{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_68319/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_68319","id":"gutenberg_68319","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/68319","summary":null,"tags":["African American clergy","African American soldiers","African Methodist Episcopal Church","Category: Biographies","Category: History - American","Category: History - Modern (1750+)","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Connecticut -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865","Free African Americans","Newton, A. H. (Alexander Herritage), 1837-1921","United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865","United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Participation, African American","United States. Army. Connecticut Infantry Regiment, 29th (1864-1865)"],"text":"[Illustration: REV. ALEXANDER HERRITAGE NEWTON, D.D.]\n\n\n\n\n  OUT OF THE BRIARS\n\n  _An Autobiography_\n\n  AND\n\n  _Sketch of the Twenty-ninth Regiment_\n\n  _Connecticut Volunteers_\n\n  [Illustration]\n\n\n  _By A. H. NEWTON, D.D._\n\n  Member of the New Jersey Annual Conference\n  of the A. M. E. Church\n\n  _With Introduction by Rev. J. P. Sampson, D.D._\n\n  PRICE $1.25\n\n\n\n\n  Printed By\n  THE A. M. E. BOOK CONCERN\n  Printers and Publishers\n  631 Pine Street\n  Phila., Pa.\n  1910\n\n\n  _Copyright, 1910\n  By Rev. A. H. Newton_\n\n\n\n\n  AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED\n\n  TO THE MEMORY OF MY DEAR\n  CHILDREN AND TO MY WIFE\n  LULU L. NEWTON\n\n  --_By the Author._\n\n\n\n\nContents\n\n\n                                                           Page\n\n  Preface                                                   vii\n\n  Introduction                                               xi\n\n  My Life--Ante Bellum                                       17\n\n  My War Record and Sketch of the Twenty-Ninth\n  Regiment, Connecticut Volunteers                           29\n\n  My Ministerial Life and Labors                             91\n\n  The Church; What It is. And what It Should Be             147\n\n  The Negro Problem                                         159\n\n  Sermons                                                   175\n\n  Articles and Contributions                                229\n\n  Resolutions, Etc.                                         255\n\n\n\n\nList of Illustrations\n\n\n          Page\n\n  Rev. Alexander Herritage Newton                  Frontispiece\n\n  Rev. J. P. Sampson, D.D.                                   11\n\n  A. H. Newton in Military Uniform                           29\n\n  Col. W. P. Wooster                                         33\n\n  Rev. T. J. Hill                                            43\n\n  Bethel A. M. E. Church, Woodbury                           71\n\n  Rev. Alexander H. Newton--A young Pastor                   91\n\n  Bishop Jabez P. Campbell, D.D., L.L.D.                     95\n\n  Rev. Theodore Gould, D.D.                                  97\n\n  Bishop William Paul Quinn, D.D.                            99\n\n  Bishop John M. Brown, D.D., D.C.L.                        115\n\n  Rev. J. W. Cooper                                         117\n\n  Macedonia A. M. E. Church Camden                          119\n\n  Bishop Henry M. Turner, D.D.                              127\n\n  Rev. Joseph H. Morgan                                     143\n\n  Rev. Samuel G. Miller, D.D.                               147\n\n\n\n\nPreface\n\n\nWith no intention on my part to ever put in book form any matter\nconcerning myself, many years ago I began keeping a daily account of\nthe incidents of my life. I entered into this work conscientiously and\nlet no day pass over my head without its record. I did this that I\nmight improve myself and also provide for myself, family and friends, a\nrecord and reference. This work has grown into three large volumes. I\nhave found this voluminous diary very valuable on many occasions, not\nonly to myself but to many others.\n\nMy comrades of the grand old Twenty-ninth Regiment, Connecticut\nVolunteers, have frequently written me regarding persons and incidents\nof the Civil War, and brethren of the ministry have frequently\nconsulted me through this diary for valuable information. This has led\nme to the conclusion that this knowledge would be more valuable and in\nbetter shape in published form.\n\nSo I determined that I would undertake the work of publishing my\nautobiography not in any egotistical sense, but as an humble service\nto my race and an inspiration to the young people of my race.\n\nI have named the book, \u201cOut of the Briars,\u201d because the figure is a\nbefitting one in my own life. Although free born, I was born under the\ncurse of slavery, surrounded by the thorns and briars of prejudice,\nhatred, persecution and the suffering incident to this fearful regime.\nI, indeed, came out of the briars torn and bleeding. I came out of\npoverty and ignorance. I did not have any of the advantages of the\nschools. I learned what little I know by listening to the educated\nwhite people talk. I picked up a great deal in this way.\n\nI am sure, therefore, that this volume will be read with the kindly\nspirit in which it is written. I have told my life story, and am now\nseventy-two years on my journey through this world. I have but a few\nmilestones further to pass, or it may be, not one more; but at any\nrate, the chapters of my life are about closed and I am ready at any\ntime to answer the call of the Captain of my salvation.\n\nI sincerely trust that this book will become an inspiration to the\nyoung men and women of my race, that they may copy my good qualities\nand shun my weaknesses. If, in a small way, this supreme end is\naccomplished, I am amply repaid.\n\nI desire to acknowledge my obligations to the Rev. Samuel G. Miller,\nD.D., Rev. I. W. L. Roundtree, D.D., Rev. C. A. A. Greene, B.S.T.,\nRev. J. P. Sampson, D.D., Rev. George E. Bivins, D.D., Miss Alice\nMacParland, and my wife Lulu L. Newton, without whose encouragement,\ninspiration, advice and assistance, this book would never have been\nwritten.\n\n  \u201cTake my life and let it be,\n  Consecrated, Lord to Thee.\u201d\n\n  Alexander Herritage Newton, D.D.\n\n\n\n\nRev. J. P. Sampson, D.D.\n\n\nRev. Dr. J. P. Sampson, a friend and contemporary, whose picture we\npresent, though at that time a junior among them, he stood in the front\nranks with Geo. Watkins, Douglas, Garnett, Langston and Phillips as\nan advocate for freedom, not only with eloquent speech but through\nhis pioneer journal, _The Colored Citizen_ at Cincinnati, making it\npossible for hundreds, some of whom at that time were slaves, since,\nthemselves leaders, now declining, but who took their lessons from\nthese men, he was largely depended upon by the anti-slavery leaders;\nscholar, author and advocate for civic righteousness, an exemplar and\nteacher, a standard for those who followed, an old guard, whose life\nwith others are full of achievement, yet still active, cheerful and\nhappy, editing \u201cA Jolly People,\u201d among other books, running thousands\nevery year, few colored men are better known. He has the largest\ncharity for an enemy, matures gracefully and without asperity; he has\ngiven his life of useful service to God and the race. A graduate from\ntwo or three of our greatest colleges, especially in theology and law,\nand filling for some years various positions of honor and trust in the\ncivil service of the government, subsequently giving up all secular\nprospects, he entered and has been for nearly forty years in the active\nministry of the A. M. E. Church.\n\n[Illustration: REV. J. P. SAMPSON, D. D.]\n\n\n\n\nIntroduction\n\n\nTo be requested to write an introduction to a book implies some\nacquaintance with, confidence in, and respect for, the writer thereof,\non the part of the author of the book. Some authors solicit such a\nservice because of the prominent position of the writer, rather than\nthe thorough acquaintance which he has with the author. This may\nbring an added value to the book and some of the glow of honor to the\nauthor. But in this case, we are sure that the author of this book in\nno way sought such distinction or compliment; for like himself, the\nwriter of this introduction, has come out of the same circumstances and\nconditions, and by the grace of God and his common sense, is what he\nis. Dr. Newton has selected a lifelong friend, a comrade in the toils\nand trials of this world, a co-worker in the great and common cause\nof humanity, and a brother-minister in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to\npresent him and his autobiography to the public. We were boys together,\nand he was a schoolmate of my brothers, J. B. K. and Jos. Sampson,\nbeing taught by John Steward Stanley, and from that time to this good\nday, we have known each other as brothers.\n\nDr. Newton\u2019s life has been, what we call a success, neither rich nor\npoor, but of easy circumstances. This is to his credit, for a man of\nour race to be on the middle ground between riches and poverty, proves\nthat Dr. Newton has been a great economist in the things of value, such\nas money, time, ability and opportunity. He has wasted but little and\nhusbanded what he had. We are often tempted to make wealth the basis\nof our greatness, but Dr. Newton has sought a much grander foundation,\nthat of serving his fellowman. He is, therefore, ending his life\ncareer, not in sullen disappointment and poverty, not in the gloated\ngreed of one dying rich, but with the conviction that he has done his\nwork well and fought a good fight and that there remains for him an\ninheritance, incorruptible, undefiled and that fadeth not away. The\ndoctor has grown old gracefully. He is active in his labors, cheerful\nin his disposition, buoyant in his hopes, and confident in his faith.\nHe is more than three score and ten young, not old; and he looks with\nthe eye of a conqueror toward the glowing sunset of his life battles.\nEvery day that he lives adds new joys to his hopes of a glorious\nimmortality beyond the vale of tears.\n\nThis autobiography is the outgrowth of Dr. Newton\u2019s carefully kept\ndiary. It is the fruit of this life tree of his doings. Therefore,\nit is very valuable as the real unfoldment of a real life of\nconstant action, habit and conduct. It is the practical realization\nof the ideals of the author--this indeed, makes it a real and true\nmonument of his life. Some of these ideals made real, are a true and\ngenuine charity; devotion to duty; a high sense of morality; a love\nof humanity; a loyalty to government; a hatred of sin and evil; a\ndiligence in business; a faithful husband, father and friend. Like\nBishop Henry McNeal Turner, he was too great to be little, and too\nhumble to be great. He always seemed to be less than he was, the\nfulfilment was greater than his promises, the work greater than the\nplan. He was always the champion of the down trodden and the oppressed.\nHe was ready to enter their cause with an army and to die with others\nfor their welfare, or to go alone to his death. In all issues of right\nagainst wrong, Dr. Newton has been a Daniel.\n\nAfter his war career, in 1872, Dr. Newton entered the ministry of\nthe African Methodist Episcopal Church, in which he has labored most\nfaithfully to the present time. He has been a most successful preacher\nof the Gospel of Christ, and great builder of churches, in their\nmembership and edifices. The Church never had a better Presiding Elder,\nbeloved by all the pastors of fine executive ability and sympathetic\nand wise in his advice. He has had a remarkable success during the\nforty years of his ministerial life.\n\nBefore the war, Dr. Newton was a member of the Abolition Movement and\ndid some daring deeds in liberating slaves. From that time on, he has\nbeen the faithful friend of the race, seeking in every possible way, to\nuplift them. He has ever been the staunch advocate of higher education\nfor the masses and especially of the ministry. During the war, as his\nrecord herein shows, he was a daring soldier, doing what he could on\nthe battlefield to liberate his race.\n\nHe was the trusted adviser of all his Bishops, Past Masters of\nThirty-third Degree Masons, Supreme Prelate of the Supreme Lodge of\nthe Knights of Pythias of North America, South America, Europe, Asia,\nAfrica and Australia; Commissary Sergeant in the Civil War; in all\nthese functions of service, he proved himself a worthy officer and\nservant.\n\nLike Booker T. Washington, he has come up out of great struggles\nand trials and has made himself strong thereby. He educated all his\nchildren in the schools and colleges of our country; bought his\nown home and was successful in business lines, and last but by no\nmeans least, at the age of 70 years, entered the Bible College of\nPhiladelphia and completed the regular course in that institution,\nmastering New Testament Greek, Hebrew, Mental Philosophy, and the\nregular studies of the course. In 1909 he was honored with the degree\nof Doctor of Divinity from the same institution, a most befitting honor\nfor such a man and such a life.\n\n\u201cOut of the Briars\u201d ought to be a great inspiration to our young\npeople, a real monument to this great man and great life, and a legacy\nof value to the race. Dr. Newton is an uncrowned Bishop, yet a real\nBishop. He has been my faithful and consistent friend through all\nthe ups and downs of my life. In poverty, adversity, in the times of\nneed, he has been the friend, indeed. Whether as chaplain of a State\nLegislature or the humble pastor of a small church, he has been the\nsame great man of God.\n\nThis book will be an ornament to every library as well as a most\nvaluable acquisition thereto. \u201cMay his tribe increase,\u201d is my prayer,\nand may our people follow this heroic and noble leader, to whom he has\ngiven his life of faithful, constant and unstinted service.\n\n  J.P. SAMPSON, D.D.,\n  P. E. Boston District, Asbury Park, N. J.\n\nMay 15, 1910.\n\n\n\n\nMy Life--Ante-Bellum\n\n\nI was born in Newbern, Croven St., Craven County, N. C., November the\nfirst, 1837. I was born under the regime of slavery, a free child, my\nmother being a free woman. My childhood was the ordinary child life,\nof the colored children of the South. As a mere child, I looked out\nupon the world as beautiful and felt that all men and women were good\nand kind. I did not know of the distinctions, classes, conditions\nand grades of mankind. But as I grew older these distinctions were\nforced upon my tender heart and burned into my mind. I gradually came\nto realize my said condition, although free, and the sad condition\nof my race. My father was a slave, so that in my family, I learned\nwhat slavery was, I felt its curse in my bones and I longed for an\nopportunity and the power to play the part of a Moses in behalf of\nmy people. I suppose that this was the wild dream of every child\nborn during slavery. The awful condition of my people, the steel\nshackles of slavery, the slave block of the market place where\nhusbands and wives, parents and children, were ruthlessly torn apart\nand scattered asunder, the whipping post, the slave quarters, the\ninhuman restrictions, such as denial of our own religious privileges,\nno ministers or churches of our race, no educational advantages to\nspeak of, no social freedom among ourselves, these were some of the\nunspeakable conditions of my childhood life. But there was the bright\nand happy side of my life when a boy. With the thoughtlessness, the\nhappy-go-lucky spirit of the boy, I entered into those plays and\npleasures which make up the pastime of youth. I recall the many boys\nand girls, both white and colored, who were my mates in games and\npranks. Like all boys, I had my little adventures, which were not\nalways on the side of the right. One of the first practical lessons, I\nbelieve the first, that I ever had regarding the sterling worth of my\nmother I most vividly recall. Together with some other boys, we were\nguilty of stealing some peaches. It was not the proverbial watermelon\nthis time. Fortunately we were caught by the proprietor of the orchard.\nIt would be fortunate if all thieves were caught. I was taken in\ncharge. I began to cry vigorously. I was asked what I wanted done with\nme. I begged to be taken home to my mother. This request was granted.\nSoon I was facing my mother. The gentleman told her of my offense. I\nexpected, of course, that my mother would in some way intercede and\nwaited with breathless expectation for some defense or some excuse or\nsome release from my awful predicament. But my heart sank within me\nwhen she said to the man, \u201cI have no thieves in my family.\u201d So I was\nled away to face some fearful ordeal, I knew not what. When a boy\u2019s\nmother turns against him for his evil-doings, there is no hope for him.\nBut my tears, cries and youth touched the man\u2019s heart and after leading\nme away from home towards the jail for a distance, he released me with\nsome good advice. I learned in that wrong-doing that I need never\nexpect my mother to uphold me in the slightest departure from the right\npath. It was a wonderful lesson and I doubt not, had a fine effect on\nmy entire life.\n\nI recall another experience which was much more severe in a physical\nway. I was bound out to a white man, Jacob G. Gooding, and placed\nunder his foreman, Henry E. Bryan. I was ordered to carry a bench some\ndistance. Then the devil said to me, \u201cYou are not a horse, why should\nyou be doing the work of a horse?\u201d I said to myself, this is true. So\nI decided that I would not do the work of a horse. Well, he soon came\nto see what the trouble was and found me and the bench together. He\nwanted to know why I had not obeyed his orders, I told him that I was\nno horse, that he could get a horse and cart and have that bench taken\nwhere he wanted it. We were soon in each other\u2019s embrace engaged in a\nstreet fight. We were arrested and tried and sentenced to a whipping.\nWell, I was in for punishment, and being a free boy, the slave overseer\nnor his master could punish me. I was reported to my employer. The\npunishment decided on was forty lashes save one. So I was stripped and\nmy employer plied the lash thirty-nine times. My back was lacerated and\nvery painful and for three weeks I was unable to do any work. I suppose\nthat I could have gone to work sooner, but I was determined that my\npunishment should cost my employer something as well as myself. It cost\nme thirty-nine lashes and the suffering and it cost him the loss of\nthree weeks of my labor. This is but an illustration of the manner in\nwhich the colored people, even the free-born, were generally treated\nfor their offenses. They were treated frequently worse than the brutes.\nFor they knew that the Negro had enough intelligence to understand what\nhis punishment meant and that the purpose of it was to reduce and keep\nhim in perpetual servitude. This, of course, had to be done by mere\nbrute force. But as the result of slavery there were many young men of\nthe race who learned well some trade. They were apprenticed, as in my\ncase, to some good workman, for at least four years or more. At the\nend of that time they were efficient, practical workmen who, if free,\ncould command good wages. So that hundreds of fine artisans came of\nslavery who were able to begin at once the laying of the foundation\nof the history of a free people. They took up their several trades,\nand for both races, turned their hands to every advantage. It should\nalways be remembered that the magnificent civilization of the South\nas to its material wealth and prosperity, was built up by the slaves\nof the South. The cities, the country homes, the plantations and all\ntheir improvements, the planting, cultivating, and harvesting of the\ncrops, all was done by Negro labor. So that there should be set over to\nthe account of the Negro race, not only their own progress since the\nCivil War, but also the progress of the south for at least a century\nbefore the war. There is another incident in my life at this time\nwhich may be interesting and also illustrate something of the workings\nof that noted system of bringing slaves to the North. That system of\nexporting slaves is known in history as \u201cThe Underground Railroad.\u201d\nI was, of course, deeply interested in this means of travel in those\ndays and tried to get all the passengers for this railroad that I could\nfind. My boss-foreman, H. E. Bryan, had disobeyed his master and was\nthreatened to be whipped. I assisted him to a place of safety. In all\nthe slaveholders\u2019 dwellings, slaves were employed in the house. They\npractically had full charge of affairs, and especially in the dining\nroom, kitchen, etc. This part of the house was very seldom inspected,\nexcepting to see that things were kept clean and orderly. Well, I\ndressed this slave up in a woman\u2019s garb and conducted him through the\nstreets to the house of one, Mr. Primrose, a man who stood high in the\ncommunity, and held the confidence of all slaveholders as one of them\nand one of their defenders and supporters, a matter of course. I was\nsuccessful in getting my charge safely into the kitchen. Then with the\nassistance of the slaves in charge of the kitchen, we placed him in\nthe attic at the rear of the house, above the kitchen. Here we safely\nsecreted him and here he was fed on the best of the land for a long\nwhile. There was a most diligent search made for the slave in the town\nand throughout the country. A reward was offered and he was advertised,\nbut all to no avail. He could not be found high or low. At last things\nquieted down and we found opportunity to put him on this mystic train\nand send him to a clime where he enjoyed his freedom. This was indeed a\ndaring attempt of mine, but it was in me to do it with a great deal of\ndelight. And from that day to this, I have been proud of this one feat\nof my boyhood life which was on the side of right and humanity.\n\nIn 1858 I was bound out to Mr. Jacob Gooding to learn the trade of\nbricklaying and plastering, in Newbern, N. C. I worked for him four\nyears having thoroughly learned the trade. Having finished the course\nsatisfactorily to Mr. Gooding, he gave me $6, a suit of clothes, set\nof tools, and a Bible, and the advice to be a good boy. Afterwards I\nworked for Mr. Eusten. Then I decided that I would quit work and seek\nnew fields. The occasion of my coming to this decision was as follows:\nMr. Eusten gave orders that I should work on the fourth of July. I\nmade up my mind that I would not work on that day. Of course, this\nwas disobedience and would have called for punishment. So I had to do\nsomething. I cleaned up my tools, packed them away, and on the fourth\nof July, 1857 left for Beaufort, N. C. There I went on board a schooner\nand became cook, receiving $7.00 for my services. This schooner was\nen route for New York City. When I landed at pier 28 East River I had\nonly my wages. I met a friend from the South, Mr. Alexander Hicks,\nand we arranged a plan by which I should escape from the schooner. He\nhelped me with my trunk and we carried it to a horse car and landed\nat 100 Sands st., Brooklyn. I soon found my mother who had preceded\nme to the North. She was engaged in collecting money for buying my\nfather\u2019s freedom. She was aided in this work by the Abolitionists,\namong whom were Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, Rev. Henry Highland Garnett,\nRev. Mr. Bennington, Mr. Arthur Tapin, Mr. Theodore Tilton and others.\nMr. Timins, Kinsley, Thomas, and Robert Hamilton, Moses Coss, Ebenezer\nChambers and others, assisted me in getting work. I was able to attend\nschool some. While at school I made the acquaintance of Mr. William F.\nPowell, who has made his mark in the world and was honored by President\nMcKinley with the position of minister to Hayti. Some of the other boys\nwere Ben Myrs and Wash Parker, working against great odds and prejudice\nbut aiming to make themselves an honor and credit to the Negro race.\nMany of these boys are now filling good positions and have made\nthemselves honorable and law-abiding citizens.\n\nIn New York I worked some at my trade. But I did other work as I could\nfind it. On the corner of Pack Slip and Water streets, I loaded trucks,\nchopped tea, weighed cotton, and I also did white-washing of houses\n(but thank God I have never white-washed evil doers), cleaned carpets\nand houses.\n\nIn 1859 I heard for the first time a minister of the A. M. E. Church,\nthe Rev. James Morris Williams and the Rev. Geo. A. Rue, having also\nmet Bishops Daniel A. Payne and William Paul Quinn. I was deeply\nimpressed with the importance of making my life a means of serving God\nin the uplifting of my people. I was convinced even then that it does\nnot follow that because our skins are dark and that we are identified\nwith the Negro race that there is no chance for us to become potent\nfactors in the uplifting of humanity and especially my own people; that\na man should decide to do right and go ahead and God would certainly\ncare for him all his days and give him the reward of all his labors.\nIt is a great thing for a man to realize the responsibility of true\nmanhood and let others learn this from his example. If these were my\nconvictions in those dark days, what should be the feelings of young\nmen of the race today, when the darkness of slavery has been changed\ninto the light of liberty?\n\nSometime in 1860 Mr. Albert Storm requested me to aid him in getting\nhis mother from the South. She was a slave. Millie, Sally, Ann and John\nCaraway were brought from the South, by the permission of the owner,\nby one Dolly Babb, to Brooklyn. Dolly said to my mother, \u201cNow I am\ndelivered from the devil out of hell. I am bound to serve my Heavenly\nMaster and I shall serve Him well.\u201d J. R. V. Thomas, William Isaacs,\nRev. William Dixon, Paul Drayton, James Anderson, Dr. Peter W. Ray,\nJoe Bowen, Chas. H. Lansing, William Still, Rev. George W. Leveer and\nothers, were a few of the men who were engaged in bringing slaves from\nthe South and giving them their freedom. Men of grander qualities,\nmorally, socially and religiously, I have never met.\n\nIn 1859 I was married, on June 16th, to Miss Olivia A. Hamilton, a\ndaughter of Mr. Robert Hamilton, editor of an Anglo-African paper. Ada\nA. William Alexander and Mary Hamilton were born to us.\n\n[Illustration: ALEXANDER H. NEWTON In Military Uniform Commissary\nSergeant 29th Regiment Connecticut Volunteers]\n\n\n\n\nMy War Record and Sketch of the Twenty-ninth Regiment\n\n\nIn 1861 when President Lincoln issued a call for 75,000 troops I\nengaged myself for the great Civil War, the War of the Rebellion. I\nwent into the company of the Thirteenth Regiment, of Brooklyn. I went\nto the front, as the United States was not taking Negro troops. In\n1862 there was a riot in New York City. The colored people were being\ndreadfully treated, being stoned, killed, and shown how despised they\nwere even in the North. An orphan asylum (colored) was burned, having\nat that time three hundred children in it. I returned to Brooklyn under\nthe command of General B. F. Butler, who had been ordered to put down\nthe riot. While engaged in this mission I got into the very midst of\nthe rioters. Soon they were after me. I ran through the streets of New\nYork like a wild steer, while the rioters cried out, \u201cHead the Nigger\nOff!\u201d At length, I reached the New Haven boat which brought us safely\nto New Haven, Conn. While there I engaged at my trade with Mr. W.\nClark. On the 18th of December, 1863, I enlisted in the Twenty-ninth\nRegiment, of the Connecticut Volunteers, as a private. On March 8,\n1864, the regiment broke camp and left New Haven for Annapolis, Md.,\nwith Colonel W. B. Wooster in command. On the next Sabbath after we\nreached Annapolis, I attended the Methodist Church and listened to a\npowerful sermon by Rev. I. J. Hill, he being an orderly to Colonel\nWooster.\n\nWhile in the camp at New Haven, Conn., we employed our idle time in\ndiscussing the great problems that confronted the country at that\ntime. Lieutenant Seymour, Uncle Fred Moore, Horace Louden, Rev. I. J.\nHill and myself were the participants in these discussions. The new\nparty, the Republican, was then formed, the prime purpose of which\nwas the freedom of the slaves. We were most frequently surmising and\nprophesying as to what would be the final outcome and the ultimate\nbenefits to the Negro race. There were vital questions at stake then.\nThe spirit of patriotism and the desire to lift oppression, were afire\nin every breast of every true American. It would be well for the many\nyoung Afro-Americans of today to remember that the supreme purpose of\nthe Republican party when it was organized, was not only to prohibit\nthe further extension of slavery, but to exterminate it as a system of\nbarter and traffic. On the other hand, the Democratic party at that\ntime was in favor of the infernal system of slavery, and in our\nday, it is in sympathy with any movement that looks to keeping the\nNegro race in some kind of shackles. They are still in favor of keeping\nthe Afro-American in slavery in some form. And they are succeeding\nreasonably well. For at last, we are forced to conclude that no man is\nreally free unless he holds in his bosom the right of franchise and has\nreceived the liberty to exercise that right. Have the ten millions of\nAfro-Americans in the United States that right to-day? The answer comes\nfrom many States, NO!