American Missionary | Page 2

the ignorant, and for the success granted to us in
prosecuting it. We have had sorrows and anxieties, but they have been
followed by consolations and deliverances. The hand that penned the
"Happy New Year" in our MISSIONARY for last January, is now
silent in the grave, but the memory of Brother Powell's life and
character is so precious that it mitigates our loss. The yellow fever
prevented the opening of many of our schools, and awakened fears of
widespread hindrance to our work throughout the South; but the
scourge was restrained, and the work now goes on prosperously. Our
last fiscal year drew towards its close with the cloud of a large debt

looming up, but our friends responded so generously to our appeals,
that the year ended with a debt so small as to be only a salutary
warning.
But the crowning mercy of the year came at our Annual Meeting, when
we were able to announce the gift of over a million of dollars from that
generous friend of the poor Negro, Mr. Daniel Hand. It is a wonderful
gift, and comes in a good way. The income only can be used, and that
will do just so much more for the Negro, and will not be applied to
work now in progress. We are tempted to fear that our patrons will
diminish their gifts because Mr. Hand has been so liberal. But we will
have faith in God, who has entrusted us with this great work, and we
will enter upon our new year with the full confidence that every friend
of the Association who appreciates our responsibilities to Christ and the
Nation, will decide that his gifts to us shall be increased and not
diminished in this year of grace 1889.
* * * * *
_Financial._
Emphasis is added to the closing words of the preceding article by the
report of our Treasurer for the first two months of our fiscal year,
October and November. The receipts for those two months were, from
donations, $31,261.99; from estates, $3,961.29; from income,
$1,822.72, making a total for current work of $37,046. The Association
needs $62,500 for these two months. Let us remind our patrons that Mr.
Hand's gift will do its own work and not theirs. We think they will feel
that it is only honorable to let Mr. Hand's benefaction add so much new
work, and that it should not be used simply to relieve others. The great,
pressing, and stupendous work which rests upon this Association as the
representative of the churches, must not stand still. Patriots and
statesmen are becoming alarmed at the Southern situation, and while
they will do what they can to meet the emergency, we believe that the
grand solution of the problem is in the Christian enlightenment and the
industrial progress of the Negro. May God grant that the Christians of
this land may not fail to see their special responsibilities and to meet
them in the spirit of Christian liberality and self-sacrifice.
* * * * *
_Large Gifts of the Wealthy._
It is refreshing to find in this grasping, selfish and money-making

world that there are wealthy men who amass fortunes and use them for
noble purposes. It is said that growing wealth only tightens the grip on
the money and hardens the heart against the calls of benevolence. But
the examples are accumulating that give shining evidence that there are
noble exceptions. Mr. Hand has added his name to the number. He
knows the needs of the colored people, and he devotes a vast fortune to
their benefit. But Mr. Hand has not exhausted the opportunities, even in
the range of the work of this Association, for blessing needy races of
men, or of aiding in the varied forms of effort for the colored people.
The mountain regions of the South present an unique and promising
field of effort. The inhabitants are a noble people, descendants of some
of the best races that settled America. Their mountain isolation
separated them from the people around them. The want of schools and
churches left them ignorant, their thin mountain lands kept them poor;
but they never held slaves and they were loyal to the Union in the war.
Railroads now penetrate their mountains and valleys, and the hitherto
unused wealth of mines and timber is brought to light. A new future
opens out to these people, and the question is, "Shall that future be one
of prosperity and piety, or one of intemperance and infidelity?" Some
other man wise and wealthy can do for these people what Daniel Hand
has done for the primary and industrial education of the Negroes. But
this does not exhaust the opening for large investments in the work of
the Association. The Indians are fewer