The American Missionary — Volume 42, No. 12, December, 1888

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Title: The American Missionary, Volume 42, No. 12, December, 1888

Author: Various

Release Date: December 20, 2004 [eBook #14383]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)

***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AMERICAN MISSIONARY, VOLUME 42, NO. 12, DECEMBER, 1888***

E-text prepared by Joshua Hutchinson, Donald Perry, John Hagerson, and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team from scans generously provided by Cornell University

THE AMERICAN MISSIONARY DECEMBER, 1888 VOL. XLII. NO. 12

CONTENTS

EDITORIAL

THE ANNUAL MEETING THE DANIEL HAND EDUCATIONAL FUND FOR COLORED PEOPLE THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE GIFT SKETCH OF MR. HAND'S LIFE THE DEED OF TRUST SUGGESTIONS PILGRIM'S LETTERS PARAGRAPHS

ANNUAL MEETING.

PROCEEDINGS OF ANNUAL MEETING SUMMARY OF TREASURER'S REPORT REPORTS OF COMMITTEES MEMORIAL SERVICE THE AMERICAN FREEDMEN AS FACTORS IN AFRICAN EVANGELIZATION, BY SECRETARY STRIEBY THE HOPEFULNESS OF INDIAN MISSIONS AS SEEN IN THE LIGHT OF HISTORY. BY SECRETARY BEARD

BUREAU OF WOMAN'S WORK.

REPORT OF SECRETARY

RECEIPTS.

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NEW YORK:

Published by the American Missionary Association.

Rooms, 56 Reade Street.

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Price, 50 Cents a Year, in Advance.

Entered at the Post Office at New York, N.Y., as second-class matter.

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American Missionary Association.

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PRESIDENT, REV. WM. M. TAYLOR, D.D., LL.D., N.Y.

Vice-Presidents.

Rev. A.J.F. BEHRENDS, D.D., N.Y.

Rev. F.A. NOBLE, D.D., Ill.

Rev. ALEX. McKENZIE, D.D., Mass.

Rev. D.O. MEARS, D.D., Mass.

REV. HENRY HOPKINS, D.D., MO.

Corresponding Secretaries.

Rev. M.E. STRIEBY, D.D., 56 Reade Street, N.Y.

Rev. A.F. BEARD, D.D., 56 Reade Street, N.Y.

Recording Secretary. REV. M.E. STRIEBY, D.D.

Treasurer.

H.W. HUBBARD, Esq., 56 Reade Street, N.Y.

Auditors.

PETER McCARTEE.

CHAS. P. PEIRCE.

Executive Committee.

JOHN H. WASHBURN, Chairman.

ADDISON P. FOSTER, Secretary.

For Three Years.

 J.E. RANKIN,

 WM. H. WARD,

 J.W. COOPER,

 JOHN H. WASHBURN,

 EDMUND L. CHAMPLIN.

For Two Years.

 LYMAN ABBOTT,

 CHARLES A. HULL,

 J.R. DANFORTH,

 CLINTON B. FISK,

 ADDISON P. FOSTER.

For One Year.

 S.B. HALLIDAY,

 SAMUEL HOLMES,

 SAMUEL S. MARPLES,

 CHARLES L. MEAD,

 ELBERT B. MONROE.

District Secretaries.

Rev. C.J. RYDER, 21 Cong'l House, Boston.

Rev. J.E. ROY, D.D., 151 Washington Street, Chicago.

Financial Secretary for Indian Missions.

Rev. CHAS. W. SHELTON.

Secretary of Woman's Bureau.

Miss D.E. EMERSON, 56 Reade St., N.Y.

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COMMUNICATIONS

Relating to the work of the Association may be addressed to the Corresponding Secretaries; letters for THE AMERICAN MISSIONARY, to the Editor, at the New York Office.

DONATIONS AND SUBSCRIPTIONS

In drafts, checks, registered letters, or post-office orders, may be sent to H.W. Hubbard, Treasurer, 56 Reade Street, New York, or, when more convenient, to either of the Branch Offices, 21 Congregational House, Boston, Mass, or 151 Washington Street, Chicago, Ill. A payment of thirty dollars at one time constitutes a Life Member.

NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS.—The date on the address label, indicates the time to which the subscription is paid. Changes are made in date on label to the 10th of each month. If payment of subscription be made afterward, the change on the label will appear a month later. Please send early notice of change in post-office address, giving the former address and the new address, in order that our periodicals and occasional papers may be correctly mailed.

FORM OF A BEQUEST

I BEQUEATH to my executor (or executors) the sum of —— dollars, in trust, to pay the same in —— days after my decease to the person who, when the same is payable, shall act as Treasurer of the 'American Missionary Association,' of New York City, to be applied, under the direction of the Executive Committee of the Association, to its charitable uses and purposes. The Will should be attested by three witnesses.

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THE

AMERICAN MISSIONARY.

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VOL. XLII. DECEMBER, 1888. No. 12.

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American Missionary Association.

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OUR ANNUAL MEETING.

