American Missionary Association.
ANOTHER YEAR.
With this issue The American Missionary greets its readers the thirty-seventh time on the threshold of a new year. For more than a generation it has participated in mighty struggles for the welfare of the church and the nation.
There is no more lofty tower of observation than that builded on the foundations of righteousness. From this eminence, the Missionary has cast its eye to the end of the earth and recorded the progress and change in events that have brought about this glad day.
The horrors of the slave trade, now happily passing away, have been unceasingly exposed and deplored. American slavery, so recently abolished, has been opposed with righteous and relentless warfare, and the elevation of the Freedman has been urged by every patriotic and Christian consideration. The rights of the Indians, now so generally recognized, have always been advocated; and the Heaven-given opportunity to evangelize the persecuted Chinaman on the Pacific coast, has been set forth without stint or abatement, while all along the line of the work which this periodical represents, the yoke of prejudice has been lifted from the necks of millions, and the curse threatened by national injustice, beaten back that it blast not the life of our free institutions.
The furrow of time is rapidly burying beneath the sod what is left of “unconquerable will, the study of revenge, immortal hate, and what is else not to be overcome.” The new generation, forgetful of the past, is concerned for its future. The flood of misjudgment and distrust that ingulfed the Southland is rapidly subsiding, and the peaks and hill tops are tipped with the effulgence of the Sun of Righteousness.
Surely those who wait on the Lord have reason to renew their strength and double their diligence for the toil, the sacrifices, and the rewards of another year.
We would respectfully call the special attention of our readers to the statement on the fourth page of cover, relating to our monthly magazine. Subscription price, 50 cents a year.