If the Christian churches and friends of Christ would but seek out, and bring as prominently before the public, facts, of which there are many, such as the above, showing the rapid progress these people are making under great discouragements, as the police courts and enemies of the negro report and dwell upon those which show his degradation, we are confident he would be held in much higher estimation.
We venture to say that a like number of refugees of any other race, in as great destitution, with a similar story of wrongs, whether true or false, could not be so quietly stowed away in New York, or left to be cared for so exclusively by their own people. There have been no urgent appeals to the public, and either none at all, or but a passing notice of their arrival, in our religious papers.
WOMAN’S HOME MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION.
This new organization held its first public meeting in Boston, March 18th. The ladies assembled at eleven o’clock in the lecture room of the Park Street Church, which was crowded. Mrs. C. A. Richardson, of Chelsea, presided; Mrs. J. F. Hunnewell, of Charlestown, acted as Secretary. By-laws were read and adopted. An address on the general subject was made by Mrs. Sarah K. Bolton; and Mrs. Steele, of Revere, gave a very interesting account of her labors in Maryland for eight years among the poor whites.
A more public meeting was held in the afternoon in the audience-room of the church, which was also well filled. Rev. Dr. Webb presided, and made a very appropriate and encouraging introductory address, sketching the new range of work opened for women in the missionary world, and assuring the new organization of the welcome it would receive by the officers and friends of the American Board and the Woman’s Board. By invitation, representatives of the American Missionary Association and of the American Home Missionary Society addressed the audience; Rev. C. L. Woodworth and Rev. M. E. Strieby, D. D., appearing for the former, and Rev. Robert West and Rev. H. M. Storrs, D. D., for the latter. These gentlemen confined themselves, as was expected, to presenting a view of the wide fields occupied by their respective societies, and the great need and remarkable hopefulness which they furnished for the labor of woman in the elevation and Christianization of the more destitute women and children of the great West and South.
This new organization originated entirely with the ladies themselves, and, as far as we can judge, has been inaugurated and will be carried forward with great wisdom and efficiency, and with no spirit of rivalry, but with the utmost Christian consideration and love towards other similar boards. It is hard to predict the future of a new benevolent organization. Who could have conjectured in 1810 the grand reach of Christian labor achieved by the ever-to-be-honored American Board? And who, ten years ago, could have foreseen the remarkable energy and wonderful success—then latent, but now active—displayed by the Christian women of this land in the several denominations in co-operation with the great Missionary Boards? But while we cannot prophesy of the future of this new society, yet the success of those we have mentioned encourages us to anticipate for it a glorious career. There certainly is room in this our land, among the women and children of less favored portions and races, for the widest and most hopeful endeavors that can be put forth; and while the degraded of distant lands should not be neglected, certainly those in our own should not be passed by. This new Board has our warmest sympathies.
EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA.
In a letter from Rev. J. Edwards, of Grantville, Mass., he adds his testimony to the many that reach us from all directions, that the South is experiencing a gradual, and to one who visits it after several years’ absence, marked uplifting. He also comes back full of the assurance, as do all others who study the “problem of the South,” that the A. M. A. is doing good work just where it is needed. We thank him for his letter, and second his suggestion that our work presents a magnificent opportunity to the Christian and patriot. We have room for a few extracts: