THE SOUTH.

SOUTHERN TESTIMONY.

We insert the following from the Southern Presbyterian, as a recent testimony to the views, principles and work of the American Missionary Association. It will be all the stronger from the fact that it was not written for a testimony, but as a setting forth of facts by a Southerner to Southerners.

The old masters and the old slaves are now rapidly passing into eternity. In ten years more no one of our people, white or black, under forty years of age, will know personally anything of slavery. It then comes to this, that now and from this time forward, we white Christians must be impressed with the fact that we have here at our doors, in our houses, offices, stores and kitchens, and on our farms, not slaves, but a race of people, three-fourths of whom are but a little removed from savages in so far as their knowledge of religion is concerned. They have among them those whom they call preachers; they hold meetings, they halloo, they shout, but no saving truth is preached or heard from that source. The result is great animal excitement, but no moral elevation. Then many of them are receiving secular education. That sharpens their intellects but gives no Christian character. It does just the opposite; it fits them for rascality. They are increasing. There are probably eight millions of them now, and there will be many millions more. Those who are dying without Christ are dying here in a Christian land without hope.

The statement of a Congregational missionary recently made, is probably true, viz.: that "one-fourth of the race is improving rapidly," yet much the larger part of them are almost, if not altogether, heathen. They are not across the ocean; under God's providence they are here, where you can touch them with your finger. Why here? It will not do to say that nothing can be made out of them. Go to Texas, to Tennessee, and come right here to Atlanta now, and our most intelligent white men will tell you that on the prohibition question, negroes, educated, smart and very eloquent, have made, and are making, ringing speeches. There have been smart speakers on both sides. Some of their speeches would do credit to any white orator in the South. Dr. Sanderson, our late Professor at Tuskaloosa, stated on the floor of the Synod of Alabama last week, that he had taught a good deal, and that a young negro, twenty years of age, one of our divinity students at Tuskaloosa, was as smart a pupil as he had ever seen; that if he were in the State University he would be in its first rank of students, and that he heard him recently preach a sermon on the mediatorial work of Christ, such that he (Dr. Sanderson) would not undertake to make a better one on that majestic theme. * * *

In Dallas Presbytery, Texas, recently, a black man was examined for two days on Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and on all that is required by our Book of Government for ordination, and he did not falter once. So the brethren there testify.

Then it comes to this: this race of people is here; the great body of them are heathen. Can anyone doubt that it is the purpose of the Almighty to prepare a large number of them, converted, educated and civilized, to go back to Africa to redeem that continent for civilization and for Christ? We are commanded to preach the Gospel to every creature, to teach it to all nations.

OUR WORK, AS A GRADUATE OF FISK UNIVERSITY SEES IT.

BY WILLIAM A. CROSTHWAITE.

The American Missionary Association is doing more to quicken the hopes and aspirations of the Southern Negro, more toward arousing the Southern white man to educate himself, and more toward bringing the two races to an acknowledgment of each other's rights, than any other similar institution in the country.

In the summer of 1884, near Leesburg, Texas, a well-appointed Negro school was burned by the whites of that community. The colored people, seeing their hope of years in ashes, advertised their little holdings for sale, and prepared to leave in a body. But the whites offered to supplement the insurance on the former building and to re-build the school, if the colored people would remain in the community. The terms were accepted, and now West Chapel, which is the name of the school, is excellently furnished and has a $200 bell upon it, and is the best known school in Northeast Texas. Previous to the burning of West Chapel, the whites were continually distracted by factional fights. There was general apathy with regard to improvement in any way whatever. Their teachers were always of the inferior class. But, when they found that the colored people would have a school, they decided to have one also. The colored people bought a bell. So did they. The colored people had a foreign teacher. So must they have one, and they paid $750 a year for him. One of the white citizens of the locality summed the situation up thus:—"West Chapel is to the whites what a coal of fire is on the back of a terrapin." This school was organized by a Fisk student and has ever since been taught by students of Fisk. Thus is the A.M.A. lifting up the Negro directly and the whites indirectly, and establishing friendly relations between the two.

But this is no isolated case. The story is the same wherever the educated Negro comes in contact with the whites. At one time, our school was so far in advance of the white school, that I was told by my school director that "no high-learnt teacher was wanted to teach 'Nigger Schools,'" and I was actually driven from my school by threats of violence.