\n\n[Illustration: COL. W. P. WOOSTER\n\nColonel of the 29th Regiment, Connecticut Volunteers]\n\nInspired with the thought of Shakespeare, who said, \u201cHe who would be\nfree, let him first strike the blow himself,\u201d my bosom burned with the\nfire of patriotism for the salvation of my country and the freedom of\nmy people. I was rejoiced when the Hon. Abraham Lincoln was elected\nPresident of these United States, and when it was my fortune to see him\nemancipate the millions of members of the downtrodden race. I shall\nnever forget when I saw him riding through the streets of New York,\nwith throngs of humanity on either side of him. He was on his way then\nto the inauguration at Washington, D. C. to assume control of the\nterror-stricken country and to take the reigns of government in his\nown hands. While it became necessary that blood should flow freely, I\nwas reminded, that no sin is ever wiped out without the spilling of\nblood. This seems to be a decree of High Heaven, even among the affairs\nof men. And God has made no exception to this decree, in the salvation\nof men from their personal sins. I was indeed willing to unite with\nthe party, the Republican party and the abolition movement for their\nhigh and holy purposes, and to be associated with such men as Rev.\nHenry Ward Beecher, Rev. Henry Highland Garnett, Theodore Tilton, Lewis\nTapen, William Still, of Philadelphia; Charles Sumner, Thaddeus Stevens\nand many other such men, whose platform was justice and right and\nfreedom extended to all without regard to color or previous condition\nof servitude, and to enforce these rights and privileges even at the\npoint of the bayonet.\n\nAt New Haven we had been promised $15 bounty on our enlistment, but\nthis had not been allowed, no effort, it seems had been made to pay us\nthis money, but we did not shirk our duty because we had not received\nour just dues. We had long been accustomed to such impositions; but\nwe said that we would honor Old Glory, obey God, and contend for our\nprize, Liberty, and will contend in this conflict until the sound of\nclanking slave chains shall be heard no more in the length and breadth\nof this fair and goodly land, When kings, princes and nobles shall\nhave been swept into merited oblivion and the Civil War forgotten,\nposterity will catch the glowing theme of Liberty and enroll with\nrapture the names of those heroes who bought this boon with blood on\nthe battlefield.\n\nThe regiment paraded the streets while multitudes looked with wonder,\nsome laughing, others cheering, mothers with their babies in their\narms, crying and holding on to their husbands, as they marched away\nto do battle for the noblest of causes. It was a scene never to be\nforgotten. We marched from Chapel street, where we embarked on a\nGovernment transport. As I went on board the vessel, mother, father,\nwife and children, ladies and gentlemen, of my friends, both white and\nblack, were bidding me goodbye and expressing the hope that I might\nhave a safe return. I cannot express the sobbing emotions of my heart,\nwhen I ungrasped the hands of these loved ones and friends and turned\nmy face away from them, knowing that I might be going to my death and\nnever again see them in this world.\n\nWhen we reached Annapolis, Md., we were encamped three miles out of\ntown. Here for the first time we put up our tents. It was cold and\ndamp. We dug holes about two feet wide extending from within outside\nthe tent, and placed sheet iron over these and in these small trenches\nstarted our fires. In this way we were able to have heat within and\nforce the smoke outside.\n\nThe colored people in this place were afraid to speak to us. Their\nmasters looked on us with contempt. On Sunday a reverend gentleman came\ninto the camp to preach to us and we listened to a very interesting\nsermon. After remaining here for eight or ten days, we received orders\nto strike tents. We left for Hilton Head, S. C., arriving at this place\nApril 16, 1864. We marched through the main street and went into camp\nwith the Twenty-sixth, of New York. On May 25 the paymaster arrived\nat Beaufort, S. C., where the Twenty-ninth Regiment was at this time\nstationed, and our spirits were greatly lifted up when we saw him, for\nas yet we had received no pay for our services. But when we were told\nby him that we could receive only $7 per month each, for our services\nour spirits fell. So I, together with the rest of my comrades, was\nreally disgusted with this failure on the part of the Government to\ngive us a decent compensation for our work as soldiers. The officers\nadvised us to take it and assured us that at the next payment we should\nreceive our full compensation. We decided to follow their advice. We\nquieted our passions and went to work like good soldiers. My great\ndesire was to get into contact with the Southern forces that we might\nbe working out the decision of this great problem. I had no ill feeling\nfor the Southern white people, some of them had been my best friends;\nbut this was not a personal matter, but a question of national issue,\ninvolving the welfare of millions, and my soul was on fire for the\nquestion, Slavery or No Slavery, to be forever settled and that too as\nsoon as possible.\n\nWhile the troops were at Bermuda Hundred having disembarked from the\ntransport Alabama, I recalled an incident. When my father and mother\nwere sitting at the table of my father\u2019s owner, Master Park Custis,\na son of Mr. and Mrs. Custis, saw a piece of pie on the table and\nstarted to help himself, without any formalities, my mother objected\nto his uncouthness, caught hold of him and would have handled him\nquite roughly, but my father caught hold of her and held her until the\nyoungster got away with his prize. He was very insolent and insulting.\nIt all came over me and I thought how I would like to find him at that\ntime and administer the very flogging which my dear mother started\nto give him. I was indeed in a proper mood to have done it, if I had\ncame across him. This is but a little illustration of hundreds of\nincidents that came into my mind when the army was in the South, and as\nI felt then, that I was duly protected. I confess that I had a burning\ndesire to eke out some vengeance which for years had been pent up in\nmy nature. But, of course, from the Christian standpoint, this was\nall wrong. I was all wrong. I was then on a much higher mission than\ntrying to get personal vengeance on those who had mistreated me and\nmine. I was fighting for the liberty of my people and the righting of\nmany wrongs that belonged to their social and religious welfare. While\nI had not learned much of the laws of commerce and politics, I knew\nonly a little of the arts and sciences, which I had picked up here and\nthere, by an attentive mind, in mixing with the educated people of the\nSouth; I knew nothing of military science, but I had been watching the\nSoutherners drill for several years seemingly getting ready for some\nunexpected conflict; but I did know that the time was fast approaching\nwhen a great problem would have to be settled by bloodshed, when I\nwould be called on to make my life a personal sacrifice on the altar\nof my country and for the sake of my people. I knew that slavery and\nits inhuman machinery must be put out of existence and that the simple\nprinciples of liberty of thought and action in politics, society and\nreligion must prevail. And, at this time, I was in the full realization\nof what it meant to be again in the South, not a cringing black man,\nbut a proud American soldier with the Union and Old Glory behind,\nbefore, over and under me. I had heard, in the fifties, from the\nSoutherners, that there would be a war and that if any of the colored\npeople aided the North in it, they would catch them and cut out their\ntongues and make them drink their mothers\u2019 blood. Well, at this time,\nI was in the South to have my tongue cut out and to drink my mother\u2019s\nblood if it had been necessary. But thank God, I helped to save my own\ntongue and my mother\u2019s blood and my race! This is enough glory for me!\n\nAll the soldiers of the Twenty-ninth Regiment, although dark-skinned,\nfelt the full responsibility of their mission. They were in the South\nto do, to dare, and to die. And while they had not been trained in\nmilitary tactics at West Point and were backward in their movements,\nthey had been to the armory of God and had received weapons of the\nheart, that made them daring and dangerous foes--men to be really\nreckoned with. And I am proud to say, that the history of the colored\nman in warfare has been an enviable one. He has always showed his\npatriotism by action, by deeds of sacrifice, by death itself. We\nhad the same muscle, the same strength, the same heart, the same\nconscience, the same cause, the same right, the same liberty as the\nwhite man. We were fighting under the same flag and the same God. I\nremember the words of General Saxon, \u201cBoys, if you want to make good\nsoldiers you must look a white man straight in the face and let him\nknow that you are a man.\u201d This gave us fresh courage to press forward\nas soldiers to a certain victory.\n\nOn the 14th of August, 1864, a time long to be remembered with us,\nan oppressively hot day, we marched into Virginia. We were worn out,\nweary, thirsty, hungry, and completely exhausted. We were compelled to\ncarry our blankets, knapsack, musket, and sixty pounds of cartridges.\nAbout 4 P. M. we reached the headquarters of General Birney, in the\nwoods and encamped. I was so overcome with the heat that I fell to\nthe ground and was soon asleep. We had no feather beds to lie upon,\nonly the bare ground--but this bed always supplied by Mother Earth,\nwas delightful this time for rest. We had for our dinner, breakfast\nand supper, half-done salt pork, which was placed on a stick and held\nover a blaze to warm it; hard tack, on which one could hardly make\nan impression with the teeth, and sometimes coffee, if it could be\ngotten. These were some of the hardships of the soldier and these were\nenough; but when you add to these the mental condition of many, such\nas myself, almost afraid of my own shadow, ready to shoot at anything\nthat made a threatening noise,--I remember that I shot at the limb of\na tree floating down the river, thinking that it was a rebel skiff\nwith spies--it was a sore and trying ordeal. Every soldier was in\nconstant expectation of surprises from the Johnnies, or rebels. Lee\u2019s\nand Johnson\u2019s army was near Buzzard\u2019s Roost, in face of a rocky-faced\nridge, to pass him meant suffering and death. We were surrounded by\nDutch Gap Canal, James River, over which we had to cross on a pontoon\nbridge, and Fort Hell to be captured and taken. But knowing that\nGenerals Weitzel, Sherman, Doubleday and Butler had 35,200 men under\nthem, we went bravely forward, determined that Old Glory should not\ntrail in the dust.\n\nWe crossed the pontoon bridge near Deep Bottom and marching about\ntwo miles, halted in a corn field. Here we rested, but in momentary\nreadiness for a call to action as the rebels were very near us. We were\nsoon aroused and called to the fort at Malvern Hill. Here we entered\ninto an engagement with the rebels and many were wounded, killed and\ntaken prisoners. I had a very narrow escape and thought several times\nthat \u201cmy time\u201d had come. I remember a twenty-pound cannon ball coming\ntowards me, I could see it distinctly through the smoke. It looked like\nit had been sent especially for me. I said quickly, \u201cLord, you promised\nthat a thousand should fall at my side, but that it should not come\nnigh me.\u201d It was quick praying, quick thinking, quick coming; but when\nthe ball was within about three feet of me it struck the ground and\nbounded over my head. So I was saved. God\u2019s promise was fulfilled in my\ncase.\n\nOn the 16th we joined the Third Division, Tenth Army Corps, General\nBirney\u2019s Brigade, composed of the Twenty-second, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth\nand Twenty-ninth, United States Cavalry Troops, numbering 5000 men.\nWe took up our march for Jones\u2019 Landing, recrossed the pontoon bridge\nunder very disagreeable circumstances, rain, mud and slush, but we were\nthankful and cheerful; glad that we had not been killed, or wounded\nor taken prisoners, in the encounter just passed through. Again we\ncamped in an open field and raised our tents, prepared our bacon and\ncoffee and hard tack. We were soon ready to take a good night\u2019s sleep.\nI remembered my loved ones and wondered how they were faring and my\nprivations, but I found myself willing to undergo all this for the\ncause of liberty.\n\nOn the 17th we arose early and received word to advance. In a short\ntime we were in a fierce battle. Our lieutenant colonel was wounded in\nthe engagement. Again, I thought that my time had come. By some awkward\nmovement, I was thrown into the line of the enemy. The Johnnies were\nvery much excited and did their best to capture me, but I succeeded\nin getting back into the Union lines. I knew then that the prayers of\nmy good old mother were being heard; for surely the Lord delivered\nme from the snare of the fowler and from the noisome pestilence. Our\nlieutenant colonel had his horse shot from under him and Orderly I.\nJ. Hill was wounded.\n\n[Illustration: REV. I. J. HILL\n\nOrderly 29th Regiment, Connecticut Volunteers]\n\nI prayed in this battle whenever I had opportunity to look towards\nHeaven, for grape and canister and bullets of all shapes and sizes\nwere falling thick and fast about me. We were in close quarters with\nthe enemy and our ranks were being thinned by reason of the wounded\nand dead lying on the battlefield. Although I came out of this battle\npretty well shaken up, excepting for a few scratches, my life was\non the altar for my country and my people, and I was not especially\nconcerned as to the outcome regarding my own life; but I was determined\nto do all that I could to bring our cause to a victorious end. The\nUnion forces moved back and remained all day about twelve miles from\nRichmond.\n\nOn the 18th, the Twenty-ninth Regiment, of which I was commissary\nsergeant, and the Third Division, moved down the valley, halting in\nthe open fields for two hours. We were opposite the pontoon bridge\nwhich crossed the Chickahominy, and remained until the bridge was put\nin repair. While here I gave out hard tack and pork to the soldiers as\nbest I could. For myself, I built a little fire and roasted a bit of\npork over the fire, which together with water from the river, formed my\nmeal. On the 20th we marched for the forts on the right of Point Rock\nHospital, near Petersburg. On the 21st we were almost flanked by the\nrebels and retreated to Malvern Hill and repaired the breastworks. Here\nwe had another skirmish. Some lost their lives and others were wounded,\nbut we were successful in capturing seventy-five prisoners.\n\nOn the 23d we crossed the James River on the pontoon bridge, passing\nthe heights where the New Jersey Battery was stationed. They greeted\nus with shouts and \u201cHurrah boys! we are here to stay!\u201d Such a round\nof cheers you never heard. You would not have thought that they were\non their way to battle, and some to death and the Judgment Throne.\nUncle Freddie Moore and Orderly I. J. Hill were the only preachers we\nhad with us, excepting the chaplain. They used to say to us, \u201cboys\nget ready, for if there ever were a time when you should be ready,\nit is now; for you do not know when you may be called to go, you are\ncontinually in death\u2019s jaws.\u201d\n\nWe were soon in front of Petersburg, Va., looking upon the doomed\ncity. We were greeted by a shell from the rebels, or Grey Backs, as we\nsometimes called them. It fell near the colonel, who was sitting on his\nhorse at the right of the brigade. We countermarched and fell back to\nthe woods, where we remained until 5 o\u2019clock, when orders were received\nfrom the general to fall back to the fort and protect the pontoon\nbridge. On our way we met a lot of troopers making their way to the\nfront, who wanted to know our reason for returning. We told them that\nthe rebels were after us. It was very amusing to see them falling into\nline. Some of them could march faster than we. We reached the fort, but\nwhen we found that the Johnnies were not coming after us, we became\nanxious to see them and meet the issue. We found quite a number of our\nassociates from New Haven and Hartford, Conn., and Woodbury, N. J. We\nwere all delighted that our lives had been spared to see each other\nagain in the flesh and chatted freely about our friends at home, our\nwives, mothers and children. I had often heard of the horrors of war,\nbut now I began to experience what it meant, in the joy of meeting\nfriends whom I never expected to see again on the earth, or at least\nsome of them. There was a sense in which I had a new understanding of\nthat marvelous passage of Scripture, regarding death, \u201cOh death, where\nis thy sting; Oh, grave, where is thy victory.\u201d We had not yet felt the\nsting of death and we had not experienced the victory of the grave, yet\nwe had been in the very midst of both.\n\nOnce again we marched in front of the horrible pit, Petersburg. Some\nof the whites said, see they are taking those colored soldiers to the\nslaughter pen. Truly, they had said so, for I never saw such a scene\nthe first night. Shot and shell were raining fast around us. Henry\nMigs, a native of Africa, was killed. He died as a soldier, true to his\nadopted country, but a stranger to God. I thought that every bullet was\nsent for me and was doing some real praying. We do not know what prayer\nis, until we are reduced to our extremity. Then we realize with a new\nexperience, that our extremity is God\u2019s opportunity. I told the Lord\nthat He had promised to \u201cRescue the perishing and care for the dying,\u201d\nand that I wanted Him to keep the promise of that song, so far as I was\nconcerned. Well, praise His name, He did so. Thank God to-day that I am\nstill living and permitted to write this bit of fearful experience, so\nothers may know what it is to trust in God.\n\nOn the 24th, Private Sam Bertim, of Company E, was killed, having been\nshot through the head. Private George Porter was also killed. Colonel\nWooster was taken sick and was carried from the rifle pits to the\nrear. The rebels captured one of our officers, while changing those\non picket duty. Two men from the Twenty-ninth were slaughtered, they\nwere members of Company A. The colored troops did some good fighting in\nthis engagement. We were told by the enemy that if we were captured our\ntongues would be cut out, or we would be starved to death; that there\nwould be no exchange of prisoners in our case. So this was a rather\nfearful inspiration, but it served its purpose, of causing us to fight\nto the best of our ability; for we really feared that in case we were\ncaptured that such barbarities might be administered to us.\n\nOn the 1st of September we were ordered to strike tents and to move\non, we knew not whither we were going. We did not care either, for\nnow we were thoroughly enthused with the issues of war. We had tasted\nof the dangers of battle, and this taste brought out the desire that\nwe should fight to the finish. Some of our dear friends had laid down\ntheir lives already, and we reasoned that if it should be necessary for\nthem to give such a sacrifice, that we were no better than they. So in\nour judgment, we were becoming calm, and in our determination, we were\nbecoming more and more fixed.\n\nWith President Lincoln and our great generals and loyal soldiers,\nwe felt that the issue was assured. Of course we did not forget the\ndivine side of the question, that God was on His throne and that right\nand justice and mercy would at last prevail. While it had always been\nsaid that this was a white man\u2019s country, we were determined that the\nblack man should share in this honor of ownership. And the best way\nthat this ownership could be established was through the loyalty of\nthe black man on the battlefield. For surely it will be conceded that\nwhen a man has bought his adopted country by his blood, it is his own.\nWhile, as a race, the Negro race, this is our adopted land, yet as\nindividuals, it is our native land, our fatherland.\n\nThe colored troops numbered at this time about 75,000. The Twenty-ninth\nRegiment, which was my own, formed the center. We were in line of march\ntoward the city but were turned in our course and crossed the pontoon\nbridge, which landed us near the city of Petersburg. When daylight came\nwe were on the Old Market Road and headed for Richmond, Va. We were\nvery much exhausted and were hoping for a rest, when we heard the music\nof the bugle, which told us that our rest had come.\n\nAt this time it was dangerous for live things to get in our way, we\nwere hungry for something besides hard tack, bad coffee and salt\npork. We wanted fresh meat and plenty of it. So it was a bad time for\nchickens and terrapin, for when we could find these living edibles, we\ngenerally appropriated them without any thought of the criminality of\nthe act or of the danger of being detected or arrested. Our hunger gave\nus license to satisfy it in the quickest and best way available.\n\nOn the 2d of September we were once again in front of the enemy and\nready to do battle. We entered the engagement with enthusiasm and\nrapidly drove the enemy before us. We were assisted by a large Mogul,\nwhich we called the Petersburgh Express and one or two gunboats on\nthe James River, which fired balls half as big as a common sized\nwater bucket. Soon victory was perched on our banners and with flying\ncolors, we advanced by a right flank and entered the rebel lines after\na bad fought battle of six hours, leaving many dead and wounded on the\nbattlefield. My brother, William Henry Newton, was in the same regiment\nwith me, not as a soldier but as a valet, he attended Captain Griswold.\nWe charged two of the rebel forts, the left of the line was charged by\nthe Eighth United States Troops, supported by the Twenty-ninth; the\ncenter was charged by the Ninth Maryland, supported by the Seventh\nUnited States Troops. In the history of my war record, I shall never\nforget this day\u2019s experience. The rebels fought hard and nobly, but the\ncolored troops defeated them and gained another victory in favor of the\nUnion army. Our loss was very heavy and the true story of the suffering\nand heartaches will never be known until the Judgment Day.\n\nCaptain Thorpe and Lieutenant McDonald were wounded. I came on my\nrounds, bringing refreshments and stopped where the surgeons were\nat work. I shall never forget the fearful sight that met my eyes. It\nwas indeed sickening. There were arms and legs piled up like hogs\u2019\nfeet in a butcher shop. The dead and the dying were strewn over the\nbattlefield for five miles. Drum Major John D. Cowes, of New Haven,\nwith his corps, were busy carrying the wounded off the battlefield.\nI said to myself, war is a terrible way to adjust differences, when\nit might be done by the implements of peace. But I remembered that it\nis much easier to wield the sword than to use the pen; much easier to\ngive a command which will send hundreds to their death, than to be a\nmaster of assemblies and speak the word which gives peace and happiness\nto millions. We lay all night in front of the rebel works and in the\nmorning we were warmly saluted by fierce bombarding. So we were again\nin the midst of battle which waged hotly. The enemy carried their dead\nand wounded out of their trenches as lively as they were able. They\ndid this so as to keep from tramping on them and to have room for the\nsoldiers who were doing the work of death. In this engagement several\nwere wounded but not many killed. Our colonel was not able to do duty\nand our lieutenant colonel was sick at Fortress Monroe.\n\nOn the morning of the 4th, we advanced to the left of the line,\nplanting our flag under the rebel fire of grape and canister, bombshell\nand musketry. The dead were lying in every direction and the wounded\nwere falling everywhere, cared for by the rear guard. On the 5th and\n6th, we had to endure the hardships and exposure of the rifle pits,\nwith advance pickets stationed in front of the rebel garrison. It was\nthe fighting of a duel, so to speak, between two armies, although\nquite a distance apart. After while the Twenty-Ninth was ordered to\nheadquarters, but did not get far on its way, when a fire broke out\nin our midst, we were shifted into a double-quick and returned to the\nbreastworks where we held our position until the 8th, when we moved on\nthe right to support the Forty-fifth, on Lookout Mountain. We were worn\nout and had hoped that we would be allowed to rest; but we received\norders to take position on the front to support the Eighth United\nStates Cavalry Troops, who had charge of the breastworks. Six days of\nhard fighting, fatigue and exposure, was our experience here. Under\norders of the general we scouted and explored the territory and drove\nthe enemy from the woods. We were able to take charge of the situation,\nmuch to our pride; still holding the rebels at bay and driving them\nfurther, to hunt new quarters.\n\nOn the 14th we abandoned the breastworks, General Birney leading the\nThird Division, Tenth Army Corps, numbering 75,000 colored troops. We\nwere not formed into a fighting position at this time, perhaps for the\nreason that the enemy were too strong for us. So we were brought to the\nrear of the breastworks. For a long while the rain had been pouring in\ntorrents and there was not a dry place to be found nor a dry thread\non our bodies, we were covered with dirt and mud from head to foot,\nand not only felt to be in a terrible plight, but must have looked\nworse. The troops were ordered to prepare two days\u2019 rations and to get\nready for light marching. I had opportunity now to be in the company\nof commissioned officers for a few hours at a time, when we halted for\nrest. We would spread our meals on the wet ground, not a very inviting\ntable, but the best that we could find. I somehow had the feeling that\nsomething was going on, or was going to happen, that would require one\nto be wise and cunning. The officers had a queer expression on their\nfaces, and in fact all the field officers seemed to be uneasy. Three\no\u2019clock one morning, my surmises were justified, for the long roll was\nsounded and soon we were in line for work. We engaged in a bloody\nstruggle. We moved to the right and some one began to sing,\n\n  \u201cSure, I must fight if I would win,\n    Increase my courage Lord;\n  I\u2019ll bear the toil, endure the pain,\n    Supported by Thy Word.\u201d\n\nWe thus cheered ourselves by the singing of songs while we fought and\nwhile we marched through the Virginia mud, such songs as \u201cTramp, Tramp,\nthe Boys are Marching,\u201d \u201cBeneath the Starry Flag.\u201d The rebel lines\nwere fortified, but under our noble leaders, we marched on to certain\nvictory and the old Twenty-ninth was ready for any fray. The rising sun\nwould seem to say to us, after he had broken through the darkness and\nthe clouds, \u201cCheer up boys, don\u2019t be despondent, but vigilant, strong,\ncourageous, protecting the flag, the country, women and children,\nrights and liberty, and all things will come out right.\u201d Thus it will\nbe seen, how often God speaks to us through nature, how often we are\ncheered and helped by a bright day. How dependent we are upon our\nsurroundings, for support. I do not say that this should be so, for a\nsoldier should be strong, regardless of such things, but nevertheless\nthey have their effect.\n\nWe were on the extreme right of the front and within three miles of\nRichmond, where our white troops were repulsed. The colored troops\nwere commanded to halt and line up for action in front of the woods.\nAgain the thought came to me, although this is called the white man\u2019s\ncountry, they need us in war as in peace, to make and to keep the\ncountry. And why is not this fact fully realized by the white people?\nWe are more than ten million strong and are ready at any time to\nlay down our lives for the nation and to give our lives in service,\nin times of peace, in all lines of activity. This we are doing. The\nprogress which the Negro race has made since the war is an enviable\none. No people or race would be ashamed of it. We have made this\nprogress as honest, industrious citizens. We have shown our manhood\nin both times of war and peace, and our record has been written. Then\nwhy are we not accorded the place that we have rightly merited? In\nthe sentiment of the white people there lurks a deep-rooted prejudice\nagainst us, and in their course of action discrimination is made\nagainst the Negro. We do not understand why this should be, unless\nthere is a feeling on the part of the white people, that there is\ndanger that we should become too prosperous and too many--the feeling\nwhich the ancient Egyptians had against the Hebrews--hence, they took\nsteps to check the Hebrews. These may be the steps taken by the white\nman to check our progress. But the same God who overruled the destinies\nof the Hebrew slaves and brought them to their Promised Land, will take\ncare of us and, we too, one day, shall enter our Promised Land, of\nequal rights and liberty.