be self-education. Professor Huxley gave good emphasis to this thought when he wrote: "Perhaps the most valuable result of all education, is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do, when it ought to be done, whether you like it or not; it is the first lesson which ought to be learned, and, however early a man's training begins, it is probably the last lesson he learns thoroughly." An eminent educator used to say to his class: "He, who will become a scholar, must learn to command his faculties."

The Presbyterian church honors God and exalts him to the throne of absolute supremacy over all his creatures. It honors Him by using the instrumentalities he has appointed. It receives the Bible, as the very word of God, and adopts it as the only rule of faith and practice.

The Presbyterian church from the beginning has been a zealous missionary organization. At the meeting of the First General Assembly arrangements were made to send the gospel to "the regions beyond,"—the frontiers and the various tribes of American Indians. The agencies, then organized as committees, have become the great Boards of Home and Foreign Missions, that now receive and distribute, each, more than a million dollars annually.

A ZEALOUS MISSIONARY ORGANIZATION.

It is gratifying to know that the colored people, although emotional and demonstrative, have nevertheless an intelligent appreciation of the views and methods of the Presbyterian church.

A prominent minister of a southern church is quoted as having said: "The Presbyterian church can do for the colored people of the south what no other church can do."

FABLE OF PERSIAN TENT.

There is a Persian fable that tells of a young prince who brought to his father a nutshell, which, when opened with a spring, contained a little tent of such ingenious construction, that when spread in the nursery the children could play under its folds; when opened in the council chamber the King and his counsellors could sit beneath its canopy; when placed in the court yard the family and all the servants could gather under its shade; when pitched upon the plain, where the soldiers were encamped, the entire army could gather within its enclosure. It possessed the qualities of boundless adaptability and expansiveness.

This little tent is a good symbol of our Presbyterian system. It is all contained within the nutshell of the Gospel. Open it in the nursery, and beneath its folds parents and children sit with delight; spread it in the court yard, and beneath its shadow the whole household assembles for morning and evening worship; open it in the village and it becomes a church, under whose canopy the whole town may worship. Open it upon the plain, and a great sacramental army gathers under it. Send it to the heathen world, and it becomes a great pavilion, that fills and covers the earth.

The Presbyterian church is as Catholic as the Gospel in its spirit of brotherly love, and readiness to co-operate with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ. It recognizes the ordination of the Episcopalian and the baptism of the Baptist. It joins cordially with those who would place the crown upon the brow of Jesus by singing only the Psalms of David, and responds with an approving echo to the hearty "Amen" of the Methodists. It is capable of an expansion, that will include all shades of our common humanity, and is working valiantly to usher in the day, when the prayer of our Lord Jesus shall be fulfilled: "That they may be one; as Thou, Father art in me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that Thou hast sent me."

"The Presbyterian church stands," says Rev. W. H. Roberts, D. D., "as it has stood during its entire history, for the unconditional sovereignty of God, for the Bible as the only infallible rule of faith and life, for simplicity of worship, representative government, a high standard of christian living, liberty of conscience, popular education, missionary activity and true Christian Catholicity."

President Benjamin Harrison said of it: "The Presbyterian church has been steadfast for liberty, and it has kept steadfast for education. It has stood as stiff as a steel beam for the faith delivered to our fathers, and it still stands with steadfastness for that essential doctrine—the inspired Word. It is not an illiberal church. There is no body of Christians in the world, that opens its arms wider to all who love the Master. Though it has made no boast or shout, it has yet been an aggressive missionary church from the beginning."

LINCOLN UNIVERSITY.

Lincoln University in Chester county, Pennsylvania, was established in 1854 under the leadership of Rev. John M. Dickey, D. D., pastor of the Presbyterian church of Oxford, for the classical and theological education of negroes. The extent and thoroughness of the courses of instruction at this institution have been amply justified by the success of its graduates; many in the ministry, and others, in founding similar institutions of a high grade in the south, as at Columbia, S. C., Salisbury, N. C., Holly Springs, Miss., and a number of other places. Its aim is to furnish trained professional leaders, and it is accomplishing this object in splendid form. Established before the Freedmen's Board, it has continued to be maintained without its aid.

IX

THE PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF MISSIONS FOR FREEDMEN.

ORGANIZED IN 1865.—WOMEN ENLISTED IN 1884.—BOARDING SCHOOLS.—TRAINS CHRISTIAN LEADERS.—WORTHY OF GENEROUS SUPPORT AND ENDOWMENT.

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath appointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted and preach deliverance to the captives."—Luke.

The emancipation of 4,000,000 slaves, at the close of the Civil War, was the sudden opening of a new and a vast field of opportunity and duty, before the Christian churches of this land.

The education and moral elevation of the Freedmen became, in both church and state, a very serious and vital question. Ever since the foundation of the government, the church, through the voluntary establishment of academies and colleges, has been co-operating with the civil government, in the effort to develop in all parts of our land an intelligent christian citizenship.