The North can better understand the work of the American Missionary Association, when it is fully understood that the presence of Fisk University in Nashville brought about the existence of Vanderbilt University. When Fisk began to send out her graduates as refined and upright gentlemen, and the newspapers were enthusiastic in their accounts of its literary and musical exhibitions, the white people said; "We must have a university in Nashville also."

In the recent Prohibition campaign in Tennessee, the students of Fisk were one of the chief factors. In the beginning of the movement, the cry; "Where does Fisk stand on this question?" went up from the good people all over the State. Fisk was the first college to declare in favor of the proposed Amendment, and one hundred young men and women went from her walls and fought valiantly for the cause.

It is due the profound Christian spirit that characterizes the work of the Association to say, that every student and alumnus of Fisk in the State of Tennessee was an ardent supporter of the cause, save two. During the campaign the most cordial feelings existed between the better elements of both races. Heretofore these things were almost unheard of.

There was a time when policy or political expediency had no effect upon the prejudices of the Southern whites, but the educational process inaugurated by the North is elevating a class of colored people to a plane where they are respected as never before. No State or Federal aid can do for us what the A.M.A. is doing. Such aid as the Blair Bill proposed would meet a certain need, and enable the men that are educated by the A.M.A. to get at the masses; but the peculiar work of preparing honest and devout Christian leaders must be otherwise provided for. The complete regeneration of the South is a thing of the future. The A.M.A. must remain among us to hasten on "the harvest of the golden year."

That the Christianization of the Negro must come from without his own institutions, will be clearly seen by looking at his present religious condition. The new life that is developing cannot be crowded into the narrow limits of his church. The moral element is almost entirely wanting in his creed and doctrine. Such is the condition of the church that moral and spiritual growth are impossible. He must be educated away from the institutions that attended his enslavement; as far from them as Canaan is from Egypt. Again, the pulpit, with comparatively few honorable exceptions, is filled with adventurers and impure ministers. To a great extent this is true. But signs of a spiritual and moral exodus are everywhere manifest. The judgment of God rests heavily upon the Negro's temple-worship and the structure tumbles to the ground. Within the last two years I have seen six of the largest colored churches in Tennessee split on moral grounds, and the discontent with what is bad, grows among them. The old associations are losing their power over the rising generation. Intelligent men are seeking to supply their spiritual and moral wants. The A.M.A. has but to persist in the establishment of its school and church work among the colored people, with good strong men as ministers, and it is sure to be the leaven of the church of the future for the Negro people.

Last summer an old father, who had educated four children at Fisk University and had himself been there on one Commencement occasion, said to me:—"That Fisk school is the buildin'-up-est place to our people in the world. I never expect to have such a good time and treatment again until I get to heaven." Thus are our hopes quickened and our aspirations for nobler things awakened.

But to one who understands the situation, the question of our education is of serious moment. All our institutions of higher learning are living from hand to mouth, with no endowment, and the North's purse-strings are growing tighter as the years go by. On the other hand, prejudice strikes savagely at our State appropriations. This year, in the advanced State of Tennessee, the white State-student gets one hundred dollars while the colored gets only twenty-two dollars and a half. In his poverty what can the Negro student do with this sum in the way of educating himself?

I could take you in the homes of those whom you have educated, then could you appreciate the wisdom of your investments. It is around the fireside, and in the conduct of the children, that your noble work is manifesting itself so clearly. The intellectual, moral and spiritual life found there are the true and only guarantees that old things are passing away.

The abject condition of the great body of Negroes appeals to Christian religion and philanthropy for the help that must come to redeem their lost minds and souls. The South cannot give them a Christian education. The cry goes up to the great, warm heart of the North. We crave the crumbs that fall from your God-given, bountiful table.

A PASTOR'S FIRST VIEW.

A pastor who was educated at the North and who was graduated at the Hartford Theological Seminary, has for the first time made the acquaintance of his race in the South. He had never met his own people as a race until he entered into the service of the American Missionary Association. His impressions and testimony have, therefore, an additional interest.

In reference to the field: it is large and interesting, and requires more than ordinary attention, both to that part of it under cultivation and that which is not yet. I have arranged my visits in such a way as to make it practicable for me to do justice to both; visiting church members the last week in each month (except in case of sickness), and using the rest of the time (apart from other necessary duties) for visits outside.