\n\nOn the 29th, there as a fierce encounter. The battle was indeed a\nslaughter pen. The enemy fought like tigers. The battle became general\nalong the entire line. Adjutant Spaulding was wounded. Corporal George\nBurr, Company L; Corporal Sidney, of Company E, and many others were\nkilled. Private George E. Peters, Sergeant George Halstead, James Evans\nand many others were wounded. I, myself, feared, shook, and thought\nthat my time had come. I was full of thoughts of my loved ones at home.\nI knew that they were praying that I should be delivered from the jaws\nof death. This thought cheered and comforted me; and yet I saw friends\nfalling around me, whose loved ones and friends, were also praying\nfor their protection. Their prayers were not being answered and why?\nWhy should I think that the prayers offered for me were more availing\nthan those offered for them? Why should I have any special reason for\nencouragement? These thoughts come to one when he is in the midst of\ncircumstances which seems to upset many of our principles of religious\nfaith. They come to us not only in war but in work. They must be\nreckoned with. The only answer that I could find as to why the prayers\noffered for me were availing up to this time, was that my time had not\ncome, and that it had not come because God had not ordered it, and God\nhad not ordered it because He had something for me to do. Of course, He\nhad heard the prayers which had been offered for me and they entered\ninto His decree regarding my life. The only answer we can find to many\nperplexing questions which come in life is, \u201cIt is God\u2019s way, His will.\u201d\n\nI was very busy in supplying the regiment with food, vinegar and water,\nand such edibles as I could get together. The doctors were busy sawing\noff legs and arms, and binding up wounds, and giving medicines to the\nwounded and sick. The women were busy in preparing bandages, lint, and\ndoing what they could in the alleviation of human suffering. God bless\nthe dear women who had the faith and the courage to breast the trials\nand hardships of soldier life. These scenes would have made your heart\nsore. Dear reader, the wounded and dying scattered over the battlefield\nthick, the hurrying to and fro of the physicians and the nurses; the\nprayers and groans and cries of the wounded, the explosion of bombs,\nthe whizzing of bullets, the cracking of rifles; you would have thought\nthat the very forces of hell had been let loose. And, indeed, it was a\nhell, the horrors of which no one could ever forget.\n\nWe finally retreated under the cover of the cavalry. The colored\ntroops were the first to enter the field and the last to fall back.\nWe thereby demonstrated to our President, Abraham Lincoln, and our\nGeneral, U. S. Grant, that we were among their best supporters.\nThe white man had no record to make. He was known as a fighter for\ncenturies, our record was to be made and we were making it. The flag of\nour regiment could be seen floating among the pines. We were glad that\nOld Glory was above us with her folds pierced with many bullet holes.\nWe returned to camp and took our former position in front of Richmond,\nwhere we remained for awhile.\n\nWe were again in battle array, having been marched up to the rifle\npits. Our field officers being absent, we were under the command of\nCaptain Camp, of Company D, our own colonel, W. B. Wooster, was at home\non sick furlough. Lieutenant Colonel W. L. Ward, who had been promoted\nto the rank of colonel, was in charge of the Forty-first United States\nCavalry Troop. The lieutenant colonel said to us, \u201cBoys, we must fight\nto-day, let me have your best. Duty demands it. I will stand by you\nuntil the last. Watch, keep in line, and obey orders.\u201d He brought us\nup double-quick to the rifle pits and the bugle sounded charge. We\ncharged, firing, yelling, using our bayonets and our arms in the most\ncruel manner, but still in accordance with the tactics of warfare. We\nwere there to kill in every manner possible. We held the pits for\ntwenty-four hours, brought the rebels to their knees, brought down\ntheir flag and unfurled the Stars and Stripes to the breezes.\n\nThis was a disastrous battle, probably the most disastrous I had\never witnessed. I should probably make exception of the Fort Pillow\nMassacre, in which my brother, Steven Newton, was killed. He was a\nmember of the Fourteenth, Rhode Island Battery. Charles Beeman, Rev.\nAmos G. Beeman and Corporal W. W. Wilkins were with him to the end\nand were able to make the report of his death to me. We lost in this\nbattle over one hundred, i. e., I am counting only the loss of the\nTwenty-ninth Regiment. This regiment fought most bravely, gaining\ngreat praise, and receiving many compliments from the officers high up\nin rank. When the battle was over, we fell back and camped in front\nof Richmond. While there we attended the funeral of Private Charles\nBently, who was killed early in the engagement. He died a champion for\nliberty and an earnest Christian. Jones Spriggs and thirteen others\nwere buried at this time.\n\nMany of the veterans went out on foraging expeditions. While resting\nwe would engage in religious and patriotic songs. One of our favorites\nwas, \u201cTenting on the Old Camp Ground.\u201d About this time, the Third\nDivision, Tenth Army Corps, Twenty-ninth Regiment, and General Birney,\nwere surprised with the presentation of the United States national\ncolors, which greatly pleased the boys. The flag was presented by the\nForty-fifth United States Cavalry Troop to our lieutenant colonel, in\na most pleasing manner. He spoke of the great bravery of the soldiers\nin battle. Colonel Ward replied that he had 672 guns which would speak\nwhenever occasion demanded it. He also said that his boys were filled\nwith as noble sentiments as any that had ever filled the breasts of\nboys before the guns.\n\nWhile on dress parade we received the sad announcement from our\nlieutenant colonel that he would leave the regiment, as he had been\npromoted to the rank of colonel. This was indeed sad news to us. He had\nbeen with us in many hard-fought battles. We had learned to love him\nand had great confidence in his ability. He knew what course to pursue\nin order to avert many of the tricks of the Johnnies, not only being\nwell up in military science, but well acquainted with many little games\nthat are often played in war.\n\nWe remained in front of Richmond five days. While there we were\nquiet and enjoyed the much needed sleep that we had. We were greatly\nannoyed here as well as in other places with what the soldiers called\ngreybacks, not the rebels, however; they were genuine creepers. They\nmolested us no little. Whenever I could get off I would go to the\ncreek and disrobe myself and pick them out of my clothes, then wash my\nclothes and hang them on the bushes to dry. Then I would dress myself\nand feel like a king, because once a again I was clean and free from\nthese unearthly vermin.\n\nFrom the first to the eighth of November, 1864, we were at Malvern\nHill. I was Commissary Sargeant and was careful to keep as near the\nregiment as possible with my department. Sargeant Quartermaster D.\nL. Lathrop had charge of the ammunition, knapsacks, etc., under the\ncommand of our regimental quartermaster, there was always detailed a\nguard to protect us. We always followed the army with our train. I\nremember once that I got into the line of the Johnnies and I ran as if\nthe hounds of hell were after me. I heard the whizzing of a bullet over\nmy head, but it missed me. So I said, well they did not get me that\ntime and Libby Prison has been robbed of an expected treasure.\n\nWhile here the Twenty-ninth Regiment had charge of the fort until the\nthird of December.\n\nIt was whispered about that Generals Lee, Johnson and others were in a\nposition to watch our movements and that we might expect an attack at\nany time. But we were not worried over this report with such Generals\nas U. S. Grant, Sherman, Howard, Weitzel and others. We knew that they\nwould be able to flank any movement that they might make.\n\nOn Monday the fifth, we took up our line of march to a destination\nunknown to us, there were all kinds of rumors as to where we would\nstop, but at last we found ourselves to the left of Fort Harrison\non the left of the line. Here we camped under orders. We engaged in\nthe usual preparations for a stay, putting up our tents, building\nhuts and making things convenient for all concerned. But the next\nday the Colored troops were ordered to prepare two days\u2019 rations and\nto advance. Then our countenances changed. We did not know but that\nanother fierce battle was in store for us; and we had had quite enough\nfighting to satisfy us for a long while. On Wednesday, we were in front\nof the Johnnies, with our breastworks thrown up ready for fight.\n\nThe Colored regiments were consolidated in the Second Division, Third\nBrigade, Twenty Fifth Army Corps. A number of detached men were taken\nfrom the regiments. Orderly I. J. Hill was Brigade Postmaster. I was\nwith the commissary department. All things were quiet along the lines\nexcepting the laughing and yelling of the Johnnies. Once in a while\nthey would throw a shell into our camp. At this time we would hear\ntheir cheers and laughter.\n\nOn January the first, we were in front of Richmond, Va. Here we engaged\nin battle with the Rebels, which was terrific. The anxiety, suffering,\nslashing, shooting, were beyond description. Many lay dead on the\nbattlefield, baking in the sun. There were dead animals which had been\nexposed for two weeks, the stench was unbearable. These are some of the\nindescribable tortures of war.\n\nThe rebels soon retired from their position, for they would not\nhave been able to withstand the Union Army. They were in constant\nexpectation of the coming of Sherman who at that time was in the\nvicinity of Atlanta, Ga. We were under marching orders until the\nthirteenth. Colonel Wooster received orders to place his headquarters\nnear our own regiment. I was determined that I would keep up my\nenthusiasm and do all in my power to supply the boys with something to\neat.\n\nOn the twenty-third the rebel fleet moved down the James River towards\nthe Dutch Gap Canal and opened fire on Fort Bradley keeping it up all\nnight. The following morning the whole line was drawn up for action, at\nlong range with reinforcements in the rear. The shelling was terrific\nall day. I was in the basement of a house, when a shell came through\nthe window, burst and tore its way through the building. This house\nwas used for headquarters. Fortunately none of us were hurt. Only the\neverlasting arm of God protected us, for all our friends who witnessed\nthe shell and its devastations, supposed that we were all killed. The\nQuartermaster having received a wound in his knee, the Quartermaster\nSargeant and I had to do all the work. At this time Orderly I. J. Hill\nand others were let off on parole and went home for twenty days. The\nConfederates made another dash to retake their lost territory and to\nmake sure of the permanent establishment of the Slave Traffic which\nhas been the curse of every nation or people who has adopted it. Their\nplan was to out-flank us and to effect a great slaughter and capture\nmany of our men and guns and ammunition. And it seemed to us that they\nwere after the Colored troops. But our leaders were too shrewd for them\nand they were repulsed and their depot, magazines and machine shops at\nBeaufort, N. C., were blown up and also at Newberne. A great battle was\nfought about Fort Fisher and the Rebels were overcome. Hundreds were\nkilled and wounded in this battle.\n\nThe Colored troops in front of Richmond were moved from the breastworks\non the left at Fort Harrison, to the hill in the center, where we built\nup a fine elevation overlooking the Rebel works in Richmond. Here we\nremained several days under heavy cannonading. We held the enemy so\nthat they were unable to make any gains on us for four weeks. They made\nseveral attempts to storm and to cut off our supply, but they signally\nfailed. But our men understood how to construct railroads and we would\nfrequently hear the whistle of a locomotive in some direction bringing\nin our supplies. Our forces were well guarded on every hand by squads\nwhich were experts in caring for the welfare and needs of an army. We\ncould hear the result of our bombarding in such cities as Petersburg,\netc., and knew that our forces were gradually gaining and that the\nRebels were gradually losing in their strongest holds.\n\nOn the twenty-seventh of March we struck our tents and moved on to\nRichmond. We were soon formed in line of battle in front of this city.\nThe Rebels blew up three gunboats and evacuated their works immediately\nin front of us. There was heavy cannonading from the gunboats in the\nJames River, the Monitor and other boats.\n\nAt this time there were many refugees coming to us by the hundreds.\nThis was in part the result of Sherman\u2019s march to the sea. He left\nin his wake many monuments of this famous march. There were deserted\nvillages, chimneys standing without the houses about them, and troops\nof stragglers following the army.\n\nColonel Wooster ordered the 29th Regiment to advance and to do some\ndaring work in the digging up of buried torpedoes which had been\nplanted to impede the march of the Union Army. We were however equal to\nthe task. We captured five hundred pieces of artillery, six thousand\nsmall arms, and the prisoners I did not count, but when we looked on\nthem in the prison pen, the number seemed to be enormous.\n\nWe were present in Richmond when President Lincoln made his triumphal\nentry into the city. It was a sight never to be forgotten. He passed\nthrough the main street. There were multitudes of Colored people to\ngreet him on every hand. They received him with many demonstrations\nthat came from the heart, thanking God that they had seen the day of\ntheir salvation, that freedom was theirs, that now they could live\nin this country, like men and women, and go on their way rejoicing.\nOrderly I. J. Hill said that he saw a colored woman trying to get a\nlook at the president, at last he came along and Orderly Hill said\nto her: \u201cMadame, there is the man that made you free.\u201d She shouted,\n\u201cIs that President Lincoln? Glory to God, give Him praise for His\ngoodness.\u201d The President, with his son, and Admiral Porter, together\nwith others walked over a mile to the headquarters of General Weitzel,\nat the mansion of Jeff Davis. A colored man acted as the guide. There\nwere six Union soldiers as advance guard, then came President Lincoln,\nhis son, and Admiral Porter, while on his right and his left were\nother officers. He was followed by six sailors with their carbines.\nThis march created the wildest enthusiasm of the Colored people. They\nhad lived to see the day of their liberty dawning. I was reminded of\nwhat had been done for the ancient Hebrews by Moses when he led them\nout of the land of their bondage, into the land of their promised\nliberty. Lincoln was indeed our Moses. He led us forth. He gave us our\nfreedom. I noticed one white lady in a window, who turned away from the\nwhole scene as if in utter disgust. There were still two sides to the\nquestion, then and there are two sides to it today. How long will these\ntwo sides remain, is the question. As the President looked out upon\nthe poor Colored people and remembered how many lives had been lost in\nworking out their salvation, he was not able to keep the tears from his\neyes. They were tears of gladness and sorrow, of regret and delight;\nbut the tears of my own people were the tears of the greatest joy.\n\nThe President went to the state capitol where he made a short address\nin which he said: \u201cNow you Colored people are free, as free as I am.\nGod has made you free and if those who are your superiors are not able\nto recognize that you are free, we will have to take the sword and\nmusket and again teach them that you are free. You are as free as I am,\nhaving the same rights of liberty, life and the pursuit of happiness.\u201d\n\nWhile at Richmond, we engaged in many foraging expeditions. We found\nsuch things as eggs, chickens, butter, bread, fruit, tobacco. There\nwere bales of tobacco in the streets free for every one who enjoyed the\nweed. And I must say that many were delighted with their free smokes.\nThere was plenty of Confederate money too, which was often blown about\nby the wind as so much worthless waste paper. Well it was waste paper.\nWith the passing of the Confederacy, the money value passed away on all\nsuch currency.\n\nOn April 16th, 1865, we were painfully shocked to hear of the death of\nPresident Lincoln, at the hands of an assassin. No one can measure the\nconsternation which struck our hearts. This great and wonderful man\nwho had guided the Ship of State through four years of such perilous\nwaves and winds, that he should thus pass away and in such an infamous\nmanner, was more than we could stand. But it was so. Our faith was\nalmost staggered, that faith which had sustained us in so many battles,\nwas now staggering under a blow which was severer than any battles,\nthe death of our Immortal leader. Thus in four years from the first\nshot fired on Fort Sumter, four years from the very day of the first\nshot, the shot was fired from the hand of Booth, that removed one of\nthe greatest men the world ever knew, from the scenes of human action.\nHe was removed too at a time when he was most needed. Yes, he was more\nneeded, than when the nation was in the midst of a bloody conflict.\nHe was now needed to set up the battlements of peace, which is a more\ndifficult work than the forts of warfare.\n\nOn the twenty-fourth, we moved from the camp near Petersburg, to Camp\nLincoln where we enjoyed our camp life for awhile. We had lost many of\nour numbers through death on the battlefield and disease in the camp,\nbut losses were now being recruited by volunteers coming to us. I was\nkept busy filling our regimental papers, ordering and issuing rations.\nSome of our men had become so rum thirsty that they would offer me ten\ndollars for a canteen full of whisky. But I was not allowed to sell it,\nand to give it out only on the orders of the Quartermaster.\n\nWe were not here long. We embarked on the Demolay for Norfolk, Va.\nGeneral Russel and staff came on board to tell us goodbye. I had two\nbarrels of supposed corn beef, the boys called it salt-horse, which\nI suppose was nearer the truth. I had also a barrel of sugar. These I\ncould not ship, so I left them on the ground, for some poor fellows\nthat could use them. Colonel Wooster came also and saw us off. We left\nmany friends, some of them with tears in their eyes. They had become\nvery dear to us. We had shared together the hardships of camp-life and\nof the battlefield. Human suffering makes men very near akin. As we\nglided swiftly down the James River, for a while we could hear their\ncheers and when sound was out of touch, we could see their salutes of\nhats and handkerchiefs. We enjoyed the day as soldiers on board the\nvessel. I was astonished at the behavior of the soldiers. They gave\nthemselves over to all kinds of sports and jestings, which disgusted me\nmost thoroughly. Many were unruly, even threatening the lives of those\nwho favored going to Texas whither we had been ordered for garrison\nduty. Some of the gang were arrested for their insubordination. My\nheart was made to shudder at the degrading and shameful life which\nwas manifested on board the ship. Their swearing, drinking, gambling,\ndancing, etc., was heartsickening. It was indeed a revelation and\nshows what men will do when not under the eye of authority. Human\nnature is indeed most sinful, and were it not for the restrictions\nwhich are thrown about us, none of us know what might come to pass. We\narrived at Norfolk and anchored for the night. With having witnessed\nthe debauchery on board the vessel and at the same time wrought with\nanxiety for my wife and two babies, my father and mother at home, I\nconfess I was in a most depressed condition of mind and heart. \u201cBe\nstrong and of good courage,\u201d came to me like a flash and I was strong\nand buoyant in a little while. How grand is the truth of God, when we\nfind it such a rock of refuge in times of trouble; I was thus greatly\nconsoled and went to bed looking up at the shining stars, as if they\nwere so many angels, sent by God, to guard me.\n\nThere was quite an excitement on board when it was whispered about that\nthe officers had covenanted together to take the soldiers on board, to\nCuba, and sell them as slaves. There was quite an indignation against\nI. J. Hill, for it was thought that he was in some manner party to\nthis arrangement. The men were suspicious also of Sam Brown, a clerk.\nI, together with others, had the good fortune to escape any insults\nor indignities. While at Norfolk, we went to church and saw quite a\nnumber of well-to-do Colored people. Rev. J. M. Brown, of the A. M.\nE. Church, I think was pastor. He treated us very cordially indeed.\nWe were introduced to many of the congregation. This church had a\nSunday School of six or seven hundred members. It was an inspiring\nsight to see them nicely dressed and to hear them sing so sweetly, many\nbeautiful Sunday school songs. But the time had come when we had to\nleave the many dead of our comrades. We had done all that we could for\nthem in the last sad rites of death and now their bodies were resting\nunder the cold sods of the South, awaiting the Resurrection Day, when\nwe will all meet again and hear our record of the deeds done in the\nbody and the judgment based on these deeds. The memories of war are one\nof the saddest features thereof. These memories can never be blotted\nout; for as we grow older they seem to become more vivid.\n\n[Illustration: BETHEL A. M. E. CHURCH\n\nWoodbury, N. J. Built by Rev. A. H. Newton, D.D.]\n\nWe took shipping on the transport, Blackstone, for Texas. We were\nabout fifteen days on the waters, the ocean was calm. There were six\nor seven hundred on board. It was no little job to take care of the\nhungry stomachs of these men. But we had a most pleasant trip and\nenjoyed the ocean waves and breezes. The officers spent most of their\ntime in fishing. Once in awhile a fish six or seven feet long would\nbe hauled in. For two days we were out of sight of land and only one\nsmall schooner passed us. There was much complaint on board on account\nof the army food which I was compelled to give them salt-pork or hard\ntack and bad coffee. They thought that being on board of ship warranted\nbetter food, but I told them that I had to give them what I had. And so\nwe fought the battle of the stomach. There were many however who were\nafflicted with sea-sickness and had no concern for something to eat.\nWe had a burial at sea. The poor soldier was sewed up in a blanket and\nconsigned to a grave in the bottom of the deep. The funeral service was\nvery impressive to many of us, for it was the first burial at sea we\nhad witnessed. I must confess that there was a grandeur about it that\ninspired one--as the boundless ocean received the body of our comrade,\neternity had received his soul. I thought of his loved ones and that in\nall probability they would never hear of him. Then I wondered if that\ngrand song could not be an interpretation of this burial,\n\n  \u201cRocked in the cradle of the deep,\n  I lay me down in peace to sleep,\n  In ocean cave still safe with Thee,\n  The germ of Immortality.\u201d\n\nAt this time I was not a member of the church. But my father had taught\nme to pray. And as I have frequently related, I often prayed in battle\nwhen I thought that my time had come. I had a sense of the guilt of sin\nand of the need of confession of my sins. So I had also, the sense\nof peace which comes from a man\u2019s justification through Jesus Christ.\nMy case I am sure is but an illustration of the cases of many men and\nwomen who have not connected themselves with the church. They are\nreal Christians as I was, having all the ordinary experience of the\nChristian, but not having made any outward profession. We are therefore\nunable to know who are the children of God, for certainly there are\nbelievers outside of the church. Our judgment therefore must always be\na charitable one. Yet I do not want the impression to be made that I,\nin any sense, approve of believers remaining outside of the church.\nAn outward profession of faith in our Blessed Lord, Jesus Christ, is\nan open badge of our religion which men can see. We should not hide\nour light under a bushel, but put it on a candle stick that all about\nus may see what we are by what we live. When we rounded the Florida\nreefs, the boys\u2019 hearts were gladdened, because they had seen the\nland once again and their thought was that they were nearing the end\nof the voyage. We had some sickness on board, such diseases as yellow\njaundice, malaria, chills and fever. We were huddled together like a\nlot of wild ducks and the sanitary conditions were against our health.\nWhen about seven days on our trip, our drinking water failed us. We\nwere on the water, yet we had no water to drink; but we did the best we\ncould under the circumstances.\n\nWe were glad when we came into the harbor at Mobile, Ala. Here we found\nmany transports lying in the harbor. Fort Gaines was to our right and\nFort Morgan to our left. The boys were all delighted, because they\nwere wild to get to land again, and especially to get a drink of good\nwater. How dependent we are on mother earth after all for our lives.\nAfter passing the forts a short distance the anchor was dropped. The\nsurroundings were grand. There were gunboats lying in the stream,\nwith their artillery of death-dealing cannon looking forth from the\ndecks and thoroughly manned with the smaller-implements of naval\nwarfare. But our hopes were not fulfilled, for a command came that we\nwere to sail immediately to New Orleans. The men were bitter in their\ndisappointment, but such is the experience of war. Men are not free,\nthey are the parts of the gigantic machine of death, so many cogs in\nthe wheels, or so many wheels in the machine, or so many parts of the\nmachine. They soon became reconciled however. We had plenty of hard\ntack and salt horse left us, and with this we could not starve to the\ndeath. Our voyage was an uneventful one, save for the good weather\nand fine ocean. We were soon in the channel for New Orleans. When\nwe reached the forts Jackson and Phillips, a signal stopped us for\ninspection. We were told that we could not go to New Orleans, that\nnone of the men or officers could go any further without an order from\nGeneral Grant. The officers telegraphed to Washington to General Grant.\nWe were in rather a dilapidated condition, about out of coal and in\nneed of better fuel for the stomach, with the men completely worn out\nwith the voyage.\n\nWe were however permitted to go on land at Fort Jackson. This was a\nmagnificent fort with its seventy guns overlooking the water inlet.\nThere were many alligators in this place and we amused ourselves by\nkilling them, which of course was a greatly desired thing. I had plenty\nof hard tack and this seemed to attract the reptiles. I remember one\nfellow over seven feet long I killed.\n\nAt this place the Colored troops had been shamefully and barbarously\ntreated. As I thought of the outrages which they had suffered only\nabout one month before our arrival, I felt that if I could, I would\nlike a little revenge on their account. But there was no opportunity\nfor such outlet of wicked feeling. At last we received an order from\nGeneral Grant to take the transport to New Orleans, to get a supply of\ncoal and oil, and to have the transport repaired. But to our dismay,\nonly the officers were permitted to go. We were left at Fort Phillips.\n\nI managed however, to get to New Orleans, in that I had charge of\nthe commissary department. We were already beginning to forget the\nhardships of the battlefield. Our minds were turning to the ordinary\nlife which we live, and looking forward to the pleasures connected with\nhome and with business. And I assure you, my dear readers, that it was\na happy release. We had the constant joy in our hearts that our beloved\npeople had their freedom, bought with the blood of those who now slept\nthe last sleep on many battlefields; but we did not believe that the\nprice paid for this boon of liberty was too dear. The price of human\nliberty can never be estimated. This is especially true of those who\nknew what slavery meant. And the Colored Race has an endless debt to\npay their White friends who bought their liberty with their own blood.\nWhile it is true that the White people brought our forefathers here and\nsold them into slavery, which of course they had no right to do, this\ndoes not diminish the price which this same race had to pay in order to\nbuy us out of the slavery into which they had sold us. And it does not\nin the least diminish the debt of gratitude which we shall owe them as\nlong as time exists.\n\nI had a short but very pleasant stay in New Orleans. On Sunday we went\nto the A. M. E. Church, of which the Rev. William A. Dove was pastor.\nThis was the St. James A. M. E. Church. We were most cordially received\nby the pastor and members. They were kind enough to take care of us\nwhile in the city. We learned from the members that while we were on\nthe battlefield, they were at home fasting and praying that our grand\ncause might be victorious. \u201cFight and pray\u201d is sure to win the day for\nany just cause. The services were very pleasing and profitable. The\npastor preached in the morning and our orderly I. J. Hill, at night. I\nand others, were much lifted up and realized anew what it was to draw\nwater from the wells of salvation. We spent much of our time in seeing\nthe sights of the unique city of the South. Our friends were more than\nkind to us during our stay. We lacked nothing for good beds and good\nfood and good society; and we were in good shape to appreciate these\nthings, because of the privations, losses, suffering, and fears through\nwhich we had passed.