Then and Now.—Nineteen years ago, John G. Fee was waited upon by sixty-two citizens of Bracken Co., Ky., with a peremptory demand that he should leave the county. One of these, an influential and wealthy man, has recently called on him and requested him to give an address on education for the benefit of an institution which the citizens of that county have built. This building is used as an academy. The school is flourishing, having a large number of pupils and three teachers.
The door is opening wider and wider, while the number of adversaries grows smaller: many of them deserting, and becoming co-laborers with us in this work.
Savannah, Ga., has one grog-shop for each 110 of its 33,000 inhabitants, and one Protestant church, white or black, for each 1,223; and until recently, it is said, the churches had no particular fault to find with the grog-shops, and it may be inferred the latter had no complaint to make of the churches. But there has been a disturbance. Some 4,000 of the whites have enlisted to fight this greatest curse and nuisance of our day, while the blacks are also 700 strong in the same army. The labors of Rev. H. E. Brown, in connection with his revival work in that city, have greatly aided Mr. Markham’s efforts in this direction; and so the blacks and the whites are making common cause against the common enemy, just as if their interests were identical in whatever concerns the temporal or spiritual welfare of the city. We shall some time talk more of common interests, and less of different colors.
Preaching, but no Instruction.—In our last number, one of the missionaries in Alabama said that many of the colored people “declare plainly they do not believe in Bible religion.” They believe in visions and dreams. Another missionary, writing from a section still under the spiritual guidance of the old preachers, says:
“These people have had preaching, but no instruction. The heart and conscience have not been touched. The older people will come out of a religious meeting and steal a hog for their supper. A white man said to me, ‘When these darkies are going to have a camp-meeting barbecue, I am pretty sure to lose two or three heads of cattle from my herd.’ One very pious brother, engaged in prayer at a camp-meeting, heard some one in the crowd say, ‘Here comes a United States marshal,’ when the brother rose from his knees, leaving his petition unfinished, and ran with all speed for the brush.” Surely, such need truly religions teachers.
Missionary Studies.—The plan of study adopted by the church at Dorset, Vt., is so comprehensive and practical, that we must give room to it. The reports and papers are offered on the first Sabbath of each month, as follows: Races for whom Christ died. 1st. Characteristics, Homes, Histories; 2d. What is being done for their evangelization? 1. White men, Caucasian race; 2. Yellow men, Mongolian race; 3. Black men, Ethiopian race; 4. Brown men, Malayan race; 5. Red men, American or Indian race.
A most valuable course of instruction is mapped out here, combining the advantages of a literary club, with the spiritual aims of a missionary concert.