Various - The American Missionary. Volume 42, No. 07, July, 1888

President, Rev. Wm. M. Taylor, D.D., LL.D., N.Y.

Vice-Presidents.

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

Rev. Alex. McKenzie, D.D., Mass.

Rev. F.A. Noble, D.D., Ill.

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.

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.

Lyman Abbott,

Charles A. Hull,

J.R. Danforth,

Clinton B. Fisk,

Addison P. Foster,

For Two Years.

S.B. Halliday, Samuel Holmes,

Samuel S. Marples,

Charles L. Mead,

Elbert B. Monroe,

For One Year.

J.E. Rankin, Wm. H. Ward,

J.W. Cooper,

John H. Washburn,

Edmund L. Champlin.

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.

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.

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.

"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.

The American Missionary.

VOL. XLII.

JULY 1888.

No. 7.

It gives us great pleasure to announce that, at a recent meeting of our Executive Committee, Rev. Wm. M. Taylor, D.D., Pastor of the Broadway Tabernacle, New York, was elected President of the American Missionary Association.

The death of our late honored President, ex-Governor Washburn, occurred so short a time before our last Annual Meeting, that no attempt was there made to elect his successor, but the matter was referred according to the Constitution, to the Executive Committee. After mature deliberation and with great unanimity, Dr. Taylor was elected. A brief extract from his letter accepting the position will indicate his sympathy with our work, and his heartiness in co-operating with us in this new relation.

"Your Association, alike by its history in the past and its work in the present, has a strong hold on my heart. It is doing a work much needed; one, too, which is intimately connected with the welfare of the nation, as well as with the future of the races among whom it specially labors. It has always been a joy to me to plead for it with my people from my pulpit, and I regard your selection of me as your President, as one of the highest honors of my life."

We are glad to be able to mention, also, the election of Mr. Charles A. Hull as a member of our Executive Committee, in place of the honored and respected A.S. Barnes, deceased. Mr. Hull was formerly a member of the committee, but was compelled to retire on account of pressure of business. He now returns to his place cheerfully and to our great satisfaction.

Who reads Missionary Magazines? —We are glad to know that THE AMERICAN MISSIONARY has appreciative readers with quick eyes. From the last numbers we have noticed extracts and quotations in the New York Observer , the Religious Herald , the Advance , the New York Tribune , and the New York Times . We are more than willing.

A good deal of ingenious ciphering has been done in endeavoring to solve this problem, and, withal, there has been a good deal of honest and efficient work. The Government has largely increased its appropriations from year to year, the Dawes Bill and other valuable legislation have been secured, so that steps looking towards the citizenship of the Indian have been attained. Appropriations have been granted to aid him in farming and other industrial pursuits, and it is not unlikely that in a short time provision will be made for the education in the common English branches of every Indian child.

But all this is not sufficient. The Indian may have lands and citizenship and an English education, and yet, if he has no strong impulse towards civilization, no motive in his heart impelling him to be an industrious, self-supporting citizen—in short, if he has not a new heart looking to a new life as a citizen and a man, he will become a vagabond on the land granted him, and a skeptic in the school in which he is taught. The next few years will constitute a crisis in the rapidly changing condition of the Indian, and it is precisely at this point where the vital element of the Christian life must be infused into his character. To the Christian public, all other questions subordinate themselves to this, and this needs, not speculation, but hard work; legislation cannot do it, the church must; time will not do it, Christian teaching and example alone can. The vernacular question, so much agitated recently, is important only as it may hinder this practical work.

The Indian problem is not perpetual. The Indian must soon be merged into the American, and whether this shall be for good or for ill, the church must decide, and decide speedily. We trust, therefore, that our constituents will aid us to extend, as rapidly as possible, that part of the work entrusted to us. We do not ask for expensive buildings or costly plant. We ask for the means to push forward with the teacher and the preacher among these uncivilized people till, when they come forth from their present anomalous condition, they shall come forth practical Christians, as well as intelligent and industrious citizens.

Prof. G.W. Lawrence, teacher of our school at Jellico, Tenn., a gentleman of quiet and unobtrusive manners, was brutally assaulted by a man of that place, and was shot in three places; one ball entered the wrist and followed up the arm, coming out near the shoulder, a second went into the back of the shoulder, and a third is probably lodged in the lungs. The assault occurred May 18th, in the church in which Mr. Lawrence was holding the school, in the presence of his wife and scholars. The only provocation alleged, was that he had gone the night before to ask for the tuition of one of his scholars. He was met in an angry way by the woman, and the next day the husband, who does not live with his wife, came to the school and fired the shots. Prof. Lawrence is the brother-in-law of our highly esteemed and active Christian worker, Rev. A.A. Myers, who has not only done so much in promoting school and church work in Kentucky and Tennessee, but who has also been so zealous in promoting the cause of temperance. Prof. Lawrence sympathized and co-operated with Mr. Myers in this good work, and it is believed that liquor and liquor influence had much to do in inspiring the deed. As all the parties in this transaction were white, it is not at all probable that the color-line question had anything to do with it.