\n\nOur transport having been repaired and furnished with needed coal and\noil and food, we were soon on our way back to the fort. We had not gone\nfar on our course until there was an alarm of fire. This created quite\na panic, but the blaze was soon put out and we were enjoying our trip\ndown the \u201cFather of Waters.\u201d\n\nWe arrived at Fort Phillips with more soldiers for the Twenty-ninth\nRegiment, they having been brought in from other quarters.\n\nWe were soon off for Texas. With the transport loaded with human\nfreight, we started for Brazos De Santiago, Texas. We found the gulf\nquite rough on our entering it. This produced sea sickness with a great\nmany. I remember one fellow who was very sea sick. I was unable to\ndo anything with him. He was continually calling out \u201cNew York, New\nYork.\u201d \u201cThere goes my liver,\u201d he cried, having spit up some blood.\nOur great trouble on this voyage was the lack of water. They had a\ncondenser on board which reduced the amount of salt a few degrees, but\nwe could easily taste the saline property of the water. We found Brazos\na most undesirable place, there were plenty of fleas and mosquitoes\nand sand burrs. We had our headquarters at this place which was knee\ndeep in water. Our Colored troops were nearly perishing for water. The\nsuffering was most intense. It was heart-rending. I cried out to God to\nsend us some help. We had but little water and that was quite brackish.\nOur means of condensing the water gave us only about five thousand\ngallons when we were in need of not less than ten thousand gallons. We\npaid ten cents a canteen for water and would have been willing to have\npaid fifty cents, or any price.\n\nAfter a while we met some Mexicans who had brought water from the Rio\nGrande and sold it for ten cents a canteen. Colonel Sadrick was very\nindignant over this hardship. When he saw our scars and realized how\nmuch these good soldiers had suffered and the privations through which\nthey had already passed, he saw General Wietzel and requested that the\ntroops should be taken from Brazos. He met with success and we took our\nline of march for White Ranch on the Rio Grande River about ten miles\nsouth of Brazos. The march was one of great trial. We were in mud knee\ndeep and in some places the water was waist deep. When we reached the\nRanch, the soldiers were well nigh famished. They made a mad rush for\nthe river and while many of them were on the bank, it gave way, and\nseveral of them were drowned. We were all greatly saddened over this\nmisfortune. It seemed enough that men should have given up their lives\non the battlefield, this was matter of course; but when men who had\nstemmed the tide of death which swept the battlefield were drowned, it\nseemed more than we could stand to see them cut off from their loved\nones by a mere accident. But it was the Lord\u2019s way to take some more of\nthem home.\n\nIt was not a hard matter for us to sleep the first night. We spread our\nrubber blankets on the bare ground and enjoyed our rest as much as if\nour beds had been made of feathers. The next morning we saw the body of\na man floating down the muddy river. He too had evidently met with some\naccident, or had been killed and thrown into the river. It was not our\nduty to make any investigation.\n\nI prepared the best breakfast possible for the boys. Our fuel\nwas gathered from the woods and rail fences. I said woods, but\nunfortunately there was not a tree in the whole country, so we had to\ndo the best we could. But we had coffee, rice, sweet potatoes and our\nregular rations. We put up our tents here and soon had the camp under\nmilitary discipline. Then we left for Brownsville, Texas, a distance of\ntwenty miles. The march was a trying one on account of the bad roads.\nWe were not able to keep our stores with us on this account and left\na detail of soldiers to guard them. Many a solder sickened and had to\nbe taken to White Ranch to be cared for by Orderly Hill. Some of the\nmen died on the way and were buried under the Texas sod with no stone\nto identify them. One boat was on its way to Brownsville with rations.\nI remember my homesickness at this time. After the battles had been\nfought, I was anxious to return to my loved ones. I felt that my duty\nhad been done towards my country and that now I must take up my duty\nto my dear ones. We were soon joined by Orderly Hill. He said that\nhe had gotten tired waiting for the boat and had come on to be with\nus. He threw a few chunks together and started a fire and lighted his\npipe. After a few moments reflection, he said: \u201cThese light afflictions\nare but for a moment, for they work for us a far more and exceeding\nweight of glory.\u201d We met a drove of hungry wolves which made two or\nthree attempts to come to us, but about fifteen shots from our guns\nwere enough to satisfy them they had no more need of us than we had\nof them. In time we reached Brownsville. We saw strange things there.\nThe houses were little huts; the people dressed in their shirts and\ndrawers; the women dressed in a long shirt with their breast exposed,\nseemingly caring nothing for decency or modesty. It did not look to\nme that the people here had ever known what it was to know or to\nserve the true and living God. They were certainly far from any such\npractical knowledge, judging from their daily lives. I thought \u201cIf\nthe righteous scarcely be saved where then shall the sinner and the\nungodly appear?\u201d The next morning I was not feeling well. I went to\none of the streams and bathed. There were plenty of lizards, frogs and\nhorned toads about. The horns of the toad reminded one of the horns\nof a goat. It was a place of trials. Some of the men swore and cursed,\nothers were kept too busy scratching, while others were praying. It\nwas a time of sore trials. One of our officers, Captain Clark ought to\nhave been with the Greys instead of the Blues, he had so little use for\nthe Colored troops. So he marched them almost to death on this march.\nColonel Wooster, a man of tender feeling and of a proper sense of right\nand justice and without prejudice against the Colored people, saw the\noutrage perpetrated against us and put Clark under arrest. He was kept\nthere until Colonel Wooster resigned. After he left, we were again\nunder the command of Captain Clark. Orderly Hill was very sick and was\nordered to the General Hospital. As I looked upon him I said to myself,\nHill you are a very sick man and your warfare is about ended. There\nwere about seven hundred in the hospital sick. They were treated as if\nthey had been brutes, doctors and nurses being without any feeling.\nThey were dying at the rate of ten a day. The stewards would search\nthe dead, take their valuables, then report them dead. What a contrast\nbetween our camp on the banks of the James River and the camp in this\nfar off, God-for-saken town of Brownsville, Texas.\n\nAnd now after all our hard fought battles, our fears and foreboding,\nour privations and losses, we received the news from the War Department\nthat the Twenty-ninth Regiment was ordered home. It is needless to\nsay, that the home-fever spread more rapidly than any fever that had\never prevailed in our ranks. We looked for and patiently awaited the\nday when we would be ordered out. On the fourteenth day of October,\n1865, at nine o\u2019clock a. m., the recruiting officer was on the ground,\nat which time Company K. was mustered out. We were escorted through\nBrownsville by the Ninth U. S. C. T., Colonel Bailey being in command.\nWe marched to an open field where the two regiments bid each other\ngoodbye. It was an impressive scene, for these regiments had shared\neach others fortunes and misfortunes through the war. They had become\ninseparable, but now the best of friends must part. How happy we were\nthat we should be permitted to breathe the fresh air again and to tramp\nthrough the country as free men. Yet I had the feeling that the Civil\nWar was the mighty struggle of the White Race and that the struggle\nof the Colored Race was yet in the future. There is such a thing as\na man having to work out of his own salvation, and this is also true\nof a race. Our salvation had been bought for us by the nation, but\nit is ours now to work out this salvation. As we marched out through\nthe grand country and these thoughts came to me, I cried out to\nGod, \u201cCan these dry bones live? Will this country give the Colored\nman an equal chance in the marts of trade, in industrial fields, and\nin the professions? He is yet untried in the ranks of an aggressive\ncivilization, for he has been a slave. Can these dry bones live?\u201d\nThese were the prayer-thoughts that were filling my mind and heart.\nOur march was a trying one on account of the bad condition of the\nroads, but we were going home. No one but the soldier who has been\nhonorably discharged after an issue has been settled, knows the joys\nthat well-up in the heart as he turns his face homeward. The feeling\nis indescribable. There were several boys sick, but their spirits were\nrevived on account of home-going. We soon reached Brazos where we spent\nthe night. I was very glad to say goodbye to my Texas friends and\nexperience. They could live on the sandy plains of Brownsville, as long\nas they pleased; they could eat the strips of dried goat meat until\nthey were satisfied; they could drink and relish the muddy water of the\nRio Grande considering it the best water in the world; but as for me, I\nwould choose other quarters. Now that the Confederacy had surrendered,\nnow that the Palmetto flag had been lowered forever and Old Glory\nfloated in its stead, now that millions of people were made free and\ncould live and think as real men and women, I was more than happy to\nsay goodbye to all these things and begin life anew.\n\nWe embarked on the transport Alabama, for New Orleans. Our voyage on\nthe gulf was a rough one on account of a heavy storm. We were forced\nto cast anchor. We passed Galveston and were much pleased with the\nplace. We found the citizens much more sociable than we had expected,\nfor we knew that they were Secessionists and Rebels and that they had\nabout as much use for Negro soldiers as the Devil has for Holy Water.\nNevertheless, we went through the town and made the acquaintance of\nsome of our brethren. We met an old lady who had been a slave. When she\nsaw us and realized that the victorious end had come, she cried at the\ntop of her voice. \u201cThe Lord, the Mighty One has conquered and we are\nall free! Glory to God!\u201d We took on wood and I regulated my rations for\nwe were four hundred and fifty miles from New Orleans. We were again\non board the transport for New Orleans, but we were unable to leave\nthe harbor on account of a fearful gale that swept the gulf. We made\nan attempt, but were forced back again into the harbor. The soldiers\nbecame quite unruly owing to their impatience and also, I suppose the\nfeeling that they could do as they pleased. After a hard voyage we\nlanded safely in New Orleans. We found an open lot in the south side of\nthe city and put up our tents and made ready for a good night\u2019s sleep.\nWe felt that we could sleep now. That we had taken part in a mighty\nconflict and had shared in the victories of the war, it was now our\nright to rest. It was the sleep of the just man.\n\nWe had a quiet Sunday in New Orleans. Our chaplain preached for us.\nGreat crowds came out to visit us and to give us their most hearty\ncongratulations. They gave us coffee, sandwiches, fruits, etc., in\ntoken of the appreciation of our services in their behalf. We saw\nstrange things in New Orleans. We found the mixture of French and\nNegro, called the Creole, speaking a dialect of the French. We found\nthe Octoroon and that some of these unions had from one to seven\nchildren. We found that marriage among them was rather an uncommon\nthing and that a man could establish almost any relationship that\npleased him and enter into the Creole life and be received and welcomed\nas one of them. We found that they drank more claret, champagne,\nwhisky, beer, etc., than they did water. They of course had no sense of\ntheir obligation to God and I suppose that many of them really had no\nconception of the Real and True God. Their lives gave no evidence of\nsuch a knowledge.\n\nThe first annual conference of the A. M. E. Church was being held by\nBishop J. P. Campbell. We enjoyed the services very much being in the\nspirit of our Lord Jesus Christ. We were in New Orleans two weeks. At\nthe end of this time one of the men was shot. This created quite an\nexcitement among us. We broke camp soon and marched through the streets\nto the wharf where we took ship. We were enthusiastically greeted on\nevery hand, receiving god-speeds and congratulations and blessings. I\nshall never forget the musical voices of the people as they sang. The\nmusic sounded like a thousand silver harps, so soft and delicate and\nstirring it was! We went on board the steamer Champion. We said goodbye\nto the old city of New Orleans and to many of the new friends which we\nhad made. We had a heavy sea. The storms were terrific. Our clothes\nwere almost continuously wet owing to the rocking of the vessel, for\ndays it was impossible to find a place to sleep. The voyage was quite\nrough all the way to New York. At last we arrived at New York City. It\nwas morning. We remained on board until about two p. m., when we left\nthe boat and marched through the principal streets, receiving cheers\nand salutes. We had not forgotten our former experiences here however.\nAnd we were inwardly revolving the thought that as Black men we had\ndone our part in bringing about a change of sentiment that would make\na new city out of New York and every other city in the Union. And we\nfelt that it was but just that we should receive some of the plaudits\nof praise and reward. When we passed down Broadway in front of the St.\nNicholas Hotel, the flags of the Nation and of the state were suddenly\nhoisted by a Colored man and we gave three lusty cheers for the flag\nand country and home. At last the orders came to fall into line for\nour final trip. We marched to pier twenty eight East River where the\nsteamer, Granite State, was waiting to carry us to Hartford, Conn.\nThe distance was about one hundred and fifty miles. We were cheered\nby every town and village that we passed. We arrived at Hartford and\nwere escorted to the camp grounds and tendered a fine reception by the\ncitizens, a most pleasing welcome.\n\nAt eight o\u2019clock one morning we were paid off, all but one hundred\ndollars bounty which was to be paid at some future date. Some went to\ntheir homes, others remained in Hartford, until they had spent all\ntheir money and were locked up in the prisons by the police officers.\nAfter having cleared up my commissary department and turning over my\nbooks and papers to the proper custodian, and having said farewell to\nmy comrades, I took a midnight train for my home in New Haven.\n\nThe occasion of my sudden departure from Hartford is very interesting.\nOne of our soldiers was passing a Jew store. He was begged to go in and\nbuy a suit. He got the suit of clothes and walked out without paying\nfor it. The soldier came into camp and soon the Jew followed. I would\nnot allow him to enter camp and arrest the soldier. Not long afterward,\nI went down town and the Jew had me arrested and locked up. I was\nin jail until about midnight when some of my friends liberated me.\nImmediately I made my way to the station and left Hartford. I do not\nknow that the Jew got his money and I was not much concerned.\n\nI arrived at home at seven o\u2019clock in the morning and found my wife\nand children, my father and mother, ready to give me the most hearty\nwelcome and greeting which I received with a glad heart. I was not seen\nout of my house for about three weeks. I simply wanted to rest and to\ndrink in the joys that were awaiting me. Then I went to Brooklyn, my\nwife\u2019s home, and registered as a citizen of the United States. I again\nthanked God that the war was over and that slavery was dead. \u201cNow unto\nHim that hath loved us and washed us from our sins in His blood, to Him\nbe glory and dominion and power, now and forevermore. Amen!\u201d\n\n[Illustration: ALEXANDER H. NEWTON\n\nA Young Pastor]\n\n\n\n\nMy Ministerial Life and Labors\n\n\nAfter I had returned from the war, I took the needed rest, enjoyed\nthe company of my family and got myself together for a new life. I\nhad the consciousness of having done my duty to my country, of having\ncontributed something to the liberation of my people from the galling\nyoke of slavery, and now the time had come in my life for me to\ndetermine upon what course I could enter that would contribute most\nto the working out of the salvation of my people upon lines of peace\nand prosperity. This was no little task. I decided that the best way\nto find out what God wanted me to do, was to follow the leading of\nHis Providence in my life. I knew of no other way by which a man can\nascertain the will of God. God is in the life of every individual as\nfully and really as He is in the life of a race or a nation. So I\nsurrendered myself to His leading, determined that I would follow Him\nwhatever might be the cost. I felt a double assurance now that He had\ndelivered me from death in many bloody struggles, that He had something\nof importance for me to do. I was not content to take up the old life\nthat I had lived before the war, to remain in the fields of manual\nlabor, not that I considered myself above such a life, but I felt that\nthere was a course that would be vastly more valuable to my brethren,\nto my race. And I did not consider it egotism to honestly conclude that\nGod had given me talents that warranted me in seeking such a course.\n\u201cTo every man according to his ability,\u201d is the law of service. A man\nmust find out what his ability is, God already knows what talents He\nhas already alloted to this or that man according to his ability. In\nthis way and this way only, can God and man be brought together, in the\nwork of life.\n\n[Illustration: BISHOP JABEZ P. CAMPBELL, D. D., LL. D.\n\nWho gave me my first appointment]\n\nOn the evening of May sixth, I was received on probation, into the\nFleet Street A. M. E. Church, of which Elder Gould was then pastor.\nI served as assistant superintendent and Secretary, Elder Cope being\nsuperintendent of the Sunday School; Robert Turpin, one of the\npreachers, was a close friend. I was engaged while in this church\ntogether with others in a Social Betterment work. This work was\nconducted in a house to house canvass, or visit. Great work was done\nduring this year at the Bridge Street A. M. E. Church the Rev. Wm.\nWinder being pastor. There were about one hundred and fifty young\npeople added to the church on profession of their faith in Christ.\nThe Revs. Williams, Boyer, and Turpin, were the ministers who assisted\nin this revival.\n\nI preached my trial sermon at the Fleet Street Church on the evening of\nSeptember the 18th, 1871, and received Exhorters\u2019 license from Elder\nTheodore Gould. On the following Sunday, I went with Rev. Matthews and\nothers to Paterson, N. J., where we organized the A. M. E. Church. The\npeople of Paterson seemed to have been greatly lifted up and great\ngood was done in their city for the A. M. E. Church. Later on Bishop\nJ. P. Campbell told Elder Gould that he wanted a young man to take\ncharge of a church where a school was located. Brother Gould was kind\nenough to tell him of my desire for work and doubtless recommended\nme. Bishop Campbell took hold of me and gave me my first appointment\nat Pennington, N. J., where I took charge of the church and attended\nthe school, Pennington Seminary. The leaders of the new church,\nBrothers Allen, Ely and Amanias Johnson looked at the new preacher very\ninquiringly and doubtless were laughing up their sleeves for I had\nnot gotten the flimsy, panhandle, look off me as yet, and they were a\nlittle slow in taking hold of me and I did not know how to take hold\nof them. However, I managed to get on the good side of Bro. Allen. I\ntold him the troubles of my heart and got his sympathy. One of these\ntroubles was that I did not know much. He said that he would help me\nall he could and that I must stay close to the cross of Christ. So with\nthe assistance of God\u2019s grace and the help of Brother Allen, I was able\nto surmount all obstacles. I organized a church in the house of Lewis\nSchenks, at Lawrenceville.\n\nI organized the church at Birmingham, having been assisted by Brothers\nJos. Long and Maxwell Frost of Trenton. This church was afterwards\nreorganized and moved to Langhorne by Dr. John W. Stevenson. I attended\nthe Pennington Seminary under the presidency of Dr. Hanlon. Rev. Mr.\nMarshall and the sister of Dr. Hanlon were of great service to me in my\npreparatory course. One day I was walking through the campass when I\nmet Dr. Hanlon. He stopped and fixing his eyes on me said: \u201cYoung man\nyou should walk upright before God and remember that all your strength\ncomes from Him.\u201d I shall never forget the deep impression that his\nadvice made on me. It deepened my conviction of the Divine life in man\nand of the necessity of living that life daily. I felt no doubt like\nNaaman that I had need to go to the Jordan, the river of Israel and\nbe washed from my leprosy of sin. This was the first time that I had\ncharge of a church and I felt the keen responsibility. And I do not\ndoubt that those who heard me preach had the feeling that instead of\nmy having charge of them that they should have charge of me. But such\nthings are of the ordering of the Lord who chooses babes to confound\nthe wise and the weak things of the world to confound the mighty. There\nis a time when a man feels that the best thing that he can do is to\nget out of self into Christ. Self is one of the greatest blessings if\nChrist is its center, but if man himself constitutes the center of life\nit is the stronghold of every sin.\n\n[Illustration: REV. THEODORE GOULD, D.D.,\n\nWho gave me my first license to preach.]\n\nWhile engaged in this work I frequently had to walk ten miles to Sorel\nMountain, one of my appointments, which was a part of this circuit.\nMy salary was indeed very small, but they fed me and cared for me the\nbest they could, and God did the rest. I closed my work here with\ntwenty-three converts added to the church. As I write these lines, I\nlook back to see the ravages of time and what they have wrought. Those\nwho were received into the church by me at that time, with very few\nexceptions, have finished their battle of life and completed their\nlabors, long since, and have gone home to render a better service than\nthey could have rendered here.\n\nI made improvements on the Church buildings of the circuit and was able\nto make a good report to the Conference which met at Philadelphia. At\nthis conference I was received into membership by Bishop Paul Quinn.\nIt was here that I made for the first time, my acquaintance with Dr.\nB. T. Tanner, Rev. T. G. Stewart, Rev. Frisby Cooper and others. Rev.\nJoshua Woodland was my presiding elder. I was permitted to attend the\nLincoln University, in Chester County, Pennsylvania. I was supported\nby Mr. Amos Clark Junion of Elizabeth, N. J., and preached on Sundays\nin the Siloam Presbyterian church. Here I made the acquaintance of a\nlocal preacher, Rev. David Croshon, of the A. M. E. Church and Brother\nScisco from whom I learned a great deal about church work. Being wholly\ninexperienced and poorly educated, I felt the curse of the regime of\nslavery, although I had never been a slave. I longed for the equipment\nthat comes from a thorough education and realized that if in some way\nI did not educate myself, I could never amount to much. So it is hard\nfor me at my time of life although a closer student than ever, to\nunderstand or to be in sympathy with any preacher who in his ignorance,\nis satisfied to remain so. There is something sadly lacking in such a\nman and I greatly fear those qualities without which no man is either\nacceptable to God or to the church, as a minister of the Gospel.\n\n[Illustration: BISHOP WILLIAM PAUL QUINN\n\nWho received me into the Conference]\n\nI realized also that in addition to my own weakness that this world\nwas no friend to grace to help me on to God. I had many foes within and\nwithout me to overcome.\n\nIn June, 1870, I was requested by Bishop J. P. Campbell to report at\nthe Philadelphia Conference, he having, in the interval, taken me up\nand sent me to the Pennington circuit. I reported at the conference and\nwas transferred to the South under the care of Bishop John M. Brown.\nI was sent to Pulaski, Tenn. This was about the time that the Ku Klux\nKlan was having its sway in the south. These men were engaged in every\nkind of intimidation and cruelty in order to keep the Negroes from\nvoting the Republican ticket. They would kill, torture, or do anything\nthat came into mind in order that their purpose might be realized. At\nthis time there were many Colored people holding office in the South.\nThe unrest and the mental suffering of these times were as severe\na strain almost as the period of the war itself. When I arrived at\nPulaski, Tenn. I was introduced to what I might expect in the South.\nI presented my check to the baggage master for my trunk. He refused\nto take the trunk off the car, but threw it upon the platform in the\nroughest manner. A White man standing near, saw that I was very much\nsurprised at such treatment and approaching me, asked if I did not like\nthat kind of treatment and that if I did not he would proceed to give\nme some more of it. I told him that I had made no complaints at all.\nHe asked me where I was going and what I was doing, and I was glad to\nslip away and find the steward of the church. I related these things to\nhim and he told me that I had acted wisely in being calm and making no\nfuss over the matter. He told me that the White folks were Ku Kluxing\nthe Colored people without mercy and going out of their way to find\nprovocations for such devilish work. The steward told me that I would\nhave to be very careful as a minister in and out of the pulpit, that\nthe Klu Klux Klan was especially after the preachers to force them to\nuse their influence to make the Negroes vote the Democratic ticket in\nelections.\n\nThey found me a boarding place with a Mrs. Batts. I found that the\nColored men of this community were doing good business. One was a\ncotton merchant, a Mr. Harris, I remember. I was greatly assisted in\nthis charge by my local preachers. They were more experienced than I\nin the work of the pastorate and I felt them to be my superiors in\neverything. The meetings were good. Souls were converted and many were\nadded to the church. There was not much money in circulation and the\nsalary was small. They used cards to trade with, postage stamps, and\nwhatever of value would be accepted or exchanged for what you wanted.\nI remember one night the Klu Klux Klan came to the house of one of my\nmembers, a Mr. Pleasant Rector, called him to the door and shot him\ndown as if he had been a dog. His wife and children were frightened\nalmost to death. One of his daughters asked me what she must do. I\ncould tell her that nothing would help such dreadful matters, so we\nall went to the church and prayed over the matter, and I consoled\nthem as best I could. These were dreadful times. The hatred and the\nrevenge of the Southern White man who had been whipped by his Northern\nWhite Brother, were now visited upon the still helpless race. We had\nto receive the very wounds which the Southerners would loved to have\nvisited upon his White brothers, and which they tried to visit upon\nthem in war, but failed. We did a good work here along temperance and\nmissionary lines.\n\nIn September, 1873, the Conference convened at Memphis, Tenn. This was\nthe annual conference of the A. M. E. Church and it convened at the St.\nAndrews Chapel of that city. Rev. B. L. Brooks, preached the opening\nsermon. The Bishop, John M. Brown, was belated, so the conference\nproceeded with business, having made Elder Page Tyler chairman, and\nElder Brooks, secretary. The regular routine of business was purposed.\nBishop Brown arrived on the fourth day, having gotten his dates\nmixed, then he was afraid that at that time it was unwise to hold any\npublic meetings owing to the presence of yellow fever in the city. The\nConference remained in session until it had completed its business.\nYellow fever at this time was raging in Memphis. A friend told me that\nhe stood at a street corner and counted seventy-four funerals as they\npassed. In the house where I was stopping, there was a yellow fever\ncase in the room next to mine. The meeting of the Conference in Memphis\nwas a very successful one considering the obstacles contended against.\n\nThe following Conference held a year later, was in Nashville,\nTenn. This Conference was presided over by Bishop Brown. At this\nconference several were ordained as deacons, among them myself. While\nat Nashville, the Conference visited Fisk University and also the\nTennessee college.