I am thus brought into direct contact with our people and learn a great deal about their condition. In some places it does seem actually as if liberty and civilization are still mysteries to them.

When I was in the North and heard or read descriptions of the condition and mode of living of the colored people of the South, I often thought that those descriptions were very highly colored, but I am now perfectly cured of all my doubts. My visits furnish me with the most plausible attestation of the facts. Squalor, with its long train of attendants, may be commonly seen in every direction, and perhaps not confined to the lower-conditioned of our people either. The desecration of the Lord's day is actually frightful. It is very literally used as a "day of rest from labor." On every hand the people are seen resting—resting from labor in the houses, on the stoops and on the streets, instead of being in the house of God. In very many instances, however, we succeed in getting some of them to attend church, but the work is somewhat uphill. I trust that this abnormal condition to which slavery has reduced them will eventually succumb to the effective educational weapon that is being brought to bear upon them, that of the American Missionary Association especially, and may the time soon come for the South when the Holy Spirit working in and through the various missionary Boards, and also other agencies, shall spread righteousness and education and the true art of living, among these benighted people. I am praying, others are praying, and you, too, must help us to pray and to wait for the quickening influences and a fresh baptism of the Holy Spirit.

TALLADEGA FRUIT.

BY MISS E.B. EMERY.

The missions of the American Missionary Association at the South are like orange trees, perennial, evergreen, and continually bearing golden fruit, and of these there is none more abounding in vitality than Talladega. All the year round the foliage glistens, the blossoming sheds its fragrance, and every winter there is an ample harvest. Sometimes one from abroad comes in to shake the tree and gather the fruit, and sometimes not; but however that may be, the soil is previously and thoroughly prepared by these consecrated missionaries, the tree is watered and nourished and tended the year round, and the harvest expected, and it comes.

Are there no spiritual frosts to blight? They are impossible, if the spiritual atmosphere be kept clear, and the Holy Ghost be a daily and hourly companion and friend.

It is by no means unusual in Talladega for every unbelieving pupil in the boarding department to be converted. This year there were over forty hopeful conversions, and Rev. James Wharton, an English evangelist, by his earnest preaching was of very great assistance. It is noticeable that if any who have had little previous training are converted through the preaching of an evangelist, they are not likely to hold out well.

On the first Sunday in March, twenty-seven of the converts were received into the college church, with two from the Baptist Church. More will come later as the fruits of the revival, while a few will join other churches. Eighteen of the number were young men, and among them were the two sons of Pres. DeForest, one fourteen, the other nine, years of age.

Prof. G.W. Andrews, D.D., the pastor this year, conducted the services; there was no sermon proper and no time for any, but there was much of the beautiful music of these colored people; they sing out their fervid souls with their rich and powerful voices. Nearly all were baptized, and much more was made of the right hand of fellowship than is usual in any Northern church. And it is needful for these children, for they will call for constant help months and years to come. With few exceptions, they are not reared in Christian homes, are not educated from the cradle in the Christian faith. The services were both solemn and joyful, and very tender and touching.

Such an avowal is the most significant of all things, anytime, anywhere, but here we know that every life is to be one of toil and bitter struggle, a fight in which the odds are, to appearances, all against them; more than all, that this young man, that young woman, with the dusky face, the mellow voice and the eager spirit, now in covenant with us, is to be a missionary to the heathen, and of his own people. What may he not accomplish? What may she not do for Christ? And these heathen are in our own country; they are our own people. These young missionaries are very peculiarly ours, and it is through the Northern churches that they are trained for their work. Shall not then those churches adopt them in their hearts, carry them in their prayers, and let them suffer no lack in their preparation? Their work in the future for the Master's kingdom will depend very much upon us Christians of the North.

Talladega College is exceedingly prosperous. The day-school is very large; the Sunday-school packs the chapel, and the Sunday congregation is much too crowded for health or comfort in a room seating but two hundred and fifty. The college is working all the time, for a church, earning many small sums. The result, with some gifts, amounts to about $400. Where is the man or the woman to aid in this godly enterprise? to share in this work so essential and so abundantly fruitful?

THREE PICTURES FROM LE MOYNE SCHOOL, MEMPHIS, TENN.

BY MISS ESTHER H. BARNES.