The Presbyterian Board of Missions for Freedmen was organized as a committee in 1865, the last year of the Civil War. In 1882 this committee was made and incorporated as a Board. Its work then assumed a more permanent form and the contributions to its work began to be greatly increased. The contributions received that year were $68,268.08. In 1913 the amount received to be applied to this work was $323,899.29. The amount of property held by it and used for educational and church purposes is $1,831,610.09. The office of the board is at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

WOMEN ENLISTED IN 1884

In 1884 the interest of the women of the Presbyterian church was enlisted in behalf of the women and girls among the Freedmen. The progress of the work of the Women's Missionary societies, in establishing and maintaining educational institutions, is worthy of special mention.

During their first year they contributed $3,010; the second, $7,966; the third, $17,075; and in 1913, $85,236.09.

In raising this last amount 675 Sunday schools and 1082 Young People's societies co-operated with 3591 Women's societies.

To the women, almost entirely, is due the establishment and maintenance of most of the boarding schools now supported by the board. The names of some of the most consecrated workers and liberal contributors have been commemorated in the names of most of these institutions. That this fact may be noted and as a matter of general information, the following list of twenty-four of them is given.

LIST OF BOARDING SCHOOLS

I. FOR MALES ONLY

Biddle University, Charlotte, North Carolina. Harbison Agricultural College, Irmo, South Carolina.

II. SEMINARIES FOR GIRLS ONLY

Scotia, Concord N. C. Mary Allen, Crockett, Texas. Ingleside, Burkeville, Va. Mary Holmes, West Point, Miss. Barber Memorial, Anniston, Ala.

III. CO-EDUCATIONAL

Allendale Academy, Allendale, S. C. Albion Academy, Franklinton, N. C. Alice Lee Elliott Memorial, Valliant, Okla. Arkadelphia Academy, Arkadelphia, Ark. Boggs Academy, Keyesville, Ga. Brainard Institute, Chester, S. C. Emerson Industrial Institute, Blackville, S. C. Fee Memorial Institute, Nelson, Ky. Gillespie Normal, Cordele, Ga. Haines Industrial, Augusta, Ga. Kendall Institute, Sumpter, S. C. Mary Potter Memorial, Oxford, N. C. Monticello Academy, Monticello, Ark. Cotton Plant Academy, Cotton Plant, Ark. Coulter Memorial Academy, Cheraw, N. C. Redstone Academy, Lumberton, N. C. Swift Memorial College, Rogersville, Tenn.

In addition to those in these boarding schools, 112 teachers are employed in the maintenance of this same number of day schools.

In his last annual report, April 1, 1913, Rev. E. P. Cowan, D. D., secretary of the Board submitted the following interesting summary of its work.

"The Freedmen's Board has ever kept in mind the one great fact that its work is, first, last and all the time, missionary work. We have aimed from the very beginning to follow a course that would commend itself to every man's conscience in the sight of God. We have always sought the counsel and advice of good men on the field, at times nearer our work than ourselves, and better able to judge of its condition. We have endeavored to exert such an influence over the people among whom we have labored, so that no one could object to it except he were a heathen or an infidel. As a consequence, all the opposition we have met with in all these years has been as nothing, compared with the sympathy and encouragement we have received from good men.

"We have this year issued our forty-eighth annual report. This annual report shows that we have now in connection with our church, four colored Synods, composed of sixteen colored Presbyteries, in which there are four hundred and four church organizations, with twenty-six thousand, one hundred and thirty-two communicants, two hundred and eighty-nine ordained ministers of the Gospel, and thirteen hundred and seventeen ruling elders.

"Within these Presbyteries, there are one hundred and thirty-six schools, and in these schools there are 16,427 pupils, taught by 448 teachers, all of whom are professing Christians, and by a rule of the Board, members of the Presbyterian church.

"In all these schools, the Word of God and the Shorter Catechism are regularly and daily taught. On the mind and heart of every living soul that passes in and out of our schools, there is impressed the fundamental and far-reaching truth, that the chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever, and that the Word of God, which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy Him.

"These churches and schools, and ministers and teachers—588 workers in all—are housed in 470 buildings, of which 300 are church buildings, 70 are manses, and 100 are school buildings. The value of these buildings is estimated at $1,561,000. The cry comes up to us without ceasing for either more room, or better accommodations. Should we answer these cries promptly, and without regard to the question as to where the money is to come from, we should be hopelessly overwhelmed with debt within one year."

TRAINS CHRISTIAN LEADERS

The Freedmen are naturally religious and hitherto their churches have been their principal social centers. Under uneducated leadership, the only kind possible at first, their church life was characterized by a loose moral standard, poor business methods and boisterous worship. In many places it still lacks a realization of the real needs of the race.

"The true standard bearers of better things have been the relatively few ministers and churches that have been noted for their educated ministry, restraint in worship, rigid morals and careful supervision."

The wisdom of the policy of training capable christian leaders, was emphasized at the last General Assembly at Atlanta, by Rev. H. A. Johnson, D. D., in the following pertinent paragraph:

"The vital need of the negro people is a trained christian leadership. Their problem can never be solved by elementary education for the masses, or industrial training for those who enter the trades and till the farm. They must have thoroughly trained christian teachers and ministers of the Gospel and should also have the other professions represented among their leaders. The men, who are conspicuous leaders among the negroes in industrial training are publicly saying that they expect such organizations as the Presbyterian church to furnish the ministers and teachers for their people, while they furnish the farmers, the carpenters and other tradesmen. The task of furnishing this trained leadership is being bravely attempted by our Board within the limitations of their available resources. Every intelligent student of the problem must realize how supremely important is this phase of the work."