\n\nDuring this time I remained at Campbell Chapel, Pulaski, Tenn. We\nbought ground and made brick and quarried stone, for the basement of a\nchurch. There were about fifty members added to the church.\n\nI cannot refrain from speaking frequently of the great injustice\ndone the Colored man in the South at this time. Prejudice was rife.\nIt showed its hydra-head in every possible way and was a serpent\nwith a venomed sting. I remember an incident which illustrates how\nfearful this prejudice was. I saw a White man bring his horse up to a\npublic watering place, and about the same time a Colored man drove his\nhorse up to the same trough. He said to the Colored man, \u201cA Nigger\u2019s\nhorse can\u2019t drink with my horse,\u201d and ordered him away. Immediately a\nmob gathered and beat the man to death for this \u201ccrime.\u201d I preached\nthe funeral of the poor fellow, but was not allowed to refer to the\ncircumstances, or I suppose there would have been another funeral in\na day or so. My report at the end of this year was a reasonably good\none, the number who had joined the church was about one hundred and ten\nand for all purposes we raised about $2,518.00. I was indeed very well\nsatisfied with the work of the year.\n\nThe next Conference met in Chattanooga. This conference was presided\nover by Bishop Brown, assisted by Bishop Ward. The various reports\nshowed the church to be in a growing and prosperous condition. The\nConference report showed 9527 members of the A. M. E. Church in this\nConference, 1122 probationers, 210 local preachers, 120 exhorters,\n114 churches, valued at $106,101.00. This was a good showing so\nsoon after the war. At this Conference I was appointed to a charge\nin Chattanooga, Tenn., with Elder R. French Harley as my presiding\nelder. We had a fearful flood during this year in Chattanooga. There\nwas great suffering and loss of property. I did not do well in this\ncharge, however I completed, the church and added 86 to the membership\nof the Church. I found that it was necessary to turn two men out of the\nchurch, for their misconduct. They gained the confidence and bias of\nthe presiding elder, and he moved me from this place. Thus it is that\na man must suffer for the right that he does, while many go unpunished\nfor the evil doings. But that should afford no reason for not always\ndoing the right. We, as ministers of the Gospel, must take our stand\nfor the uprightness of character and the righteousness of conduct,\nwithout any consideration of the price which this stand will cost us.\nBishop Brown transferred me to the Arkansas Conference, which met at\nPine Bluff, Arkansas. At this conference I was ordained Elder by Bishop\nBrown and sent to the Bethel A. M. E. Church at Little Rock, Arkansas.\n\nI found in this city the prejudice against the Colored people rife and\nthat they had to contend against very great odds on every hand. But\nin spite of this, many of the Colored people were in a flourishing\ncondition. There were men prominent in the ministry who had gone out\nfrom this place, such as Revs. H. H. Pettigrew, Reuben Johnson, A. A.\nWilliams, J. F. A. Sission, J. T. Jennifer, Andrew J. Chambers, and\nothers. The Hon. Judge Gibbs, William Rector, and Elias Rector who was\nfulfilling a prominent place in the post office were leading business\nmen. The church here was built by Brother J. T. Jennifer, D.D. My\ndaughter Ada was with me at this time, my son William Alexander, having\nremained in Tennessee. There were many noble workers in this church,\nviz: Joseph Stone, Jerome Lewis, Nelson Warren, Sam White, Willie\nOliver, and others whose names are too numerous to mention.\n\nMy wife, Olivia Newton having died in 1868, and being a widower, while\nhere I became acquainted with a young lady, Miss Lulu L. Campbell,\nsecretary of the Sunday School. I found her to be a noble Christian\nwoman and felt that the Lord had brought us into contact for a great\npurpose. After having considered the matter and having consulted my\ndaughter and finding that she approved, we were married June 1, 1876.\n\nAfter paying off a little more of the debt on the church and adding\nabout ninety souls to the membership of the church, I finished my\nfirst year\u2019s work. The Conference met the following year at the Bethel\nChurch, Little Rock. At this Conference I was transferred by Bishop\nWard to the Louisiana Conference and was to have been stationed at the\nSt. James Church, New Orleans, but owing to some miscarriage in the\nappointments, I was given the station at Algiers, La. There as in other\nplaces, I was not long in arranging and drilling my forces for active\nwork. We succeeded in repairing the church, but were greatly hindered\nby the ragings of smallpox and yellow fever in this section. I remember\na fearful example of the work of the K. K. K. in this section. A woman\nhad been taken by this devilish clan and they had cut off her breasts.\nShe showed her bosom to a few and they had done their work well, for\nher bosom was as flat as a man\u2019s. These were some of the outrages that\nwere continually committed on the Colored people. It is sometimes\nwondered at, that the Colored people are so slow to place confidence in\nthe White Race, that they too, have a deep seated prejudice which now\nand then crops out in some vile offense against the White Race, if our\nWhite friends only understood that these fearful atrocities committed\nthen and even now, against my people, are not easily forgotten, they\nwould the better understand. Human nature is the same and it will\nrequire a great deal of the grace of God to smother out all the\nhorrible memories that have passed from individual hearts into the\nheart of the Race to which I belong. But the time will doubtless come\nand then we will see a different state of affairs.\n\nI remember another incident at this place. As I have said, the smallpox\nwas raging. I was invited to conduct the funeral of a small boy who\nhad died of this disease. When I went to the house and was seen by\nthe mother, she rushed to me and threw her arms about me and wept.\nOf course she had been nursing the child. I was greatly annoyed by\nthis foolish act which threatened the health of my own family, but\nas the good Lord willed, nothing came of it. After doing my best\nhere, I decided that I would not stay longer. I consulted Bishop\nWard and others. They told me that I was making a very unwise step,\nbut I got a transfer and went to Bishop Brown in the North Carolina\nConference. The Conference met November 14th. at the Gaston Chapel,\nMorgantown, N. C., presided over by Bishop Brown. The regular routine\nof business was taken up and the reports showed a growing condition of\nthe church. Dr. H. M. Turner, manager of the Publication Department\nand J. H. W. Burley, financial secretary, appeared and made their\nreports. The number of members in the Conference as reported were,\n5131; probationers 877; churches 58; support of pastors $4749.51. I was\nreceived into this Conference and appointed to the station, Raleigh,\nN. C.\n\nI had instructions to go to Mr. Norfleet Dunson, but he was away and I\nwas sent to Mr. Stewart Ellisons.\n\nWhen I went to Raleigh, I had a very discouraging experience. I drove\nup to a Brother Ellisons\u2019, rapped on the door. A lady came to the door.\nI told her that I was the preacher who had been sent to the St. Paul\u2019s\nA. M. E. Church. She informed me that all her family had gone to the\nfuneral, so I had my trunk brought upon the porch and sat down upon\nit. She had evidently expected me to come in when the trunk was safely\non the porch. But I remained in the porch, being worn out and out of\npatience.\n\nPresently she came out and invited me in. I told her that no one was\nat home but herself and that I would remain outside until the folks\ncame home. She said, \u201cNow I don\u2019t want any foolishness around here,\nif you have been sent here to be pastor of our church, you come right\nin.\u201d Well, that was hearty enough a reception, a positive command, of\ncourse I obeyed orders, I had learned this in the army. Soon the family\nreturned. They were delighted to see me, built a fine fire, made ready\na fine supper, and after a social time I was sent to a good bed. After\nI retired I felt very much ashamed of myself for the ugly feeling I\nhad harbored and repented of my sins. It never pays to allow one\u2019s bad\nfeelings to get the better of their good feelings, for they always pay\na big price for the victory. My official board was made up of John\nO\u2019Kelley, Stewart Ellison, Norfleet Dunson, Seth Nowell, and Henry\nHunter. They were a very fine set of men. We went to work in earnest,\nbought a lot and paid off a great many debts. There were over 230\naccessions to the church, of whom I baptized about 150 by immersion. I\nreceived a salary of $1000.00 which was very large at that time in our\nConnection. They gave me $75.00 that I might bring my wife and daughter\nfrom Algiers, La. The Colored people at this place were very successful\nin business and of good reputation and character. The White people,\nthat is those especially interested in us, were very kind indeed. A\nMrs. Dorr, (white) was principal of the school for Colored children.\nShe did a great deal for the uplifting of the Race. Mr. Tupper, (white)\nwas the president of Shaw University, a Baptist school of the Colored\npeople. My daughter, Ada, taught rhetoric, in the Shaw University.\n\nI concluded my work at this place and was able to carry to the\nConference fine reports. This was largely due to the fact that the\nchurch was very spiritual. It was on the Lord\u2019s side on all those\nquestions which affect the religion of a community. Sometimes a\nminister is looked upon as the cause of the failures of a church, in\nits work, as a rule he is blamed, but this is a mistake. The general\ncause is to be found in the church. A good church with a poor pastor\nwill succeed, but a bad church with a good pastor is liable to fail.\nChrist could do no mighty works in a certain place because of their\nunbelief. There are many good preachers who are unable to do good work\nbecause of the unbelief of the people and the consequence of this\nunbelief. It acts as a kind of paralysis, and indeed it is, a paralysis\nof the church.\n\nI left this church for the station of Newberne, N. C. This was my\nbirthplace. I was really glad to get back to the place where I first\nsaw the light. I had been absent for twenty years. I saw that great\nchanges had taken place during this time. There were no slave gangs, no\nwhipping posts, no slave pen, no auction block. One of the first things\nthat I did was to go to see a tree opposite the house of Bob Walker, in\nan old field, the spot where Tom Lewis had been whipped nearly to death\nfor attacking a White man. After they had nearly killed him they took\nhim down to the boat and put him on it and told him that he was never\nto put the prints of his feet on that part of the country again.\n\nI was received very cordially by the church members. Many of them I\nremembered as my friends twenty years ago and longer. I had charge of\nRue\u2019s Chapel. My first year was a very successful one. I was returned\nagain the second year.\n\nNewberne has quite a history. It is situated on the banks of two\nrivers, the Neuse and Trent rivers. The elm trees are magnificent.\nHere lived the Stevenses, Jenkinses, Bryans, Webbs, and others, all\nold slave owners. They were of course deeply interested in the traffic\nand did all in their power to keep the regime from passing away. There\nwas a Colored man at this place that owned slaves also, a Mr. J. S.\nStanley. Newberne was a great turpentine center. There were turpentine\ndistilleries here and about here. But great changes had taken place.\nThe magnificent dwelling house of the Stevens was now occupied by\na Colored man and run as a hotel. A Mr. George H. White was the\nsuperintendent of the public schools, (Colored) at this place and had\nalso a law office. He afterwards became solicitor of state and a member\nof the U. S. Congress. He is now the president of a Savings Bank, on\nLombard Street, Philadelphia, Penna. Mr. Sylvester Mackey and Judge\nMumford were merchants. Presiding Elder, Edward Hill, of the Zion A.\nM. E. Church, was a wealthy planter. Mrs. Edward R. Richardson was a\nclerk in the Post Office. Mr. John Willis was a deputy sheriff. These\nand other men and women had made good their opportunities. They had not\nonly welcomed the change from slavery but they had taken their places\nas freedmen among the citizens of this country and had demonstrated\nthat they had in them that out of which the best citizens are made. I\nforgot to mention that the Rev. J. C. Price, D.D., former president of\nLivingston College, Salisbury, N. C., was born at this town. Dr. Price\nwas one of the most distinguished orators, educators and scholars of\nthe country regardless of color.\n\nAfter my second year at this place, I attended the General Conference\nof the A. M. E. Church which met in St. Louis, Mo. I took my wife\nand baby and we went up on boat. My daughter Ada returned to Shaw\nUniversity, Raleigh, N. C. where she was an instructor. At St. Louis,\nI met a great many ministers whom I knew and many more with whom I\ngot well acquainted. I was quite indisposed while there, but was able\nto attend the sessions of the Conference. It was at this Conference\nthat Elder R. H. Cain, D.D., made his defense against the charge of\nmaladministration in office. And I am sure that it was his noble\ndefense that brought about his election to the office of Bishopric.\nWhile in St. Louis, I visited some of the places of interest. I\ncalled upon Mr. J. Milton Turner, editor of the Freeman\u2019s Journal who\nafterward represented the U. S. as minister to Hayti.\n\nI visited a large Catholic (Roman) school. This was my first visit\nto a Roman Catholic institution of any kind. I was deeply impressed\nwith the services, with the use of crucifixes, and the place that\nimages held in their service. It was very strange to me. I could not\nunderstand how their minds and hearts could be fixed on God while at\nthe same time they were giving so much time to these genuflections,\nrituals, and ceremonies. I remembered the second commandment. I saw\nthat this commandment was being broken. For there were the images and\nlikenesses of things in Heaven and on the earth, if not under earth.\nAnd yet at the same time these people seemed to be in earnest, they\ndid what they had before them with a devotion that attracted. But it\nwas all wrong because the Word of God in one of the Ten Commandments\ncondemned it. The Roman Catholic Church with all its pomp, pride and\nwealth, is wrong in its fundamental principals and is therefore guilty\nof idolatry--they are not worshipping God only, they are worshipping\nsaints and other divinities.\n\nOn Thursday, May 20, 1880, Revs. H. M. Turner, R. H. Cain, W. F.\nDickerson were elected bishops of the A. M. E. Church. Bishops Payne,\nWayman, Campbell, Shorter, Ward and Brown, together with the required\nnumber of elders, officiated. I left St. Louis and on my way home,\nstopped over in Little Rock, Ark., spending Sunday there. It was my\npleasure to preach in Bethel Church on Sunday afternoon, for the Rev.\nDr. J. T. Jennifer, the pastor of the church. I enjoyed meeting my\nmany old friends. I was soon back at my work in Newberne, N. C., and\nremained there until the end of the year. Quite a number of members\nunited with the church and debts were paid off. My work at this place\nwas reasonably successful.\n\nI attended the Conference that met in Raleigh, N. C. On account of my\nmother\u2019s health I requested a transfer from this section to the North,\nand at this Conference I was transferred to the Conference of New\nJersey. I received appointment to the station of Morristown, N. J. I\narrived at Morristown with my daughter, Ada. It was midnight and very\ncold. I was somewhat discouraged. My daughter said to me, father, it is\nvery cold and the outlook is a gloomy one, but I am here to stay with\nyou and help all that I can. (Poor child, long since she passed away to\nthat country where the inhabitants are free from the tribulations of\nthis world.) I was reminded of a couplet in one of the old hymns,\n\n  \u201cThy saints in all this glorious war\n  Shall conquer though they die.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: BISHOP JOHN M. BROWN, D.D., D.C.L.\n\nWho ordained me as an Elder.]\n\nI was sent to the Morristown station to fill out the unexpired term of\nthe Rev. Mr. Smith deceased. We spent the night at the parsonage, then\nMr. Henry Ader, a prominent contractor and steward in the church,\ncame to see us and took us to his house until the parsonage was put in\nshape for us. We were most pleasantly entertained by him. While in this\nfield of labor I sought out a secret spot where I might meet with God\nand talk over with Him all the work that I was entering upon in this\nfield. I realized that such an arrangement with God was best and one\nthat every Christian who is doing business for the King, should have.\nSo I regularly kept my engagements with God in this place. I put before\nHim all my plans and went over them, seeking His wisdom and help. It is\nwonderful how He brings to our assistance His strength and grace when\nwe honor Him as we should in this way. The Saviour Himself taught that\nwe should have our closet, that is, a secret place, where we talk with\nGod about everything that interests us. That we should not do as the\nPharisees and Scribes, who loved to talk with God on the street corners\nand public places that they might be seen of men. \u201cWhen thou prayest\nenter into thy closet and thy Father who seeth in secret shall reward\nthee openly.\u201d\n\nMr. Henry Ader, Lansing Furman, George Yates, Nicholas Miller, Henry\nJohnson, Robert Gale, Preston Garland, together with their wives, were\nthe active members in this church and they were indeed a noble band of\nworkers. There was harmony in the church between the members and a\nzeal marked with wisdom in their work. I was soon able to have my wife\nand children come on from Little Rock, Ark. This getting together again\nwas a happy reunion of my home. I found the Y. M. C. A. in this place\nto be a noble band of workers and very much interested in the colored\npeople. Such influences as this are very inspiring to my people. I\nmet and had the pleasant acquaintance while here of the pastor of the\nPresbyterian Church, the Rev. Dr. Erdman (white). I found him to be a\nnoble Christian man and very deeply interested in the uplifting of our\npeople. He not only used his influence but contributed of his means\nfor our welfare. I had the pleasure of preaching for him in his own\npulpit. I might mention also a Dr. Owen, a physician (white), who did\na great deal for our people and cause. He assisted us in paying off\nthe mortgage on our Church and in getting the Church out of debt. In\nall these things I was able to see the gleams of the light of God\u2019s\nlove shining down upon us every day. For we must remember that the love\nand the friendship of our white friends are but the sunshine of God\u2019s\nlove falling upon us to bless us and to teach us that God has His own\nchosen ones in this world who are living on the table land of Christian\nthought and activity, far above the swamps of prejudice and racial\nanimosity. We, too, should daily seek to live on these same highlands\nof God\u2019s love and peace.\n\n[Illustration: REV. J. W. COOPER,\n\nTreasurer of the New Jersey Conference.]\n\nThe Conference met at Princeton, N. J. I was received into the\nmembership of this Conference and entered into the active duties\nthereof on committees on which I was assigned. I found the brethren\nvery cordial in their welcome and pleasant as co-laborers in the Lord\u2019s\nwork. I met here for the first time, Elders J. W. Cooper, J. H. Bean,\nGeorge A. Mills, J. H. Morgan, R. Faucett, J. T. Diggs, Winston Taylor,\nJ. R. V. Pierce, Wilson Patterson, S. B. Williams and others. I was\nassigned to Morristown and was much pleased with the appointment.\nWe had a very pleasant year as well as profitable. The Conference\nthe following year was entertained by my Church. This meeting of the\nConference was a very pleasant and profitable one. The reports showed\nthat in every way the denomination in this part of the vineyard was\ndoing its work reasonably well. The Conference had the pleasure while\nhere of visiting Drew Seminary. Some of our Bishops and leaders made\naddresses, which were kindly received judging from the responses on the\npart of the Faculty of this noble institution. This is a theological\nschool of the M. E. Church. After the adjournment of the Conference I\nslipped away for a much needed rest, not letting my congregation or\neven my wife know where I was going. I went to New York City for a few\ndays. Sometimes it is necessary for a man to get away from every work\nthat he may recuperate himself.\n\nAbout this time I attended the funeral of my cousin, John Harris,\nliving on Lombard street, Philadelphia. While here I met Bishops Wayman\nand Brown; Financial Secretary, B. W. Arnett, (since made Bishop, but\nnow deceased), and Judge Allen (colored), of South Carolina. I visited\nthe Philadelphia Conference which met at West Chester, Pa. This was a\nvery delightful meeting of Conference.\n\nI soon returned to my field of labor, at Morristown, very much\nrefreshed and entered upon my labors with new zeal and, I trust, more\nwisdom. All through my ministry I have been deeply impressed with the\nfact that we must do all that we can for our young people. They are,\nin their own time and generation, to do all in their power to work out\nthe salvation of their people. They must be trained to take up the\nlabors of their fathers and mothers with more zeal and wisdom than\ntheir parents, so that the cause of the race may be greatly advanced\nby them in their day. When I think of the ten millions or more of my\npeople in this country, and their destiny will be largely fixed by\nthe coming generation of Afro-Americans; I almost tremble for the\noutcome, because I fear that the fathers and mothers of this day and\ngeneration have not done their work as well as they could have done it.\nThere are great odds against us in this country, and it will require\nstrong bodies, characters and minds, together with the power and wisdom\nof God, to bring my people to the place where they can become potent\nfactors in this mighty civilization. At Morristown I furnished the\nparsonage, paid off all debts and added 40 members to the Church. I\nalso organized the Church at Madison, N. J.\n\n[Illustration: MACEDONIA A. M. E. CHURCH\n\nCamden, N. J.\n\nBuilt by Rev. W. H. Yeocum, D.D., and Rev. A. H. Newton, D.D.]\n\nOn April 18, 1883, the New Jersey Conference met at Bridgeton, N. J.,\nin the Mt. Zion A. M. E. Church. My report was as follows: Contingent,\n$1; salary, $580; traveling expenses, $12; P. E. support, $49; Dollar\nMoney, $27; Missionary Fund, $12; Sunday School, $22; number of\nmembers, 61; probationers, 4; Sunday School scholars, 120. I was sent\nfrom this Conference to Trenton, N. J., where I spent two years in the\npastoral work. I increased the membership of this Church from 62 to 180\nduring this time and paid off a great many debts and advanced the cause\nof Christ in many ways. After this pastorate, I served the Macedonia A.\nM. E. Church, Camden, N. J.\n\nI attended the General Conference in Baltimore, which was a wideawake\nmeeting. While living and working in Camden I bought my first house\nand became a property owner. I did this because the parsonage could\nnot be vacated at the time I needed the house. I have never regretted\nthis step. And I hope that many who read this volume will take a\nsimilar step. There is no comfort like living under your own \u201cvine\nand fig tree.\u201d My work in the Camden Church was very successful. I\nhad associated with me Mr. C. W. Robinson, Taswell Green, W. Starr,\nJames Hunt, James Martin, George Rice, Mary White, Lizzie Green, Mary\nMerril, Emma Pitts, Mary Stevenson and other helpers, whose loyalty and\nfaithfulness were most praiseworthy.\n\nWe had the great pleasure of entertaining the Conference, which was a\nmost profitable meeting. The Conference was opened by a sermon from\nBishop Campbell and presided over by Bishop Wayman. I was complimented\nat this meeting by the brethren along the strain that God had special\nblessings prepared for me and that in a peculiar sense He had cared\nfor me. I told them that I praised Him for all that I was, and had\nbeen able to do for Him; that they all knew that I had started\nwithout any education in the schools. I had been blessed with good\nhealth and ordinarily good sense; that my school was the school in\nwhich Jesus Christ is the Principal and the Holy Spirit the Teacher;\nthat I had associated every day with my schoolmates, the sun, moon,\nstars, rivers, trees, grass, flowers and birds; that the world was my\nblackboard, and the mountains my college walls. Here is where I got my\nstart. As I now look out on the young men who are entering the ministry\nand see the splendid opportunities they have of acquiring an education,\nI am really appalled that they do not improve these opportunities. It\nis a mystery to me. I hope that the Holy Spirit will awaken in the\nminds and hearts of the young men of my race who expect to preach the\nGospel, the determination and effort to thoroughly prepare themselves\nto preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ.\n\nI was left at the Macedonia Church for another year. We were able to\ncomplete the Church during this year, and it was dedicated on the 24th\nof October, 1886, by Bishop Wayman. The collection which we were able\nto raise at this dedicatory service was $900. The church building is\na fine edifice, with stained glass windows and a fine pipe organ. We\nwere very proud of our work. At this service I performed two marriages\nbetween Mr. Frank Miller and Miss Georgia Stratton, and Mr. Charles\nJ. Cloud and Miss Sarah J. Beatty. I finished my work in Camden, paid\n$11,000 on indebtedness, was blessed with 200 conversions, of whom 160\nunited with the church and paid for my house at No. 332 Washington\nStreet, Camden, N. J. I left an indebtedness of $5000 in the church.\n\nThe Conference of 1886 met at Trenton, N. J., and was presided over\nby Bishop Wayman. It was a very profitable meeting. The Conference\nappointed a committee to call on the Governor of the State. They\narranged a time and had a most pleasant meeting with this official.\nRev. W. A. S. Rice, D.D., was the spokesman of the committee, which\nconsisted of Rev. J. P. Sampson, D.D., W. A. S. Rice, D.D., and Rev. A.\nH. Newton, D.D. The Governor afterwards sent for Dr. Rice and asked him\nwhat the Conference wanted in making a call upon him. Dr. Rice was not\nable to say anything definitely. Then he told Dr. Rice of a provision\nwhich the legislature had made for the founding and maintaining of a\nColored Industrial School. The outcome of this conference of Dr. Rice\nwith the Governor was that the Industrial School at Bordentown was\nestablished and that Dr. Rice became its honored founder.\n\nI would like to say in this connection that the chairman of this\ncommittee, Rev. J. P. Sampson, D.D., my life long friend, has ever been\nprominent in the work of the church. He is a man of fine ability, of\nsound judgment, and of noble Christian character. He has been tested by\nme during a long life and I have ever found him to be tried and true.\nI always know where to find Dr. Sampson on any great and important\nquestion, he is on the right side.\n\nI was sent to Bridgeton, N. J., and served this charge with\ncheerfulness and success. At the next Conference I was appointed by\nBishop Campbell, pastor over the Millville Circuit. I made my home at\nVineland, N. J. I looked after the church in Vineland. This being a\nvery poor charge, my wife raised chickens and the children gardened,\nand we were able to live. I went back to my old trade at odd times,\nthat of bricklayer. I did not fear to take off my coat, roll up my\nsleeves and go to work. I made $3.75 a day, paid off the debt on\nthe church, preached to them on Sundays and added quite a number to\nthe church. I went from here to New Brunswick, N. J., and was quite\nsuccessful. I found the people thoroughly alive to the interests of\nthe Kingdom of Heaven. This church had the honor of entertaining the\nEighteenth Annual Conference of the A. M. E. connection at the end of\nmy first year. This Conference showed a deeper interest in the cause\nof education than any other. The speech that stirred the Conference\nwas made by editor L. J. Coppin. The reports at this Conference showed\na total membership of 4352; Probationers, 1200; Accessions, 1036;\nPreachers, 71; Sunday School Scholars, 3694; Dollar Money, $1538.52;\nPastors\u2019 Support, $18,000. I remained at this charge for another year.\nI determined that I would do the best work of my life this year. In\nexamining myself I found that I was as full of zeal as when I first\nentered the ministry and that the secret motive was to please the Lord\nby serving Him to the best of my ability. I was greatly aided in my\nwork by the Rev. J. H. Morgan, the presiding elder. He had the tact\nand good sense to bring about a most pleasant relationship between\npastor and people. The Rev. Mr. Pockman, of the Reformed Church, aided\nme very much in my work. I always sought the advice and help of my\nMethodist brethren, as well as the brethren of other denominations.