THE CALL FOR ENLARGEMENT—SHALL IT BE HEEDED?
At no time has the call for enlargement been more urgent. It is strikingly providential also. The political, moral and religious atmosphere is charged with forces, prophetic of unparalleled progress in our Southern work. Questions relative to the policy of government are measurably settled for four years. We can lay our plans with encouraging assurances. Sound and practical views on all that pertains to permanent prosperity are dominant. It is not likely they will be materially modified, save for the better. Our statesmen and philanthropists are coming to prize more and more those forces in man which are developed by a Christian education. The want that is looming up before them, is good schools for the masses in every section of the country. They voice this want in their public utterances, and the sound thereof is echoing and re-echoing over the land. It has in it the promise of expansion and universal application. Its adoption and elaboration mean increase of every laudable industry, the development of commerce, art, science, literature, wealth, beauty, happiness. They mean the leveling up of humanity heavenward. The tone and temper of our best men was never more auspicious than now—never more favorable to the work of this Association.
There never was so strong conviction in the South as now of the wisdom of Christian education for the Freedmen. The worth of it cannot be hidden. It is as evident as the sheen of an electric light. There is a capacity in the heart of man, by which he is able to recognize it. He comes to do so gradually, inevitably, as the flower unfolds from the bud, and as the fruit matures from the blossom. Many of the best in the world started wrong, but turned about and out-stripped their fellows in well doing. The South has been wrong, but pour in sufficient light and it will turn about. We have a right to hope and pray for such consummation. The aim of our work is to hasten it. When the South turns, it will not be by halves,—that is not her method. She is already rising for the emergency. The signs of it are apparent. It is but a question of time, and the time is at hand.
Legislatures have appropriated money for our work, and are doing so heartily still. They act as statesmen, with a view to the best interests of the State. In Texas, there is a tidal wave setting strongly in favor of popular education, impelled by the far-sightedness which discerns that the flow of emigration of the best sort trends away from territory, however rich and inviting, where free schools for all classes are not abundant. The value of inaugurating school work through the agency of Christian teachers, need not be argued. The call for these teachers is sure to be more urgent than ever. Shall we provide for the immediate and coming want? God seems to have said so. We have received $150,000 for new buildings, in which to train teachers. New buildings mean enlargement—enlargement means more missionaries, more prayer, more money. Will not the friends of Christ heed this call prayerfully, promptly, efficiently?