This topic is at present greatly occupying the attention of the Christian churches in our land. It was before the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in May last, and has been again discussed at the meeting of the Council of Congregational churches in Worcester three weeks ago, and in the Triennial Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church, which has just closed its sessions in New York. I will not seek to criticise or to characterize the decisions at which these bodies have arrived, save to say that in my judgment the Presbyterian Assembly faced the difficulty more thoroughly, and disposed of it more courageously, than either of the others. But I will say that there is only one solution of a question of this sort. Every Christian, when he comes to think on it seriously, must feel that to be the case. No compromise will satisfy either party to it or will please God, and any settlement to be permanent must be in harmony with the inspired statement that "God hath made of one blood all the nations that dwell upon the face of the earth." But such a result can not be brought about either in the state or in the churches merely by legislation. You can not compel either by physical or moral constraint the different races to meet on terms of social equality. No doubt you can, and you ought to see to it, that men of all races stand precisely on the same platform before the law and have the same protection from the law. But to get rid of a prejudice you must take a different method. You can not uproot that all at once. The removal of that must be the result of education and of spiritual growth. But when I speak of education I must add that it is not the colored people alone that need to be educated here. The white people of all our cities, whether North or South, require education as well. They need to be taught that the Negro is a man, for at bottom that is not more than half believed by multitudes. They need to be taught that the Negro may become a Christian, and that there are possibilities of Christian missionary enterprise in his race that are absolutely incalculable. They need to be taught to look upon the different races of Indians, Chinese and Africans among us as dignified and ennobled by Christ's incarnation, and as purchased by his sacrificial blood equally with themselves. They need to look upon the Christianized among them as brethren in Christ, and then the rest will come of itself.
There has been great progress in these recent years toward the result of which I speak. The present agitation concerning the color-line, as it is called, is itself an indication of progress, and the day assuredly will dawn when men of all nationalities and names shall come from the East and from the West, from the North and from the South, and sit down with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob in the kingdom of our Father. But if we as a Nation cultivate the spirit of the Pharisees, and continue to despise those who are "guilty of a skin not colored like our own," we may be sure that he who visited the Hebrew nation for their treatment of the Gibeonites will send also some nemesis on us.
I can not but feel, beloved brethren, that in these meetings which to-night come to a close, something has been done to help forward that result which under the guidance of the Scriptures we all believe to be the right one. We have had a series of most delightful conferences. Now let us go back to our homes determined to take the seminal truths which have been presented to us here, and scatter them wherever we are called to labor. The seed may seem to be but a handful, and the soil may seem unpromising as the rocky mountain tops—but be sure the result will be a harvest that will shake like the cedars of Lebanon. And though it may seem a little incongruous to quote from the Scottish poet—would that everything he wrote were of as pure and lofty an inspiration—I will venture to conclude with his well-known lines:
"Then let us pray that come it may,
As come it will for a' that,
That man to man the world over
Shall brithers be for a' that."
BUREAU OF WOMAN'S WORK
MISS D.E. EMERSON, SECRETARY.
The Annual Meeting of the Bureau of Woman's Work of the American Missionary Association, held on Thursday afternoon in the church during the session of the business meeting in the chapel, was one of unusual interest. Following the Report of the Secretary, there were interesting addresses by missionaries, and a very effective address by Mrs. Geo. M. Lane, of Detroit, Michigan, who presided.
The Report and some of the addresses will be published in separate leaflets, and may be had by application to Miss Emerson at 56 Reade St.