WORTHY OF GENEROUS SUPPORT AND ENDOWMENT

The Board of Missions for Freedmen of the Presbyterian church merits the intelligent sympathy and cordial co-operation not only of our whole church but of all the friends who favor christian education among the dependent colored people in the south part of our land.

It educates ministers and teachers, and supports them in their work. It builds academies, seminaries and colleges, and aids in the erection of churches and manses. Its 24 boarding schools, having normal and industrial departments, are distributed so that there is one or more in every southern state.

It now owns and controls school, church and manse properties that represent a value of one and a half million dollars.

Its permanent investments, that bring an annual income for the promotion of its work however, are yet only $200,202.50. In these days of big business, the evidence of unusual prosperity, it ought to have an endowment of one million dollars.

Education is the most costly of all philanthropic enterprises. The following reason recently expressed for a large endowment of the College Board applies with equal force to the Freedmen's Board.

"A million dollar corporation is now considerably more than twice as efficient, as an instrument to accomplish results than one of a half million. In this day of large things the men who are interested in education, prefer to employ as their agent, an organization whose resources are large enough to place its permanent and financial stability beyond question. A bank with a million dollars of capital has considerable advantage over one having only a quarter of a million. The law, 'To him that hath shall be given,' still prevails among the children of men."

The members of the Freedmen's Board have been selected, because of their manifest interest in the educational and spiritual welfare of the colored people; and they are conscientiously striving, to the best of their ability, to promote the interests of the Freedmen, in behalf of the great body of generous hearted christian people whom they represent.

The work of the Freedmen's Board has hitherto by its charter been limited to the Freedmen in southern states. At the next General Assembly, an effort will be made to extend its work, so as to include the negroes in the northern states.

X

SPECIAL BENEFACTORS.

GEORGE PEABODY.—JOHN F. SLATER.—DANIEL HAND.—EMILINE CUSHING.—ANNA T. JEANES.—CAROLINE PHELPS STOKES.—JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER.—NEGRO PHILANTHROPISTS.

"He loveth our nation and hath built us a synagogue."

The educational needs of the Freedman have called forth several large benefactions from individual contributors. George Peabody of Danvers, Massachusetts, in 1867 and 1869, established a fund of $3,500,000 for the promotion of general education in the South. One half of this amount happened to prove unavailable. A large part of the remainder was used in the establishment and endowment of the Peabody teachers college for whites at Nashville, Tennessee, leaving only a small part of it for use among the Freedmen.

In 1882, John F. Slater of Norwich, Connecticut, created a trust fund of $1,000,000, for the purpose of uplifting the emancipated population of the southern states and their posterity. The income of this fund, now increased to $1,500,000, is used to promote normal and industrial education.

In 1888 Daniel Hand of Guilford, Connecticut, gave the American Missionary Association of the Congregational church $1,000,000, and a residuary estate of $500,000 to aid in the education of the Negro.

In 1895 Miss Emiline Cushing of Boston left $23,000 for the same object.

In 1907 Miss Anna T. Jeanes of Philadelphia, Pa., left an endowment fund of $1,000,000 to aid in maintaining elementary schools among the Freedmen. Booker T. Washington was named as one of two trustees of this fund. Its distribution contemplates a three fold plan. First, something additional is to be secured from the school authorities. Second, the co-operative efforts of the people are essential. Third, the effectiveness of the school is improved and its neighborhood influence widened by the introduction of industrial features. In 1911, the income from this fund was so widely distributed as to reach the work in as many as 111 counties in 12 different states; and summer schools were aided in six of them.

In 1909 Miss Caroline Phelps Stokes created a fund of $300,000 for the erection of tenement houses in New York City; and the education of negroes and Indians, through industrial schools.

From 1902 to 1909, John D. Rockefeller gave $53,000,000 to establish a fund for the promotion of general education in the United States. The schools of the Freedmen have received from this fund $532,015.

NEGRO PHILANTHROPISTS

The Freedmen have fallen heir to the estates of some free negroes, that became wealthy. It is interesting to note the following ones.

Tommy Lafon of New Orleans, a dealer in dry goods and real estate, in 1893, left for charitable purposes among his people, an estate appraised at $413,000.

Mary E. Shaw of New York City, left Tuskeegee Colored Institute $38,000.

Col. John McKee of Philadelphia, at his death in 1902, left about $1,000,000 worth of property for education, including a provision for the establishment of a college to bear his name.

Anna Marie Fisher, of Brooklyn, N. Y., in 1911, having an estate of $65,000 left $26,000 for educational institutions.

The successful achievement of these four free Negroes and their generous regard for the welfare of their kin-folks, suggest the possibilities of which they are capable, as financiers and philanthropists, when circumstances are favorable.