\nWilliam Stiles, Dorie Davis, Josiah Henson, Thomas March, Alice\nThompson, Mrs. March, Samuel Dowdie, Harriet Henson, and others were my\nvaluable co-workers during this year. We paid off the debt, furnished\nthe parsonage, repaired and carpeted the church building, paid the\nmortgage of 15 years\u2019 standing and were blessed with an addition to\nthe membership of forty-two souls. I was therefore able to take a\ngood report to the next meeting of the Conference. The reports at\nthis Conference showed splendid progress being made by this branch\nof the Methodist Church. And it requires but a brief examination\nto prove that this is also true of every denomination represented\namong my people. I submit a few facts and figures that may be of\ngreat encouragement to my friends who have the patience to read this\nvolume. There are 55,784 church organizations; 56,228 church buildings;\n2,672,977 members of all denominations; church property is valued at\n$32,510,448; when I enlisted in the Civil War we had practically no\nschools, because before the war it was a misdemeanor to teach Colored\nchildren in school, now there are upwards of 2,000,000 Colored children\nattending well taught schools. This is a record of which we are very\nproud, but by no means satisfied with the achievement. We must press\nforward along all lines of work and enterprise. There is no time for\nidling, there is no place for drones, there is no reward for ignorance.\n\nMy next assignment was Cape May, N. J. During the pastorate of Rev. J.\nHeight Bean, D.D., this church had bought a lot on which was a house\nused as a parsonage. We were greatly favored here by a Mr. Ogden, who\naided us in procuring lumber. He was a most kind man to the poor and\nneedy and in his kindness he knew no color line. The church building\nwas not plastered or seated, so we decided to borrow money for this\npurpose. We needed $500 and owed a mortgage of $1200. We had not a\ncent. Therefore the Board decided on a rally. At this rally we had with\nus the Rev. Israel Derricks, of the Conference of New York. On that day\nwe raised $168 in cash and $50 in subscriptions. On another Sabbath\nlater we raised $250. Rev. Levi Coppin aided us very materially that\nday. So that at last we were able to pay in cash $468 of the $500 which\nwe had expected to borrow. The School Board at Cape May applied to me\nfor two teachers to fill vacancies in public school. I recommended\nMiss Gertie Pierce, of Trenton, N. J., and Miss Fannie Worthington, of\nWashington, D. C. They were accepted and given positions. Our church\nat this place supplied two of the school teachers, this year, for the\nteaching of the Colored children. The Misses Gertie Pierce and Fannie\nWorthington were the young ladies. Through the spiritual activity of\nthe members we had a splendid revival during the year which resulted\nin forty members being added to the church, and in all 62 members. We\ninstalled a pipe organ also. I am glad to say that the members of this\nchurch were in dead earnest. So I had no trouble with mud-slingers\nand evil doers. How much time of a pastor is frequently taken up in\nfighting against the Devil who is incarnated in some of the members of\nthe church!\n\n[Illustration: BISHOP HENRY M. TURNER\n\nWho appointed me Presiding Elder]\n\nThe next Conference met at Morristown, N. J. It was a great delight to\nreturn and meet my old friends and co-laborers. The reports of this\nConference showed a steady growth and advancement along all lines.\n\nI am often reminded of the courage of Bishop Allen, who, when he and\nhis friends were declared a nuisance in the White church and while on\ntheir knees in prayers were taken hold of, and ordered to the back part\nof the church, went out and organized the A. M. E. Denomination. God\nwent out with him as results have shown. And on account of this most\nun-Christian treatment which the founder of our church received, I have\ngiven my life with redoubled zeal to its establishment in this land.\nOur church has stood for an independence which has been an uplifting\npower in the Race. While in some cases this may have been carried too\nfar by unwise persons, yet on the whole no one can gainsay that the\nA. M. E. Church has been a Divinely appointed agency in the life and\nlabors of the Negro Race of the United States of America.\n\nAt this Conference I was made a Presiding Elder of the Trenton District\nby Bishop H. M. Turner, D.D. I moved my family to Philadelphia, Pa.\nWith the aid of my friends, my family was pleasantly domiciled in\nPhiladelphia and I started on my first rounds as a P. E. This was the\nmost difficult part of my ministerial life. I found that there was no\nchurch in the N. J. Conference that wanted to see the presiding elder.\nThey looked upon him as an unnecessary part of church machinery. They\nconsidered him as a dependent on their gifts and that every time that\nhe came it meant \u201cmore money, more money.\u201d My first quarterly meeting\nwas to have been held at the church at Mt. Holly but I found that\nthe pastor was not ready to hold the meeting, so it was postponed. I\nwent to another place and the pastor told me that \u201cthings were very\nunfavorable there.\u201d The result of my first round was that when I came\nback to Camden, I had to borrow ten dollars. I attended during this\nyear the General Conference which met in the Mother Bethel Church,\nPhiladelphia. I witnessed the ordination of Revs. B. F. Lee, M. B.\nSalter and James A. Handy to the Bishopric. The Conference created a\ngreat deal of enthusiasm for the connection. I returned to my work with\nthe determination that I would do more for the Lord than I had ever\ndone before. I closed my Conference year with reasonable success. I\nreceived as a salary $680 and $57 for traveling expenses. But I believe\nthat I succeeded in convincing the people that the presiding elder may\nbe of great assistance to the local church in doing its work in that\nthe minister is often not able to cope with things as they exist.\n\nMy report at the Conference which met at Princeton, N. J., was about\nas follows: Trenton pastorate, new church built and 59 converts; new\nchurch built at Trenton Mission; new church at Jordantown; mortgage\nburned at Bordentown; church finished at Jamesburgh; the other work\nwas the routine work of the presiding elder. I was again appointed\npresiding elder of the same district. During this year I had my\ndaughter, Ada, with me, having come North and brought her husband,\nAlbert A. B. Cooper. Bishop Turner gave my son-in-law an appointment\nat Bethel, South Camden, which pleased us all very much. My wife and\nchildren not being well pleased with their residence in Philadelphia,\nI moved them to our own house in Camden. During this year as presiding\nelder I took up a campaign against worldliness in the church. I found\nthat our young people were drifting off to places of amusement, such\nas theatres, parks, etc. This work was carried on by the pastors in my\ndistrict and I am glad to say that there was a great change for the\nbetter. I do not think that our young people are malicious or wilful\nin such matters, but that it is largely on account of the indifference\non the part of their pastors. It is not enough to go into the pulpit\nand enter into a tirade of denunciation and scolding; this will do more\nharm than good; but reason must be employed. The world and the church\nare at enmity, they never have been and never can be friends until the\nworld, as an individual, has been saved by the blood of Jesus Christ.\nAs long as this relation of hostility exists between the world and the\nchurch, members of the church cannot be friendly to both. They cannot\nbe followers of the world and its ways and at the same time consistent\nmembers of the church.\n\nAt the Newark Conference, I was quite sick, but able to get through\nthe work. My reports as presiding elder during this year were very\nsatisfactory. I was given an appointment as a pastor at this Conference\nby Bishop B. T. Tanner, my station was South Woodbury.\n\nSick as I was, I was determined to attend the General Conference which\nmet at Wilmington, N. C. The trip was not a very pleasant one for me\nalthough everything had been done to make it pleasant. We arrived at\nRichmond, Va., and stopped twenty minutes for a meal. I was carried\ninto the dining room and seated with the brethren. I was impressed\nthere with the fact that the White people are not going to allow\nanything that has the semblance of social equality. As soon as we\nwere seated a folding screen was placed about our little company so\nas to cut us off from the White people in the dining room. This was\nsegregation in earnest.\n\nI enjoyed the meeting of the General Conference very much. I was under\nthe care of a physician and able to attend each day\u2019s session of the\nlong meeting. I was delighted to be with Mr. Joseph Sampson, my boyhood\nfriend and associate. He was Registrar of Deeds. I was rejoiced when I\nlearned from him of the mental improvement he had made. There were over\nsix hundred ministers and lay-delegates in attendance. They represented\nthe strong element of the church. There were theologians and scholars,\nmen skilled in the tactics of Christian warfare. I rejoiced that God\nhas such gatherings as this to work and plan for the general uplifting\nof my people. As long as there are men who have determined that right\nshall prevail and that the Gospel shall leaven the entire human race,\nthere is no doubt of the final issue. For we know what God\u2019s will is\nand that this will must be carried out by His loyal children.\n\nAfter my return home I was sick for about two weeks but was able to\ntake up the work at South Woodbury. The first thing we did as pastor\nand people was to plan for a new church building, the old one being in\na dilapidated condition. It took quite a while to get the people in\nthe notion of building, but we adopted our plans and began to work.\nI found a great many splendid workers in this church, without whom I\nwould have labored in vain. I was at this place for three years and\nwhen I left, the members were worshipping in a fine brick church. I had\nsucceeded in paying off a part of the debt, and had received into the\nmembership of the church about thirty-five members.\n\nAt the next meeting of the Conference I was sent to the station of\nBurlington, N. J. I spent a most pleasant and profitable year with\nthese dear people. They did all in their power to make my life a\npleasure to myself and family. I left this work with the best wishes\nof the members of the church. I left with the conviction too that they\nwere a noble band of the Lord\u2019s workers and that the work would be in\nthe hands of men and women who would not let it lag for the want of\nuntiring, energetic workers.\n\nIn 1899 I was assigned by Bishop A. Grant to Hossanah A. M. E. Church,\nEast Camden, N. J. I labored here until 1901, having reorganized the\nSunday School and paid something on the church debt and added many\nmembers to the membership of the church.\n\nBeverly was my next charge. Here I built a new church. I found that\nmany of the White people of this community were in sympathy with\nour work. They contributed of their money and did what they could\nspiritually for the upbuilding of our work. A lady from Edgewater\nPark gave me six hundred dollars for the building of the church and a\nnice little sum for the pastor. She was Mrs. Taylor. The Presbyterian\nminister at this place helped me a great deal in my work. I can surely\nsay that the presence of the Lord was with us and like David, exclaim,\n\u201cWhom have I in Heaven but Thee and there is none in all the earth, my\nsoul would desire, beside Thee.\u201d\n\nSad, sad, are the recollections of the years from 1899 to 1904. I was\ntaxed to my utmost for the enlargement of the Kingdom of Grace in my\nattempts to keep the young men and women from the sharks or pirates,\nwho would have dragged them down to hell. Their great sin was that of\nSabbath breaking. This led them to licentious living and almost every\nother crime of immorality. At the same time the hand of affliction was\nlaid heavily upon me. And had it not been for the grace of God I should\nhave sunken beneath the waves of affliction.\n\nMy daughter, Ada Augusta Newton Cooper, the wife of Rev. A. B. Cooper,\ndied September 18th, 1899. She was thirty-eight years old. She was a\ndevoted, loving daughter and faithful wife. She passed away at Orange,\nN. J., where she was engaged in her Christian activities. She was\na consecrated worker, a proficient teacher, authoress, and a most\nvaluable assistant to me for many years. She knew as well as I that\nmy education was sadly deficient, that I had come out of the briars\nof slavery and all its curses, and in a very practical manner, she\nwas my education. For I had spared no means to have her thoroughly\neducated. And always afterward she was conscious of the advantages that\nI had given her and was constantly trying to pay off this great debt\nof gratitude. But the time came when the Lord called her to a higher\nservice. He had need of her in another part of His Kingdom and called\nher away. It is indeed one of the heavy crosses that we are called\nupon to bear, when the Lord calls away from us the children whom He\nhas given us. Only those parents who have passed through these said\nafflictions know anything of the pains and suffering. I cried out, \u201cOh,\nLord. I sink into the deep mire where no solid foundation is found. I\nhave come into the deep waters where the floods overflow me. Save me,\nO, God, for the waters are overflowing my soul.\u201d\n\nOn December 3, 1902, my devoted and loving son passed away. He had\nlived a consecrated Christian life. He died at the age of twenty-one\nyears. He had taken a thorough course of training at Lincoln\nUniversity, Pa., and had entered the ministry of the A. M. E.\nDenomination. He united with the Conference at Atlantic City and had\nbeen assigned to the charge at Sea Bright, N. J., by Bishop A. Grant.\nHe was a loving son, fine scholar, strong preacher, and was beginning\nlife with all the prospects of a great usefulness. But the frost of\ndeath rested on him and he went to sleep from the labors of the earth.\nBut we are sure that he awakened in that bright and happy land where\nthere is no death and that now he is engaged in a much larger and\nbetter service than any that he could have rendered here below. I shall\nsee him again. We will soon meet to part no more. We will soon talk\ntogether again and thank God, with the assurance, that father and son\nwill never be parted.\n\nOn February 8, 1904, my dear mother was called to the other home.\nThis was the woman who had done more for me than all on the earth\nbesides. She died at the age of ninety-two years. This, added to my\nother afflictions and to the weight of my labors, seemed more than I\ncould stand. I had never realized what it was to be without a mother.\nAlthough at the age of sixty I was still a son. I had never forgotten\nthat the law of my life was that of obedience. That it was my duty to\nhonor my father and my mother. So that my years had nothing to do with\nthe intensity of my filial love and devotion. I shall never forget her\nlooks when dying, with her eyes fixed on me, she said, \u201cDo the work\nof the ministry as becomes a minister of the Lord Jesus. See to it,\nthat no disgrace is brought on the cause which you represent by your\nunworthiness.\u201d To my brother Henry she said, \u201cMy work is done. Neither\nof you can do me any good. Be earnest and true to your trust, and meet\nme in the morning where parting is no more.\u201d Then she sang with us:\n\n  \u201cGuide me, O Thou Great Jehovah,\n    Pilgrim through this barren land;\n  I am weak but Thou art mighty,\n    Hold me with Thy powerful hand.\n  Bread of Heaven!\n    Feed me till I want no more.\u201d\n\n  \u201cWhen I tread the verge of Jordan,\n    Bid my anxious fears subside.\n  Death of death and Hell\u2019s destruction,--\n    Land me safe on Canaan\u2019s side.\n  Songs of Praises,\n    I will give Thee evermore.\u201d\n\nThen she left us. And from that day until the day when I promised to\nmeet her, I will be lonely without her.\n\nOn September 29, 1905, my youngest and last daughter fell asleep in\nthe arms of Jesus. On the morning she left us I came to her bedside.\nMrs. Jennie Wise Johnston, wife of the editor, Dr. H. T. Johnson, was\nsitting by her bedside holding her hand. She was rubbing her hands\nas if she could rub the warmth of life into them. The poor child\ncried out, \u201cPapa, Oh, papa!\u201d These were her last words, she could say\nno more. Oh those words, how they have rung in my ears and how the\nechoes have come to me out of eternity, \u201cPapa, Oh, papa!\u201d Her mother\nhad stepped into another room to weep. I could not stand to see her\ndie. The cares and toils and sacrifices which I had made for her, the\nlove that had bound her to me, the joys which she had brought into my\nlife,--and now that Grim Death should be choking her--was more than\nI could bear. I bowed my head and prayed and took the train for my\nappointment in Jersey City. When I arrived I was handed a telegram\nannouncing that she had left us. I took the next train and came home.\nThis daughter at the early age of twelve years, like my other children,\nhad become a devoted Christian. Her early piety was marked and deep.\nShe lived until she was twenty-seven years of age. She had been a\nteacher in the public school, Mt. Vernon St., Camden, for seven years,\na skilled musician and a competent Sunday School worker.\n\nIn passing through all these afflictions, I learned that it was a great\ndeal easier for one to say what he would do under such circumstances\nthan it was to do what one ought to do. I had often said to many under\nthe hand of affliction:\n\n\u201cCast thy burden on the Lord, for He careth for you.\u201d\n\nI had never learned what that little word, \u201ccast\u201d meant. I found that\nit was no easy thing to cast my burden on the Lord. It was no easy\nthing to really say, \u201cThy will be done, not mine.\u201d I would take these\nburdens to the Lord, but when I came away I would bring them with me.\nAh! There is the point, I would bring them away with me! This I should\nnot have done, but thank God, I am becoming able to leave my burdens\nwith Him. I am too old to carry them now. And my dear reader, if you in\nearly life can learn to leave your burdens with the Lord, you will have\nwon the victory of victories. I know that these dear ones cannot come\nto me but I can go to them and it will not be long until I go.\n\nAt Jersey City I entered upon my work with a fine body of workers\nassociated with me. Bros. A. S. Taper, W. H. Dougherty, J. Stokes,\nEdward Holmes; sisters, Hannah Stokes, Mamie Taper, Hattie Dougherty,\nLouisa Holmes, Anna Burk, Annie Dowers, and a host of other workers\nwere standing around me in this great field. They did all that they\ncould to make African Methodism a strong fort of the Lord Jesus Christ\nand were bent on having a building that would be an honor to the\ndenomination.\n\nA Mr. Beach became very much interested in the work, he was our trusted\ntreasurer and gave of his own money and influenced others to help us.\nI made my home with Mr. John Smith and his wife. They did a great deal\nto help the work along. While here we paid $500 on the church debt, and\nleft the lumber and brick for a new church on the lot which belonged to\nthe church and added over one hundred members to the church.\n\nOn April 12, 1905, I met the thirty-third session of the New Jersey\nConference at the St. James A. M. E. Church, Atlantic City, N. J. Rev.\nB. W. Arnett, D.D., LL.D., was the presiding bishop.\n\nThe report of the presiding elders was indeed very encouraging,\nshowing that great revivals had been in the districts of the several\npresiding elders, and that the church in all its departments of labor\nand enterprise had made encouraging advancement. This Conference as\na great spiritual revival. There was great rejoicing on every hand.\nThe secretaries brought in fine reports of their departments of work.\nWe were made to feel that the church was getting back on the solid\nground of Methodism, the Old Time Religion which our fathers enjoyed. I\nsometimes think that in our church work we have so much machinery and\nso many schemes and plans, and are so bent on the money or material\nside of the church and its life, that we have lost our spiritual power.\nWe need a great change in this respect. We must get back to the thought\nthat God is our all in all and that they labor in vain who would build\nthe house unless the Lord Himself build it.\n\nDuring this meeting of the Conference some valuable statistics were\nsubmitted on the Race which I submit for careful study. Of course\nthese will soon be supplanted by the U. S. Census Report, but many\nwill not have access to this report, so I give them here: The Negro\npopulation of the U. S. in 1900 was 9,204,531; seventy per cent. work\non 746,000 farms; 21,000 carpenters; 20,000 barbers, and one-fourth\nas many doctors; 10,000 ordained preachers; 15,000 masons; 12,000\ndress makers; 10,000 engineers; 5,000 shoemakers; 1,000 lawyers; 4,000\nmusicians; 2,000 actors; since 1890 the illiteracy of the race has been\nreduced from 57 per cent. to 44.5 per cent. These reports mentioned Mr.\nRoosevelt as standing shoulder to shoulder with the immortal Lincoln as\nthe friend of the Race.\n\nThese facts and figures are a great inspiration to my people and I\nhope that they will be inspired to take fresh courage and go ahead in\nthe great work and battle of life. My only purpose in putting into\nprint the record of my own life is to encourage the young men and women\nto do something more to help themselves.\n\nThe doors of great schools are now open to the young men of the Race\nand if they do not improve their opportunities, it is their own fault\nand their own loss. The time has come when the people should not\ntolerate ignorance and its shames in any of the professions. From\na personal acquaintance, I can most heartily recommend three great\nmen who will do all in their power for the young Colored men of this\ncountry--Rev. Isaac N. Rendall, D.D., of Lincoln University, Rev. Dr.\nScarbourough, of Wilberforce University, Ohio, and Rev. Samuel G.\nMiller. D.D., of the Bible College, of Philadelphia, Pa. These men have\nmade their reputation and are among the great instructors of the Race\nand they stand in readiness to do what they can for the young people\nof my Race. The three men mentioned stand for the higher education of\nthe people. They believe that what is good for the White man is equally\ngood for the Black man. On the other hand, if young men and women are\nseeking to be educated along practical lines, I recommend them to\nthe great institution at Tuskegee, Ala., Dr. Booker T. Washington\u2019s\nschool. With these great men and the advantages which have been\nsupplied by them, no young person can have an excuse for not rising to\na high degree of scholarship and efficiency in any line of work.\n\nAt the Conference at Long Branch I was appointed at Bordentown, N. J.\nI had a pleasant reception here. Rev. J. H. Morgan was the retiring\npastor. He called on me and gave me some valuable advice as to the\nwork. I found that the church was divided by factions, but under God\u2019s\nblessing these were united and all worked together in perfect harmony.\nWe painted and paid for the parsonage and considerable was paid on the\nchurch debt. Dr. Roundtree, the Presiding Elder of this district, was\nof great assistance to me in my work.\n\nProf. James Gregory, principal of the Industrial School at this place,\nan institution supported by the State of New Jersey, was also a very\nvaluable aid in the work of the church. He and his students were always\npresent at the Sunday services and helped very materially in all the\nwork of the church.\n\n[Illustration: REV. J. H. MORGAN\n\nFormer Secretary of the New Jersey Annual Conference]\n\nWhen I went from Jersey City to this place. I was in poor health and\nthis made the work much more difficult. At last I was taken to the\nhospital and was there three months. It was a fight between the\nforces of life and the forces of death, but it was God\u2019s will that I\nshould stay a while longer on the earth to do His work, so I won out in\nthe fight with death. But I am glad to recount this experience; after\na close examination of myself, I found that I was ready to die, that I\nwas really relying on the Lord Jesus Christ for my salvation and that\nHis will was indeed my will. This was a great consolation. In health\nwe are sometimes not able to diagnose our spiritual condition, but in\nextreme sickness, when we are brought near to the valley of the shadow\nof death, we are able to make note of our real spiritual state or\ncondition and we are able to do so, with the knowledge that we may soon\nfeel the pangs of death.\n\nDuring my stay in the hospital my friends were exceedingly good to me\nand my church at Bordentown continued my salary. Surely God has blessed\nme with tried and true friends.\n\nThe best friend I had in all this affliction was my dear wife, Lulu.\nShe was with me constantly. She seemed to suffer with me all my\nsuffering. How often I have seen in her face the sympathy and love that\nwould have robbed me of every pain, but she could not. I cried out\nwithin myself, \u201cGlory and honor to such a wife!\u201d The operation was a\nsuccessful one in the sense that in this case the patient did not die.\nIn three months to the day from the time that I left my pulpit I was\nagain in the pulpit ready to do valiant service for God and my people.\n\nThe next Conference met at Orange, N. J., April 25th, 1907. Bishop\nWesley J. Gaines, presided. I was sent to the charge at Haddonfield,\nN. J. I was at this church two years. A good work was done. From this\nchurch I was stationed at the church at Mt. Holly, N. J. (The Mt.\nMoriah A. M. E. Church). We met a most pleasant and active band of\nworkers at this place and did a good work for the Lord.\n\nAt the Conference which met at Orange I had the pleasure of hearing\nthe Rev. Samuel G. Miller, D.D., President of the Bible Educational\nAssociation, speak on the necessity of an educated ministry. I was\ndeeply impressed with his remarks and when he made it known that he\nwas at the head of an institution in Philadelphia where ministers\nregardless of their intellectual condition would be received and aided\nalong educational lines, I determined that I would visit the school and\nsee what they were doing.\n\n[Illustration: SAMUEL G. MILLER, D.D.\n\nMy Instructor in Hebrew, New Testament Greek, Theology, etc., Bible\nCollege, Philadelphia, Pa.]\n\nNot long afterward I went to the school and found Dr. Miller at his\npost. I told him that I was about seventy years old, that I did not\nfeel that it was worth while for me to undertake any course of study\nand that if I did I feared that I could not keep pace with the class.\nHe replied to me that age had nothing to do with a man\u2019s ability to\nstudy if he would apply himself--that the mind never grew old, that it\nwas immortal, and that the only thing for me to do was to enter the\nschool and get down to hard work. I was both amused and astonished\nat his advice. But I entered the school and took up those difficult\nstudies. New Testament Greek, Hebrew, Psychology, and put in several\nhours a day on them. I was astonished at my success. I found that my\nmemory came back to me and that I was really able to perform feats of\nmemory. I found that it became easier for me to acquire knowledge as I\nwent along. I remained in the college three years, and am now able to\nread the Bible in its original tongues and have taken the Theological\ncourse. And now in my seventy-third year, I have done what I would\nloved to have done fifty years ago. I have educated myself. How strange\nthe Providence of God! The Southern people enslaved my people and\ncaused me a great deal of my suffering, but at the end or almost at the\nend of my earthly journey, I met this godly Southern man, Dr. Miller,\nwho has made a new man out of me along educational lines. Thank God, He\nhas His own children among the Southern people as well as in the North.\nAnd I believe that when the Southern people realize what the Negro is\nto them as well as what he has been, that they will do wonders for\nthe Race. At this very writing, the white people of the State of South\nCarolina are vying with the White people of North Carolina, as to which\nstate has the best and most progressive class of Colored people. I\nthank God that I have gotten out of the briars.\n\nI am greatly surprised that I have been able to fill the posts of duty\nand honor which have been assigned me in my life. I have done what I\ncould and the best I could. On the battle field, as chaplain in the\nstate legislature, as pastor, as presiding elder, as a high official\nin Fraternal Orders, as an officer in the Civil War, as son, husband,\nfather and friend. I have tried to be faithful, and I can truly repeat\nthe words of dying King Edward, \u201cI tried to do my duty.\u201d\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nThe Church; What It Is and What It Should Be.\n\n\nI am aware of the fact that in writing my views of the Church as it\nis and as it should be, that I may and doubtlessly will, run counter\nto the views of some of my brethren, but I do not find that this is\na valid reason for my not expressing my views on such an important\nsubject. I have served the Church quite a number of years, over forty\nyears, having given her the best part of my life, and now that I am\nabout to conclude my labors for her, I feel that it is my duty to say\nthose things which in my judgment will be for her highest welfare and\nthe glory of her Head, Jesus Christ.