I would like to bring before you three pictures which I saw this week. The first is the interior of a single room. The tattered, soiled bed and the fireplace took up a large part of the room, and the rest was nearly filled with the confusion of odds and ends that make up the belongings of such a home. A feeble fire rested on the uneven bricks of the fireplace, and the chimney above was covered with newspapers in the last stages of dilapidation and dirt. There was no window, but a little sliding shutter, moved aside a few inches, admitted light enough to make the darkness visible as it fell on the smoke-stained boards, and the dusky faces of the inmates seated close to the fire on old chairs and boxes. A home more forlorn than this little pen, which, with a smaller back shed, is the only residence of at least five human beings, I can hardly conceive.

Now for a more cheering picture. It is a cozy sitting-room, papered with taste and furnished in harmony. Everything looks neat, from the snowy bed-spread to the pretty clock on the mantel, and the dainty bunch of pansies on the wall above. Open doors give glimpses of other rooms as well ordered as this, while intelligence and kindness beam in the dark faces of gentle mother and cheery bright-eyed daughters. When people ask us how we can bear to teach "niggers," they generally have in mind those tattered, lazy persons, who are most wont to show themselves on the street corners, and so make the deepest impression on the average white mind.

But look at my third picture, and you will see both how we can like our work, and what is one of the things that make a difference between the second home I have described and the first. The large school-room is filled. More than one hundred and twenty-five students are arranged in classes, most of whom are standing in their places ready to pass to recitation rooms. One of their number is at the piano. Another stands at the desk to give the word of command. Now he strikes the bell and the pupils in long file pass out, marching with their heads up. Not a teacher is in sight. Everything is orderly and is running of itself, as it does every day. This is nothing wonderful, of course, though I know some white schools which could not be trusted to this degree to the control of monitors. But it is only a sign of the influences that here lead to self-reliance and self-control. Every year a new set of uncouth and undeveloped young people come shambling in, looking around with bewildered eyes. But they soon begin to straighten up and fall into step. Their vague ideas get settled, and their minds, slow at first, wake up. In a few years they will be made over new, not perfect, but vastly improved. They will be out teaching, spreading light from scores of new centres, and sending new pupils to "Old Le Moyne."

THE EVANGELIST AT WORK.

The last night of the three weeks' series of meetings at Marion was a memorable one. Every night the church, which was a large-sized building, was well filled with an attentive congregation, hungering and thirsting for the bread and water of life. After singing and prayer and hearing the testimonies from the young converts present, who told with unmistakable clearness how they had given their hearts to God, a few words were spoken, especially to them, showing what God requires of them now they have become Christians. Afterwards the gospel was preached to the unconverted and an invitation given for those who wished to become Christians to signify their desire. A number responded, including an old man supposed to be at least ninety years of age. The old man had long thought of being a Christian, but never could get to the point of decision until now. He looked back upon his long life of sin; he wept, he prayed, he arose and confessed that he had then and there taken Christ as his Saviour. Was not he a brand plucked from the burning?

It was most encouraging to see a young lady bringing along to the pastor's house nearly every day some two or three of her school companions or friends, to be prayed for and spoken with about the way of salvation. The Christians worked faithfully visiting the houses of their friends to pray and speak with them and to bring them out to the meeting at night.

At Mobile, although the first week it rained six days in succession, yet the people came out well and were repaid for their faithfulness. Every night for the past three weeks large numbers of all classes have been personally interested, and with the exception of one service, we have had cause to thank God for conversions. Fathers and mothers are rejoicing over sons and daughters brought to Christ. A large number of young people from the Sabbath-school as well as from the day-school have started on the new life. The teachers say that a marked change is observable and that the young converts seem to be trying their very best to live up to their profession. Forty-six were received into the church and will have the instruction that is so much needed by young converts.

One of the teachers and myself, while visiting some of the converts, found five young women in one house rejoicing in the pardoning love of God. "Truly," said the old grandmother, "salvation has come to this house." We found that, some years ago, three mothers had died and left five orphan children, who were taken by the grandmother and who had now grown into womanhood. Two sisters first became Christians and the others soon followed. One said, "I used to be so fond of going to the theatre, but now I have no heart for that sort of thing; I mean to live a good Christian life and do all I can for my Saviour." They were all received into church, and joined as well the Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor, which is a good thing for young people, as it trains them for future work, and to be active and useful in the service of Christ.

JAMES WHARTON.