The Annual Meeting at Providence, R.I., will long be remembered in the annals of this Association. Its general characteristics were earnestness and enthusiasm. The interest did not flag from the beginning to the end. We were glad to welcome our newly-elected President, Rev. Wm. M. Taylor, D.D., who, by his dignity and facility as a presiding officer, as well as by his able addresses, added largely to the interest of the meeting. The sermon of Dr. Little was an uplift at the outset; the Memorial Service for Dr. Powell was a loving tribute to his memory; the papers read were of a high order, and dealt in a practical way with living themes bearing on the work of the Association; the reports on the several departments of that work were discriminating, and showed a mastery of the subjects reviewed; and the addresses of Drs. Mears, Behrends and Taylor, on the last evening were, by their fervor, their broad range of thought and spiritual power, a fitting close for the whole series of meetings.

But the marked and peculiar feature of the occasion was the announcement of the munificent gift of Mr. Daniel Hand, of more than a million of dollars, to aid the Association in its efforts for the colored people of the South. This event, so inspiring in its immediate effect, and so far-reaching and permanent in its beneficial results, deserves full and special mention.

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THE DANIEL HAND EDUCATIONAL FUND FOR COLORED PEOPLE.

The gift of more than a million of dollars by Mr. Hand for the education of the colored people of the South, was a noble deed—alike patriotic, philanthropic and Christian. The gift was wisely made. It was after mature deliberation; it was during his lifetime, and thus avoids the possibility of future litigation; it is bestowed upon a race with whose wants Mr. Hand had become thoroughly familiar; it was given to a Society that from the first, amid obloquy and danger, has been true to the colored man; and it is made a permanent fund, the income only to be used, thus securing its perpetual usefulness.

The conditions of the grant are simple, easily applicable, practical and not liable to render the fund inoperative by any change of circumstances. It aims simply to give to the colored people a training that will fit them for every day life, or to become teachers of their race. Hence it will be confined to primary, industrial and normal education. We have no doubt that Mr. Hand values the missionary future of the African in his native land; that he realizes the importance of his religious training in this country, and that he appreciates the need of the higher education of a portion of the race; but his gift, large as it is, cannot cover everything, and he has, therefore, wisely chosen the definite sphere in which his money shall accomplish its work. Opportunity is thus given others equally liberal to provide for other parts of the great work to be done for the negro race.

Mr. Hand may not live long enough to see for many years the practical working of his far-reaching gift, but generation after generation of the Negroes of the South will rise up to call him blessed.

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THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE GIFT.

[Abridged from the Providence Journal.]

The Address of Secretary Strieby.

It is my privilege, and I esteem it a great honor, to be called upon to announce one of the most surprising and gratifying facts, financially considered at least, that has ever occurred in the history of this Association. The American Missionary Association has this week received the largest gift ever made in this country by a living donor to a benevolent society. Daniel Hand, an aged resident of Guilford, Conn., formerly a merchant in the South, has given to the Association $1,000,894.25, in interest-bearing securities, to be held in trust and known as THE DANIEL HAND EDUCATIONAL FUND FOR COLORED PEOPLE, the income only to be used for the education of colored people in the Southern States. Mr. Hand, having made his money in the South, and having seen the ignorance and consequent disadvantages of the colored people there, felt that he could not use it better than in providing for their education, and has chosen to entrust to the American Missionary Association, whose work is so largely devoted to the elevation of that people, the care of this magnificent gift, and the disbursement of its income in accordance with the provisions of the trust.

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This announcement was received with great enthusiasm, which was prolonged for several minutes, and the most intense excitement prevailed. An address was then given by John H. Washburn, Esq., Chairman of the Executive Committee, after which Rev. Dr. Mears made an address, which was followed by the singing of the Doxology with great fervor and emphasis.

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Remarks by Mr. John H. Washburn.

Mr. President.—The last few years have been remarkable in gifts and legacies. Some have endowed colleges and universities; some, as in this case, have been for the benefit of a peculiar race, but no one in his own lifetime has ever selected a benevolent association as beneficiary, and endowed it with such a munificent gift as Daniel Hand has bestowed upon the American Missionary Association. He was, it seems to me, wise in choosing this course. Others have seen fit to put their funds in the hands of trustees organized and incorporated to hold the trust. He might have done that, but what would have been the gain over the present plan? Those trustees must have availed themselves, as the trustees of the Peabody Fund and the trustees of the Slater Fund are compelled to do, of existing organizations for knowing the needs of the people; where and how the money can be used to the best advantage. Mr. Hand availed himself of an organization ready to his hand, one whose agents are better qualified to judge of the needs of the people, the plans to be pursued, the work to be done, than any other organization in this country.

Now the first thought of the executive officers and committee in receiving this magnificent gift is gratitude to God, who put it into the heart of this man to entrust to us such great means of usefulness for the people for which we labor. But there is a second thought; is this gift to be a blessing to us or a curse? That depends upon our constituents, the men and women personally, and on the churches, not on the officers of the Association. How do you, the individual givers to this Association, regard this gift? Every special gift to such organizations as this, whether it be for special endowment or to establish special schools, implies more money, an increase of contribution. Gifts for new buildings, gifts for establishing new plant are apt to be an embarrassment unless the individuals will respond with increased donations. Now this fund which is given us, while the terms are liberal, is limited in its scope,—it is strictly for the education of the colored youth in the Southern States of America. Not one dollar of this can be used for general work, not one dollar for the Indian, or for our Mountain Work; strictly limited in its use, we need in consequence even more money than