\n\nI. The Church as it is. The study of present church life is a most\nintricate one. We find that the Church is hopelessly divided, that is,\nit seems hopelessly divided. \u201cA house divided against itself cannot\nstand.\u201d Let it be understood that I am not talking or writing about\nany of these divisions, or denominations. I am speaking of that body\nof believers of every denomination or sect, who belong to our Christ.\nThey may be Protestants or Roman Catholics; they may be Methodists,\nPresbyterians, Baptists, Episcopalians or Quakers. No one denomination\ncan lay any claim to a monopoly of religion or of Christianity, and\ntherefore cannot be considered alone.\n\n1. The Church today is shorn of much of its power by so many divisions.\nThere would be no objection to these myriad divisions if it were not\nfor the fact that these divisions are more or less arrayed against one\nanother. If these divisions were articulated and harmonious like the\ndivisions of a great army, it would be a good thing, but this is not\nso; we are the Church Militant in a bad sense as well as in a good\nsense, and alas the bad too often predominates.\n\nWe have frequently found one denomination fighting another denomination\non doctrinal grounds; we have found them proselyting; we have found\nthem trying to occupy the same territory, and thereby wasting their\nstrength; we have seen them grow into bigotry and sectarianism and live\nthe life of strife. The evils which have followed such a condition have\nbeen an impoverished and struggling, yes, dying church; a poorly paid\nand inefficient ministry; a life largely robbed of its spirituality; an\norganization which has become the laughing stock of the world.\n\nWe have found individual congregations following the example of their\ndenominations. All this is to be greatly deplored, for it is contrary\nto the teachings and spirit of Jesus Christ.\n\n2. The Church today has become poisoned with politics. Political tricks\nand schemes, political life and its power, have gotten into the church\nand have wrought havoc. We cannot reconcile this manner of directing\nthe life and work of the Church with the over ruling of the Holy\nSpirit. Some of the great meetings of our churches, in their annual\nbusiness sessions, have become real worldly political gatherings having\nmet in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. They have turned the House\nof God into a den of politicians. Men high up in the authority and\ninfluence of the Church, have subverted this rank and power to their\nown selfish purposes. They have sought to make the Church a stepping\nstone to something better for themselves instead of making themselves\na stepping stone for the betterment of the Zion of God. They have\nforgotten that they came not to be ministered unto, but to minister;\nnot to be served with easy and lucrative positions, but to serve in\nany sphere however humble. Money has been spent in vast sums for the\nprocuring of high positions; life has been wasted in a selfish attempt\nto save it; the Church has become corrupted and made sinful, thereby\ndriving the Holy Spirit away from its work and presence. The Church\ntoday is more or less disgraced by such political methods. It stands\ndepleted of much of its power. It is following men instead of God,\ninstead of the Holy Spirit. The Church cannot serve two masters.\n\n3. The Church today is largely under the power of the god of Mammon.\nIt has forgotten the poor which it always has with it. It has gone off\nafter the well-to-do and rich classes. It has greater respect for the\nman that comes into its doors dressed in goodly apparel than for the\npoor man in his rags.\n\nIn our cities the Church is following the rich uptown. Great and grand\nbuildings are standing idle, and posted on their front is the sign,\n\u201cFor Sale.\u201d Whereas the multitudes are living and surging all about\nthese empty houses of God.\n\nThe great burden of the Church today is not getting in souls, but\ngetting in dollars. Magnificent buildings are erected costing hundreds,\nyes millions of dollars. The members are compelled to pay for the\ncostly structures. We forget that the groves were God\u2019s first temples.\nWe forget that He was pleased to live in a tent with His people. The\nChurch has gone money-mad. The struggle of the pastor is to get his\nsalary after the great and increasing expenses of the Church have been\nmet. If he fails to accomplish this herculean task, he must go. By this\ncourse the masses of the people are driven away from the Church. Only\nfifty per cent of the people of the United States attend the Church,\nand only thirty per cent are members of the Church, and one of the\nreasons, if not the greatest, is that they cannot afford to be members\nof the Church. The call on the Sabbath Day is money, money, money.\nPeople sicken at the cry, and turn away in utter disgust.\n\n4. There is a growing formality in the Church. This formality is seen\nin the lives as well as the worship of the members of the Church. Alas,\ntoo many love the form of religion, but they deny the power of it.\nRevivals are gotten up, whereas they always come down. We have never\nbeen able to get up a rain, because it is nature that brings it down.\nWe can never get up a revival because the Holy Spirit brings it down,\nso that there has crept into the Church, times, and seasons and plans\nof man\u2019s making for revival purposes, simply because the time has come\nfor a revival and for no other purpose, the revival is had. What good\ncan come out of such attempts? Revivals come through the operation of\ngreat spiritual laws, and these laws must be obeyed by God\u2019s people, or\nthere can be no revival.\n\nThe modern evangelist has done much to bring about a stereotyped\ncondition of the Church. He has his set methods of rousing the people;\nhe arranges for a revival in a certain church because it suits his\nconvenience, not looking to the special need of the church for such a\nservice. He is often inclined to depreciate the work of the pastor by\nhis own methods and mannerism; he sets in to do a certain amount of\nwork; so many souls must be converted; so much money must be raised,\nand he is on hand to have this work done, and in this manner, the whole\nwork of revivals has been almost entirely discounted. The work of the\nmodern evangelist is unscriptural in that he is not doing it in the\nright place. The pastorate is not the place for the evangelist. He\nshould go to those waste places where there is no pastor. He belongs on\nthe frontier, and the pastor who is wise will not permit an evangelist\nto come into his church, and do the work which he himself ought to do,\nor some other pastor.\n\nThe Church must get away from these man-made methods and plans; these\nman-set times and occasions, and must look to the Holy Spirit for\ndirection in all these matters.\n\nI wish it understood that I am pointing out some of the great\nweaknesses of the Church to-day. I have not forgotten that the Church\nin every age has had its struggles; I have not forgotten that the\nChurch is founded on the Rock, Jesus Christ, and the walls of hell\ncannot prevail against her. I have not forgotten that it is through\nthe Church that this lost world will be redeemed. I have not forgotten\nthat the Church is the salt of the earth, the light of the world, the\nbride of Christ.\n\nIn considering what the Church should be we have but to go back to the\nBible in order to determine this question.\n\n1. The Church should be a body of believers in Christ. I mean by\nbelievers, men and women who are practicing the teachings of Christ. If\nthe life is not the result of the teachings of Christ there is no faith\nbehind it. If a man says that he believes in Christ, and is not living\nthe teachings of the Master, he is not a believer. That there are many\nin the Church who are not believers is therefore true, because there\nare many who are not practicing the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ.\n\n2. The Church should return to its great mission of preaching the\nGospel. Almost everything else but the Gospel is preached. Science,\nliterature, biography, philosophy, mortality, etc., are the burden of\nthe pulpit today. As a consequence of this men and women are starving\nto death for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.\n\nThe doctrines of great fundamental principles of Christianity should be\npreached. If a man is not rooted and grounded in the principles of his\nfaith, how can he be strong, how can he be useful?\n\nA cry has gone out for a new religion. We have too much now of the\nnew religion. It is a failure; we must get more of the old religion,\nor give up the Gospelship to those who will be faithful to their\ntrust. God will make the change Himself if we do not make it. He took\nthe light away from the Jews because they were not faithful to their\ncharge, and He will take it away from us for the same reason. What the\nworld today needs is the Bible, and in order that it may receive the\nBible it must be preached in the pulpit and in the pew. The pulpit is\nvery weak today in this respect, and hence the pew is weak. We have a\nweak religion, and unless we return to God\u2019s way, it will grow weaker\nstill. This requires a thorough Bible training on the part of the\npreacher. The minister should know his Bible, and then he should preach\nit. It demands great faith in the Word of God, and great courage to\nproclaim its saving truth. A preacher is sent out into the world to\ntell it of sin, Satan, self and hell. He is commissioned to proclaim\nsalvation from these things, and to set before the people an upright,\ngodly life. He is authorized to command that men everywhere shall\nrepent of their sins and turn to God. He must know the truth that he\nmay preach it. He must know the plan of salvation. He must be one with\nGod in knowledge and work. The pulpit must control the pew, and not\nthe pew the pulpit.\n\n3. The Church must look after the poor. This is not being done today.\nIn the Church during the days of the Hebrew nation there were no poor.\nDuring the Church in the early days of Christianity, the poor were\nwell cared for. There were not any that lacked. The Church should be\ngoing out after the poor instead of running away from them. Christ was\nconstantly serving the poor. He was with them all the time. He shared\ntheir sufferings and bore their burdens. The Church to be true to Him\nand true to itself must do the same thing. Our very judgment test\nwill be found in the manner in which we treat the poor, which are the\nrepresentatives of Christ on the earth. \u201cI was hungry and ye gave me no\nmeat.\u201d Read the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew and see what this test\nis. Suppose that the Church today would be judged by this test, where\nwould it stand?\n\nThese are some of my views which I gladly put into this book hoping and\npraying that they will become an inspiration to many to get back to the\nBible; back to the old time religion of our fathers; back to the cross\nof Jesus Christ. They are written in the greatest kindness but with the\ngreatest earnestness. They are written in no fault finding spirit, but\nwith the spirit of love and sympathy, for I love the Church more than\nmy own life.\n\n\n\n\nThe Negro Problem\n\n\nIt might be profitable to my readers, after having sketched my life in\nthe army, to give some of my views pertaining to my race, relative to\nthe Civil War and the time since then.\n\nMuch is being said and written on the so-called Negro Problem. Why\nit has taken this name, I have never been able to decide. For when\nwe examine into its intricacies, we find that it is the White Man\u2019s\nproblem also. And certainly it is true, that if this problem is ever\nsettled in this country on a proper basis, it will be settled when the\nWhite and the Colored people come together on some practical basis of\nagreement. There are more than ten millions of Colored people in this\ncountry and they are here to stay. They have paid at least a part of\nthe debt which they owe to the nation, on the battlefield. They have\nnever shirked their duty in this respect and they never will. Soldiers\nduring both the Civil and the Spanish-American wars, demonstrated the\nfact that they are patriotic to the core and that on the battlefield\nthey are not afraid of the belching cannon. They have done their duty\nin this regard. And when we look into the history of the Colored\npeople since the Civil War we are satisfied that the progress which\nhas been made, is a most satisfactory one. It is acknowledged by some\nof the leading White men of the nation, that the progress of the Negro\nRace since the Rebellion has been unparalleled in history.\n\nBut that there is much to be done by my own people yet, is evident. We\nhave just begun the work of our race. A race that is not over fifty\nyears old in the arts of civilization, is but an infant in swaddling\nclothes. We are to wait until he is able to walk and especially\nto work. The Negro Race in this country has a most trying ordeal\nbefore it. It is one of the most difficult of undertakings, to work\nout our destiny in a land of such high civilization as that of this\ncountry. While on the one hand it would seem an easier task in such\na civilization, because of the advantages which we have thrown about\nus; on the other hand, there are probably more disadvantages. And\nwhy? For the simple reason that the Colored man comes out of the past\nwithout the centuries of training which the White man has. He comes\nout of the past without any history. He comes out of the past in a\ncrude condition, untrained and with the curse of slavery still resting\non him. It will take time for him to prepare himself to compete with\nthe White man and compete he must! The Colored people must wake up to\nthe fact that they have to pay for everything that they get in this\ncountry. The mystic \u201cmule and forty acres,\u201d promised by Uncle Sam, has\nnever been forthcoming. And this is but an indication of any other\nmystic gifts that we might dream of in days to come. It will be by the\ndint of hard labor, that the Colored man will rise and make his mark.\nThere are many features of this situation which we will be compelled to\nlook into and many conditions which we must face, as men.\n\nI have often asked myself the question, why is it that on our railroads\nand street car tracks, there is such a lack of our working men? We\nsee thousands upon thousands of white men, chiefly foreigners. There\nwas a time when the larger portion of railroad laborers was Colored\nmen. There are two or three reasons for this which are obvious. One\nis that the foreigner will work for a cheaper wage and will live on\nless than the Colored man. He is willing to undergo certain hardships\nand privations that the Colored man does not undergo. I am not willing\nto concede that he is a better workman than the Colored man, for the\nColored man has proven his ability as a laborer along every line of\nwork. Another reason is that the White man may be more reliable. He\ncan be depended on with more certainty. And at this point let me say\nthat if the Colored race is ever to take its place in the mart of\ntrade, it must become more reliable.\n\nPromises must be kept. When a man agrees to work for six days in the\nweek, for a certain number of weeks, he must stay his time out and\ndo his work. It is not a question of his disliking the work or the\nemployer, but the question of his fidelity to his trust. For this\nreason, that the Colored man is not faithful to his promises, he has\nbeen discounted in the field of manual labor. The more important the\njob of the employer, the more important the fidelity of the employee.\nNo employer wishes to undertake an extensive and costly piece of work\nand be dependent on a class of labor that may fail him at the place\nwhere he needs steady, persistent work. So he will, in making his\nchoice select that class of labor that will stick to him through thick\nand thin. Fidelity to a trust is one of the essentials of man and\nwomanhood that must be cultivated among my people. If I am correctly\ninformed, I understand that in our large cities, our girls are not\nholding their own as house servants. They are being set aside for the\nWhite girls and these for the most part are foreigners also. Here\nis a large and remunerative field that will be ultimately closed\nto our girls if they do not take hold of the situation and meet all\ncompetition. Surely it is due us, if we make good, to receive the\nlabor that is being given out on every hand. We were here before the\nforeigner and are the native laborers of the country. And the country\nowes it to us to give our race the labor of the field, of the trades\nand of the homes, if we merit it. I greatly fear, however, that we do\nnot merit it. We need more sterling worth among us.\n\nThe cities are becoming the great centers of my people and in these\ncities there is plenty to do. The work is there. It must be done. My\npeople must live. They must have money to live. They should get this\nmoney honestly, and this means by work. But suppose that the Colored\npeople of the cities, both North and South, fail in getting their\nportion of the work that is to be done, how are they going to live?\nThat is the question. And we are sure of this conclusion, that if a\nman does not earn his bread by the sweat of his brow, which is the\nDivinely appointed way to earn it, that he will be forced to earn it\nin some dishonorable manner. He will be forced to become more or less\na criminal. He will become a menace rather than a benefit, to the\ncommunity in which he lives. So that unless my people look to their\nown welfare in our cities there is an ever growing future of darkness\nfor them. I need not stop to tell of the unsanitary conditions in\nwhich they live. These conditions are enough to deplete their living\ngreatly every year. I need not talk of the crowded tenement houses of\nthe city where many persons of both sexes are frequently huddled into\none room and many families into one house. I need not tell of the bawdy\nhouses, the gambling dens and the saloons, thickly scattered through\nthe sections of the city where the Colored people live. It is enough to\ndamn them all. I need not tell of the growing criminal class among the\nNegroes in the cities and of the recruits that flow in from the South\nevery year. I need not speak of the White and the Black Slave traffic\namong the young girls of both races. The cities are the death centers\nof the Negro race, unless there is something radically done to overtake\nthese conditions. This, of course, is the dark side of the picture,\nbut I have not painted it as dark as it is. It would be impossible\nto do this. It might be profitable for my readers, when they are in\nPhiladelphia, to visit South street and its adjoining streets, that\nthey may see with their own eyes, the signs of infamy, idleness and\ndebauch among my people. You will find scores of young men there well\ndressed, simply straggling about. How do they live? Why are they not\nat work? The dens of infamy hidden in houses answer to their vocations.\n\nIt would be well in our cities to have such municipal regulations that\nsuch loafers, male or female, could be arrested, unless they could\nshow that they were actually engaged in some legitimate work. Unless\nsomething of the kind is done in the cities, they will become more and\nmore the cess pools of sin and death, and into these pools thousands\nupon thousands of my people will be thrown annually to sink to hell!\n\nThere is not only the obstacle of instability which my people must\novercome in order that they may get and hold the place that they\nshould have in the field of labor, but the Trades Unions are rapidly\nclosing up these fields against the Colored laborers. The basis of the\nopposition to the Colored people is primarily the desire to eliminate\nhim from the ordinary industrial lines of work that he will not be\nable to compete with the White man. Of course, if he is not permitted\nto work there is no danger of competition. This is the real cause of\nthe opposition of Labor Unions to the Colored laborer, but this cause\nis hidden, and the outward cause is, because his skin is black. They\ndo not want to work by the side of the black man. This, however is\nbut a good excuse in the mouth of the white man for it is accepted\nas satisfactory by the white employer. An examination into labor\nconditions in our Northern cities reveals a deplorable condition so far\nas the Colored man is concerned. He cannot get a job calling for the\nskilled artisan however skilled he may be. The Union will not permit\nhim to win his bread by the sweat of his brow. He cannot work because\nhe is not allowed to work. What is to be done for hundreds of laborers\nwho are thus excluded from the fields of honest livelihood? There is\nno likelihood that these avenues will ever be opened and unless he can\nfind employment among his own people of what value is his skill as an\nartisan to him and of what use is the acquiring of such a training?\nThe only answer to this question is that the Colored laborer must\nthoroughly prepare himself and be on the ground ready for action.\nHe must be patient. He must be prepared to meet every objectional\ncondition with manliness and kindness, for the odds are against him.\nThere are many lessons that we have learned and there are many lessons\nyet to be learned. New conditions in this most complex civilization\nmust be met with the application of the principles of fidelity,\nhonesty, industry, and the like, or we will never win for the race in\nthis country.\n\nAnother great need of my people is the ownership of their homes. This\nmakes the people, citizens in the most realistic sense, they pay\ntaxes and have the right of representation on such basis. They become\nindependent. They are then able to lay up some money. They are prepared\nto enjoy life in its real and true sense. They will command the respect\nof the White race and share with them the burdens of government in\ntimes of peace. They become producers to some degree. There cannot\nbe said too much in favor of the gospel of ownership in this form of\ngovernment. It is our sheet-anchor of hope. The money that is paid out\nannually for rent if invested through the right channels will in a few\nyears pay for the rented house. The time seems to be drawing closer\nwhen it will be more difficult for a Colored man to buy good property.\nThere are many sections now in our cities from which the Colored man\nis eliminated as a purchaser. The rule is to confine him to certain\nundesirable sections of the city. This can be overcome to some degree\nby the practice of economy and the purchase in the next few years of\nhomes.\n\nI wish it to be known that I am by no means a pessimist, regarding\nmy people. The same God made my race that made the White race and He\nhas a destiny for us and He is with us that we may reach that destiny.\nBut I realize that we have our own part to perform and that it must be\ndone on the foundation of certain great principles which God Himself\nhas taught us in His Book. It is in recognition of these eternal laws\nthat I speak, these principles will stand forever and the people that\nputs them into daily practice, will abide with the principles, but the\npeople who violate them must go down.\n\nI am deeply interested in the education of the ministry of the race.\nThere are thousands of Colored preachers whose education is sadly\ndeficient. They are really not capable of doing the work of ministry\neither in or out of the pulpit, and yet they are leading millions of\nthe people. In a most peculiar sense the Colored pastor is the leader\nof his flock. The members of the church follow him and that too almost\nblindly. They will condone his faults, overlook his ignorance, and\nreceive what he says as \u201cThe law and the Gospel.\u201d That the people are\ndisposed to this most kindly attitude toward their ministers is most\npraiseworthy, but that in many cases the ministers are unworthy of\nsuch confidence is most lamentable. It has been carefully estimated\nthat only about ten per cent of the pastors who have been ordained are\ncollege men and that the average education of the Colored minister\nis not above the seventh or eighth grade of the common school, with\npractically no Bible or Theological training. This is a sad state of\naffairs when we consider that the minister is the leader of the people.\nAnd I am sorry to say that the disposition to improve themselves is\nnot apparent on the part of many of these ministers. They rather make\npretensions and hide behind these pretensions, they mask themselves\nbehind the smattering of an education, and think that they are passing\nfor educated men; but how sadly they are deceived. How this condition\nis to be remedied is yet to be seen. It is evident that the present\nsystem of ministerial education in vogue is not sufficient for the\nneed. Out of over fifteen hundred young men who enter the ministry\nyearly, only ten per cent are graduated in the Theological course of\nall our schools. The schools of the United States doing Theological\nTraining for the ministry of the Negro race are therefore not beginning\nto do the work.\n\nI might mention in this connection that there is an organization which\nis beginning this work in the right manner, The Bible Educational\nAssociation, with headquarters in Philadelphia, Pa. This is an\nassociation of Bible colleges or schools. These schools are located\nwhere they are needed and maintained by the Association. By the plan\nof this Association schools can be established where the ministers\nare located as pastors and the advantages of this training is thereby\nbrought to their very doors. The Bible College of Philadelphia and the\nBible College of Washington, D. C., both schools of this Association\nare doing a great work. The ministers are being greatly benefited by\ntaking the practical and helpful courses. These schools train also\nyoung men for the ministry.\n\nThere is much more that I might say on this great subject of the\nNegro Problem, but time and space will not allow. Whatever course\nmay be pursued and plans adopted, it must always be remembered that\n\u201cThey labor in vain, except the Lord build the house.\u201d Our plans are\nlike the nests of mice, the straw before the wind, the dust in the\ngale, they amount to nothing without God\u2019s co-operation. And His\nco-operation cannot be had without our obedience to His laws and\ncommands. The people of this country of both races have much to learn\nof vital Godliness. The prejudice which exists in both races, the\nhatred and antagonism engendered thereby, the separation of the races\nin educational and religious matters, are all parts of the condition\nwhich we are forced to face and in some manner to meet. Both races must\nknow each other better. They must recognize the rights and privileges\nof manhood and womanhood. They must build promotion, on merit and\nservice, on ability, regardless of the color of the skin or previous\ncondition of servitude. All must become the followers of the Meek and\nLowly Christ, and they will be brothers and our brothers\u2019 keepers.\nThere is no Fatherhood of God and Brotherhood of Man, excepting on this\nfoundation. Whether I live to see it or not, the Negro problem will\nnever be settled, unless on this basis.\n\n\n\n\nSermons\n\n\nAcquaintance With God.\n\n Thus said the Lord, In this thou shalt know that I am the Lord: Behold\n I will smite with the rod that is in mine hand upon the waters in the\n river and they shall be turned into blood.--Exodus 7:17.\n\nThere are many perplexities which are not explained by philosophers.\nMen of scholarly renown have by no means been able to comprehend the\nmysteries of God. In His Omnipotence, Omniscience and Omnipresence,\nHe enveloped Moses, the great law-giver, but with His God. The power\nthat was to uphold Moses was not inborn nor was it acquired, but it\nwas God. The omnipresence, the hand that was to guide him in all his\nearthly wanderings was not his own hand, but the hand of his God. So\nthat whatever of success came to Moses, God would have Moses as well as\nus, to know, that it came from the blessings of God and not through the\nwisdom or the efforts of man. Therefore, let us render obedience to our\nGod, who has promised us, that although the heavens and the earth pass\naway, not one jot or tittle of His Word or of His law, shall in any\nwise pass, until all be fulfilled. We discover in the text the first\ngreat truth, that God wishes us to know Him.\n\nThe providences of God were manifested to Moses through His dealings\nwith him. This is one of God\u2019s ways of making himself known to us. But\nour eyes must be open to the fact that it is God who deals with us in\nour conditions and circumstances of life--yes, it is God. We may say\nthat it is Nature, that it is Law, that it is Force, but herein are we\nblind, for God says that \u201cIn this thou shalt know.