American Missionary | Page 5

articles to use for that purpose. Then a lesson from the Bible, also, comes in, and some amusement in the way of puzzles. The girls are pleased to belong to a society of King's Daughters. I have a class for instructing the women in darning, patching, button-hole making and so on. We have a Society of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union in which I have the Department of Social Purity.
"You will be able to believe that my time is pretty fully occupied. I rejoice that I am able to be here, for I am never so happy as when I am engaged in this beloved work."
Is not here a splendid field for missionary work for the King's Daughters throughout the land? Why cannot the loyal daughters of the King, at the North, support such missionaries as this in their self-sacrificing work for the down-trodden daughters of this same Divine King in the South?
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PROTESTANT AND PAPIST: AN OBJECT-LESSON.
In the communication below, an esteemed friend finds in our Annual Meeting at Providence an object-lesson in the Christian recognition of the colored man, which he very properly sets over against a like example in the convention of colored Roman Catholics recently held in Washington, D.C. Our friend is right. The American Missionary Association stands square on that subject. We only wish that everybody else, even at the North, stood with us on that plank of our platform.
"In THE AMERICAN MISSIONARY for February, 1889, I read extracts and notices from Catholic sources with regard to the universality of that church organization that 'knows neither North, South, East or West, that knows neither Jew nor Gentile, Greek, Barbarian nor Scythian,' and emphasizing the fact that a colored priest had celebrated mass in company with two white clergymen.
"I am thus reminded of the Annual Meeting of one of the most prominent national organizations of a religious nature in our land. A few months ago in the city of Providence, in one of the finest churches of that or of any city in our land, before as refined and cultivated an audience as could have been convened in our country, addresses were made by colored men who sat in the pulpit with some of the most distinguished white clergymen in the country. If one is an object-lesson, is not the other quite as much so?"
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SCHOOL ECHOES.
I shall let the students, small and large, speak for themselves a little while, that you may see them as we do. And first--
Ques.--"What are the divisions of North America?"
Ans.--"Maine, New Hampshire, Illinois, North Pole and South Pole and Augusta."
Ques.--"What is a unit?"
Ans.--"A unit is a number used instead of a name."
Ques.--"What makes the water rise in an artesian well?"
Ans.--"The upward pressure of the rocks under the water."
Ques.--"Where do the collar bones meet?"
Ans.--"Round the north part of the body where the collar fastens."
Ques.--(In woodworking class.) "What is the object of this exercise?" (An exercise in lining wood.)
Ans.--1. "This exercise strengthens my mine and my character." 2. "The object of this exercise is wood."
Ques.--"Define the kinds of sentences."
Part of answer.--"A purgatorial sentence is one that answers a question."
DEBATE.--_Resolved, that Arithmetic is better than Grammar._
Affirmative: "Arithmetic is better, because without it we could not buy or sell anything, build houses, bridges or railroads, measure lands or even count. Can a man make money by knowing the grammar? Ain't no sense in grammar noway. It's always been my experience that
'A naught's a naught, and a figure's a figure, All for the white man and none for the nigger.'"
Negative: "To prove that grammar is better, take the Tower of Babble. They built it, I suppose, many miles high, and the Lord looked down and mixed up their grammar. So if a man was on top of the tower he would call down, 'John, bring up the hammer,' and John would come up with a saw. Then he would send him down for the hammer again, and John would bring up the nails. How much could we learn of religion, of history and the world around us, if it were not for grammar? Would 1-2-3 tell us all that?"
But I have not left much room to tell about the good side. Many of the papers, for neatness, accuracy and clear expression, would do credit to any children in the world. Especially is this true of the younger pupils, who have received the training of the lower grades of the school. One essay on Slavery, by a member of the Ninth Year Class, written in two days, contained twenty pages, with scarcely an unnecessary word, and very few mistakes. I wish you could hear some of the sensible talks in prayer-meetings, and fervent prayers for classmates, teachers, and the kind people at the North who are trying to help them.
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