\u201d The doings of God\nare frequently through nature, sometimes above nature, as in the case\nof turning the water of the river into blood, but we are to be able to\nsee that it is God\u2019s hand that moves and God\u2019s voice that speaks. If\na man knows not God he will always attribute the doings of God in his\nlife to some other cause or causes; but if he know God, he thus becomes\nbetter acquainted with God. So in the case of Moses, God\u2019s promise was\nsufficient to allow him and the Jewish people to accomplish results\nwhich were replete with honor and glory. These pilgrims on their way to\nthe Promised Land of Canaan were full of faith and confidence in God,\nthey believed Him, they knew Him. He had promised them that He would\nbring them to this land that \u201cFlowed with milk and honey\u201d and nothing\ncould turn Him from the fulfilment of this promise; no, not even the\nsins of His people. For did they not rebel against Him and sin most\ngrievously against Him in the wilderness, and yet did He not bring them\ninto Canaan?\n\n\u201cBehold I will smite the water of the river with the rod that is in\nmine hand and it shall be turned into blood.\u201d\n\nThe church is the receptacle of truth. God has always committed His\ntruth to His chosen people, to the believers, the church. The church is\ndevoted and consecrated in word and action to the glory and the service\nof God. Through it He has caused the light to shine in darkness, His\nlove to fall into our hearts, the light of His knowledge and glory has\nappeared in the face of Jesus Christ, His Son, who is the great Head\nof the Church. God appeared to Moses through Jehovah, the Head of the\nChurch, and it was upon the strong arm of Jehovah that Moses leaned and\nit is upon the same strong arm that we, the church in this day, also\nlean. Moses saw the fire in the Burning Bush and he heard the voice out\nof the Bush. He turned and saw that the Bush was burning, but that it\nwas not consumed. My brethren, do you know that this Burning Bush of\nthe desert is a type of the church? It is the church passing through\nthe fiery trials of this world, the church burning on every hand with\ntemptations, troubles, doubts, distresses, tribulations, sufferings,\nand yet she is not consumed. So Moses was taught at the very beginning\nof his ministry that God was in the church through the mediation of\nJesus Christ and that things were made to work together for good to\nher. Thou, the Church, shall know that I am the Lord. Lofty cedars,\ntowering oaks, bramble bushes, the national capital, the House of the\nLord, all these may attract the multitudes of sight-seers, but God\u2019s\nown people shall know that He is God and that there is no other God.\n\nThe text also teaches us that.\n\nII. God is prompt in the keeping of His promises.\n\nWherever two or three of God\u2019s servants are gathered together in His\nname, God is in the midst of them to do all that He has promised. He\nis prompt to keep His word. He rides upon the wings of the wind and\nupon the wings of angels and upon the lightning, that He may meet all\nHis engagements. We see Him in the return of His prodigals. We see Him\nevery where, keeping faith, doing His will, fulfilling His promises. He\nis the omnipresent God! Because of His promptness His people are always\nable to confide in Him.\n\nGod is prompt in sustaining the physical needs of the universe. It is\nworth our while to look into God\u2019s storehouse to see how He has filled\nit with food for the flying fowl, the fish of the sea, the beast of the\nfield, and man, the Lord of the earth. Food and fuel, light and heat,\nair and water, soil and seed, wind and rain, snow and frost, these are\nthe agents of His prompt action as the Father of the Universe. Prove me\nnow herewith, saith the Lord, and see if I will not open the windows\nof heaven and pour you out such a blessing that there will not be room\nenough to receive it. (Mal. 11:1-11.)\n\nGod is as prompt in sustaining the needs of man\u2019s soul. He was with our\nforefathers, He was with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, He was with Noah, He\nwas with Enoch, He was with Abel, He was with our first parents, Adam\nand Eve, all these in their experiences and lives attested the fact\nthat God saved them and saved them at the right time. He gave them His\nown salvation and not the salvation of another. All the Saints of the\nages have depended on God\u2019s promptness to do what he promised He would\ndo. There is not an instance in the history of His people or in our\nown experience, if we interpret His dealing aright, where He has not\npromptly kept His word of promise. Every child of God has his spiritual\nbattles to fight. But depending on God with the musket of His grace\nhe will rout the enemy. Satan in all his hellish rage is not able to\noverthrow the bulwarks of the church behind which the believer stands\nto destroy the forces of evil. God was prompt in striking the sea and\nHis people were prompt in crossing. He was prompt in leading His armies\nand they were prompt in winning the victories. Jehovah is prompt in\naiding His own and His own are quick in winning the land of spiritual\nfreedom.\n\nThe river was turned into blood and all the waters of Egypt were\ninstantly changed into blood. But God\u2019s river is a river of the water\nof life. Consider, my brethren, these great types of the Bible--these\nrivers of blood, these rivers of water, these rivers of life! God\nstands with His rod stretched over every river; your sins, your\nwickedness, may turn the waters of life into the blood of death; which,\nwhat, shall it be? God says to you and hear ye His voice, \u201cCome now let\nus reason together, your sins though they be as scarlet, I will make\nthem like snow, though they be red like crimson, I will make them like\nwool.\u201d None, my friends, but God can work these changes. The church is\nmoving on with the march of the centuries. She is grandly marching on!\nMoses has gone, Joshua has gone, the prophets have gone, the apostles\nhave gone, the saints of the Christian era have gone, and we are\npassing on, but God is with us and He is prompt in keeping His word.\n\n  \u201cOn the other side of Jordan, in the sweet fields of Eden,\n  Where the Tree of Life is blooming, there is rest for you.\u201d\n\nIII. The text teaches us that the river, turned into blood, is the Type\nof Christ.\n\nJehovah, or Jesus, in Egypt, turned the water into blood; Jehovah, or\nJesus, in Canaan, in the country of Galilee, turned the water into\nwine. \u201cThe blood of Christ cleanseth us from all sin.\u201d The wine of the\nCommunion Table is the symbol of His blood. In these last days God has\nspoken to us in the person of His Son. In Him was life, and the life\nwas the light of men. He came into our own flesh and blood and dwelt\namong us and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten\nof the Father. \u201cOur life is hid with Christ, in God.\u201d These are most\nwonderful words!\n\nBut let us remember that the rivers of blood in Egypt did not change\nthe heart of Pharaoh, neither did they change the hearts of the\nEgyptians. The blood of Christ has been shed but it is of no avail to\nthem that will not accept its saving power. Christ died for all but\nare all saved? How many are saved? Are you saved? If so, why? Oh, my\nfriends, it is the blood of Christ that availeth all things with God.\n\n  \u201cWhat can save my soul from sin?\n  Nothing but the blood of Jesus.\u201d\n\n\u201cUnto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. He is the wonderful\nCounselor, the mighty God, the Prince of Peace, the Everlasting\nFather.\u201d Just as Pharaoh and his hosts were strewn in death upon the\nsands of the sea, so Satan and his hosts will be strewn upon the land\nof time. Christ is our mighty Captain. He has led His battle strong,\nthrough the ages of the past and on through the ages of time to come.\nHe will lead to victory. His blood is all-availing with God and God is\nthe ruler of the universe. It is for Christ\u2019s sake that God hears and\nanswers our prayers. It is for Christ\u2019s sake that He saves our souls.\nIt is for Christ\u2019s sake that He will make us kings and priests to\nrule and reign with Him forever. It is for Christ\u2019s sake that He has\nprepared for us the Canaan that lies beyond the Jordan of Death and it\nis for Christ\u2019s sake that He is with us today. And after while we will\nsing, \u201cYea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,\nI will fear no evil, for Thou (Christ) art with me, thy rod and thy\nstaff, they comfort me.\u201d\n\n\u201cThus said the Lord, in this thou shalt know that I am the Lord: Behold\nI will smite with the rod in mine hand upon the waters of the river and\nthey shall be turned into blood.\u201d God grant to bless every soul here\nto-day with the blessed words of this text.\n\n\nThe Intercession of Christ.\n\n \u201cHe ever liveth to make intercession for them.\u201d--Hebrews 8:25.\n\nChrist had completed His work on the earth. He had kept the faith,\nfulfilled the law, and suffered its penalty in His death. His work,\ntherefore, so far as the earthly conditions and needs were concerned,\nwas completed. He did this work, it must be remembered, not on his own\naccount or for himself, but on your account and for you. He was acting\nin the capacity of a representative while on the earth, so that when\nhis life in the flesh had been finished, it might become your life and\nmy life, through faith. We are told by the apostle that after this,\ni. e., \u201cHe had finished His work here, He was believed on in the world,\njustified in the spirit, seen of angels, received into glory where He\never liveth to make intercession for us.\u201d We notice that this passage\nteaches us, that\n\nI. Christ was absolutely free from selfishness.\n\n\u201cGreater love hath no man than this that he lay down his life for his\nfriends.\u201d Yes, there is a greater love, for Christ laid down his life\nfor His enemies. Study the life of Christ as He lived here below,\nsee how free He was from the selfish taint of sin which lurks in our\nnatures, and alas, too frequently is the ruling passions of our lives.\nWith Christ, others were first in consideration and in service; but\nwith us, we are the first to be considered and served and others must\nwait; then if there is opportunity or time they will be considered and\nserved. Christ opened the gate of righteousness and the way that leads\nto life. This cost Him his own life, the price of it was not only the\nsuffering and labors of life, but the pangs of the physical, and the\neternal pains of the spiritual, death; for you must know that Christ\ntasted the death for every man. We can have no conception of what death\nmeant to Him and yet He went down to death willingly for you and for\nme. What are we doing that we may become human saviours of men, that we\ntoo may suffer and labor for others, that we may die that through our\ndeath others may live? These are vital questions if you and I are to be\nknown as His humble followers; if you and I are to share His glory with\nHim, we must also be with Him in His sufferings and death. \u201cEnter in at\nthe strait gate for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads\nto death, but strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth to\nlife; many there be that go in at the former gate of death, but few\nfind the strait gate of life.\u201d\n\nII. The purpose of Christ\u2019s life and death, was that He might be able\nto give life unto others. \u201cFather, the hour is come. Glorify thy son\nthat thy son also may glorify thee. As thou hast given him power over\nall flesh that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast\ngiven him.\u201d John 18:1, 2.\n\nWe read that \u201cTo as many as received him, to them gave He power to\nbecome the sons or the children of God.\u201d It is interesting to notice\nthat the word translated \u201cpower\u201d here, means a great deal more than\npower or authority. It has a germinal meaning and has reference to\nlife. The idea is that Christ plants in us the seed of eternal life and\nit grows and takes root in the heart and life of every believer and\nthey thereby become the children of God. There is therefore the germ of\neternal life just as there is the germ of physical or mortal life. The\nonly purpose which Christ had in coming into human flesh was that He\nmight be able thereby to plant in human nature the seed of everlasting\nlife, which sin had prevented from bearing fruit. So He became one of\nus, bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh, our very brother. The\nvery life which He lived in the flesh is the pattern for our lives. He\nis our example in thought, word, and action. We are to live His life by\nletting Christ live in us. As Paul said regarding sin, \u201cIt is not I but\nsin that dwelleth in me,\u201d so he also said that Christ dwelt in him and\nwe know that Christ dwelleth in us and that through Him we can do all\nthings.\n\nWe are very prone to think always of Christ\u2019s Divinity and to seek to\nexplain His life on this basis, this is a great mistake. We are to look\non Christ as also human, a real man: His trials and temptations real;\nHis limitations as a man, real; His knowledge and experience as a man,\nreal. Such reflections as these bring Him very near to us and become a\ngreat inspiration to us in that they make His ideal life, a real life;\nhence His ideal human life becomes to us a real human life. \u201cHe came\nthat we might have life and that we might have it more abundant.\u201d Our\nlife, that is our Christ-life, may become abundant in its power, in\nits light, in its fruits, if we will walk and talk with Jesus daily.\nHe is the vine and we are the branches. But in order that the branches\nmay live and bear fruit, they must abide in the vine. Jesus taught us\nthat if we obeyed Him, we were abiding in Him. Obedience therefore is\nthe vital union between us and Christ, the Vine. Disobedience is the\ncutting of the branch off from the vine and the branch dies.\n\nThis leads us to another great fact in the text, namely that\n\nIII. Christ is now engaged in making intercession for us at God\u2019s\nthrone.\n\nHis work on earth is finished, but in Heaven, He is still engaged in\nour behalf. The priest of the Mosaic Dispensation, made intercession\nfor the people. He offered sacrifice for them and then he entered into\nthe temple, the Holy of Holies, once a year, in the person of the\nHigh Priest and prayed for the people. But this priest was a sinner\nlike the people. He had to first offer sacrifice for himself then for\nthe people. He has passed away. The earthly priesthood, in the Mosaic\nsense, is no more. This priest was but a type of Christ. Christ is the\ngreat anti-type. Christ offered His sacrifice also, which was His own\nlife. He made no sacrifice for himself, for He was without sin, but He\nmade sacrifice for the people. Now He has entered into the temple on\nHigh, into the Holy of Holies, where He stands to plead for you and for\nme. Intercession here, means that Christ is our Advocate at the throne\nof God. He is our lawyer in the supreme court of God. He represents us.\nHe pleads our case, He defends our cause. There is nothing that takes\nplace in our lives that He does not take note of, there is no sin\nthat passes without His taking account of it, there is no thought, or\nword, or deed, that is not entered in the book of His Remembrance. He\nmust keep an accurate account of our lives, for He represents us at the\nGreat White Throne. How wonderful is this thought and how inspiring!\nLet us therefore make our intercessions to Him that He may take up our\nprayers and in His own Heavenly language, present them to our Heavenly\nFather.\n\n\nChrist Glorified in His Word.\n\n \u201cLet the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom.\u201d--Col. 3:16.\n\nIt is well nigh impossible for us to understand the power of a word.\nWe read that in the beginning God said, \u201cLet there be light,\u201d these\nwere the words or the Word. Who can tell the wisdom and the power that\ndwelt in that word or command? We are not able even now to measure the\nmagnificent result, but we read, \u201cAnd there was light.\u201d Christ stood at\nthe sealed tomb and said. \u201cLazarus, come forth.\u201d This was the word or\nthe command. It is not in the power of the human mind to comprehend the\nmeaning, the power and the wisdom of this word, but we see the effect,\n\u201cAnd Lazarus, came forth.\u201d We take the Bible in its entirety and call\nit the Word of God, the Word of Christ. So that in the unfolding of the\ntext, we wish you to note that:\n\nI. The entire Scriptures, from Genesis to Revelation, is the Word of\nChrist.\n\nWe must not look on the Bible as composed of parts when we make it,\n\u201cThe man of our counsel,\u201d the guide of our life. The entire book is the\nguide, the man, the law, the Gospel. There is a disposition of many\nChristians to attach more importance to one part of the Bible than\nanother part. This is wrong and it leads to evil in our lives. Every\npart of the Bible belongs to the entire book, it cannot be detached,\nit must not be rendered less important than some other part, for it\nwas all written for our instruction and edification. So I would have\nyou understand that the Bible itself in its entirety, is the Word of\nChrist, in the text, Christ is the light and the glory of every page\nof its history, prophecy, precept, promise, poetry, philosophy and\npractice. Human reason, effort and energy are too weak to have reached\nHeaven and brought down to us the riches of the Word of God. No man\nhath come down from Heaven to tell us of the wonders of the spiritual\nlife, but the man, Christ Jesus. He is the pearl of priceless value,\nwhich we are to find hidden in this Word. Let the Word of Christ reign\nin you when your greatest interests are at stake, when your strongest\npassions are raging, and He will guide you into all truth and grace,\nand you will sing, \u201cGlory to God in the highest, Peace on earth, Good\nwill to men.\u201d\n\nThe Bible is the Word of Christ, because He is the Author. He is the\nJehovah of the Old Testament, and the Jesus of the New Testament.\nHe spake to the Prophets as well as to the Apostles. He was in that\nbeginning which was before time, when He is called the Word of God,\nwhen He was associated with God, and when He was God, and He was also\nin that beginning which marks the first moment, the first hour, the\nfirst day of time, when all things were made by Him and without Him\nwas nothing made which was made. He is known as the Lamb which was\nslain from the foundation of the world, the everlasting Prince, the\nHoly One. As the Word of God, Christ is the great and only revealer of\nGod and His revelation or revelations are the Bible, the Scriptures,\nthe Word of God. We are exhorted therefore to see that great company\nwhich doth encompass us about and which looks down upon us, filled\nwith God\u2019s wisdom and power, because the word of Christ dwells richly\nin us. We are to look to Jesus as not only the author of His own\nWord, but also through this word, as the author and finisher of our\nfaith, or religion. This word must dwell richly in the heart that the\nbeliever may be able to glorify God and to strive for that faith which\nis steadfast and immovable, for let us remember that faith cometh\nby hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Just as Christ appeared\nto Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses, to whom He said, \u201cI will be thy\nmouth,\u201d so He appears today to every believer, in His Word. All these\nholy men of old spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. The Holy\nSpirit takes the things of God and of Christ, and tells them to us in\nwords. He gives us God\u2019s and Christ\u2019s words. When Joshua prayed that\nthe sun might stand still, the sun in his fiery course stood still.\nWhy? Because it was the word of God in Joshua which commanded the sun\nto stand still. I pray God, my brethren, that you may be filled richly\nwith the word of God in all wisdom, that your own hearts may be filled\nwith all spiritual blessing; that the wickedness which is flooding the\ncountry in hellish rage, may be stopped; that sinners may be brought\nto repentance; that the church may triumph most gloriously, and that\nthe whole earth may be filled with righteousness as the waters cover\nthe deep. We need today another Pentecost, when thousands shall be\nconverted to God, and that time will come just as soon as God\u2019s\ndisciples are filled with the word of God.\n\nII. The Word of Christ Dwelling in Us is Our Strength.\n\nThe Word reveals to us the saving power of God. Paul said, \u201cI am not\nashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto\nsalvation.\u201d Yes, it is the power of God unto salvation, that is the\nthought that you should take hold of. We need power, strength, in\nthis world of weakness and sin, and we can get this power only by\nletting the Word of Christ, dwell in us richly. The Word of Christ\ndwelling in us will take us out of ourselves, teach us that labor,\nlearning, house-hold duties, supporting our families, being punctual\nto our duties in the church, avoiding quick tempers and unkind words,\nconstitute the religion of Jesus Christ which we are to live. We must\ntherefore be, \u201cDoers of the Word and not hearers only.\u201d We must hear\nthe Word on the Sabbath and do it every day of the week. We are to look\ninto the perfect law of liberty that we may know what manner of persons\nwe are, and to continue to look into this law, lest when we know, we\nshould forget what manner of persons we are. \u201cPure and undefiled\nreligion before God the Father is this, that we should visit the widow\nand the fatherless in their affliction and keep ourselves unspotted\nfrom the world.\u201d To do all these things, my brethren, the Word of\nGod must dwell richly in you, in wisdom, or there will not be enough\nstrength in you to live this Christ-like life. His word is strength,\nbecause Christ dwells in His word, and if His word dwells in you, you\nwill have the strength of Christ in you. See what Christ is, He is life\nand immortality, He gives repentance and remission of sins, He is the\nbread that cometh down from Heaven, His blood cleanseth from all sin,\nHe saves, and He does all these things in and through His word. Is\nthat word in you? Lean on Him in His word, and He will give you daily\nstrength, and guide you into all blessing, He will give you eternal\nlife here and hereafter.\n\nIII. His Word Reveals to us the Plan of Salvation.\n\nWe would know nothing of the Saviour, nor of the sinner except through\nHis word. He came to seek and to save that which was lost. Yes, it\nwas lost, the soul of man. What we know of sin, of Satan, of hell, of\nheaven, of repentance, of faith, of justification, of sanctification,\nof glorification, we know through His word, and whatever we shall\nexperience of these blessings, we shall experience through His word.\n\n\u201cI am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the\nlast, which is and was and is to come.\u201d We must be saved through His\nword. Job said, \u201cI know that my Redeemer liveth, and that I shall\nstand upon the earth at the latter days and though after my skin worms\ndestroy this body, yet in my flesh will I see God whom mine eyes shall\nsee for myself and not another.\u201d How did Job get this knowledge? It was\nthrough the Word of God, doubtless spoken to him. And whatever we know\nof salvation, of sin, or of the resurrection of the dead, of Heaven\nand hell, of eternity, of immortality, we must get it out of the Word\nof Christ. I exhort you, therefore, my dear brethren, to have the Word\nof Christ dwelling in you richly in wisdom; study it daily, commit it\nto memory, put it into practice every hour, turn its precepts into\npractice, and you will rejoice in its power to redeem you from your\nsins, and to fill your hearts with power, joy and peace. Amen.\n\n\nWhere Is Your Tent?\n\n \u201cAnd Isaac departed and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar and\n dwelt there.\u201d--Gen. 26:17.\n\nOur text is found in connection with a paragraph of peculiar weight and\nsublimity. The Israelites in all their wanderings had a high regard\nfor the Levites. They formed the tribe of Levi, which filled a most\nimportant place in the life of the Israelites. The entire nation and\ngovernment was permeated with their influence. They were the officers\nand teachers in the synagogue, or Tabernacle. The Tabernacle was the\ncenter of Hebrew life. All the encampments of the Israelites was made\naround the Tabernacle. This tent was God\u2019s dwelling place, and whither\nthe Israelites moved, they followed the Tabernacle, it was not only\ntheir guide but their guard. When on the march they carried it with\nthem, and when they were at rest they set it up.\n\nIt is worthy of note that the Israelites always had a high regard for\ntheir women. These women were thoroughly identified with the history\nof this people, and often filled prominent positions. The influence\nand power of the Israelitish women is well worth careful study that\nwe may learn some valuable lessons therefrom. Miriam was very closely\nassociated with Moses and Aaron. Deborah was a mighty leader of her\npeople. There were many prophetesses such as Anna at the temple. The\nwives of such men as Abraham, Isaac and Jacob exerted a great influence\nover these men, for they were women of fine judgment, and highly\ndeveloped religious characters. The wife of Abraham was always with him\nfor \u201cbetter or worse,\u201d through good and evil report. She was faithful\nand efficient as his life-companion. She did not live with him for\nornament or social distinction, but for what she could contribute to\nhis happiness and success. She made her life, his life; her destiny,\nhis destiny.\n\nOn this occasion of your anniversary, I take this opportunity to call\nyour attention to the direction in which you are pitching your tent.\nWe cannot stand still. We choose the place of our tent today, and we\nwill have to choose the place where we will pitch it tomorrow. Whither\nare you going and where are you to pitch your tent? How important these\nquestions. You are here tonight, with your tears and affection, your\nsympathy and smiles, not for show, but that you might hear the Gospel,\nand let the world know that you are moving in the right direction,\nand that your tent will be pitched nearer Heaven. You are here, as\nwives and mothers and sisters, to do your part by the men whom God has\nplaced you with, and to do your part by the children whom He has given\nyou. This is what the Gospel teaches and your works and teachings,\nyour by-laws and Christian characters, as a noble band of workers, all\nprove that you are pitched tonight about the Tabernacle of God, and\nthat when His tent moves you will follow it. Moses tells us that at the\ncommandment of the Lord the Israelites marched, and at the commandment\nof the Lord, they pitched their tents. The cloud of His presence was a\nshadow by the day and a light by night. They were safe with this Divine\nLeadership.\n\nIn the same way He deals with us. He is still present, although not in\nthe visible cloud, to shade us and give us light, but He is present\nin and through Jesus Christ who dwells in our midst. He will look\nafter you, mothers and sisters, who with tenderness and care will lead\nour girls and young women away from the dens of vice and sin, from\nbrothels of debauchery and licentiousness, into the paths of virtue and\nholiness. You will teach them those lessons of dignity and character,\nand teach them the spirit and works of our blessed religion, which will\nbring them unto God and make them wise unto salvation.\n\n\u201cIsaac pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar and dwelt there.\u201d\nHe had a reason for so doing. We find that a jealousy had sprung up\nbetween Abimelek, the Philistines, and Isaac and his followers. They\ncould no longer remain near neighbors. The Philistines had filled the\nwells which Abraham had dug in his day, and in many other ways they\nwere annoying the righteous heart of Isaac.\n\nSo there are jealousies today that spring up among God\u2019s people, and\nthey cause a great deal of trouble. These troubles must be settled in\nsome way, and the example of Isaac is now and always before us. You\nwill not wait to carry out the purposes of such evil passions, but will\ncause your heart-tent to be pitched in another direction.\n\nYou have adopted the Lily for your name. It grows in the valley. It\nis the symbol of Christ. It represents beauty and purity. Christ\ntaught us, consider the lilies, how they grow; they grew in their\nloveliness under the sunshine and showers which God sent them. They\nfulfilled their mission. The Master told us that Solomon, in all his\nglory was not arrayed like one of these simple little flowers, and so\nit was, the heart may be so arrayed, but not the body. The lily is an\nemblem of the purity of God Himself. You have chosen this name. \u201cThe\nlilies of the valley,\u201d as your name and title, and it should make\nyou as the hand-maidens of the Lord, tender, pure, strong, noble,\nChrist-like; no anger, jealousy, hatred, and like passions should be\npermitted to dwell in your hearts for one moment, and my advice to all\nthe members present, is that you should go into this or some other\nsimilar society, for these dear sisters have pitched their tents in\nthe valley of Christianity, and not only that, but thank God, they\nare dwelling there. Yes, they have pitched their tent in the valley\namong the lilies. They are humble and meek. They are willing to do the\nlittle things for God and humanity. They are willing to be his humblest\nservants. They have planted the lilies in their hearts. They are living\nlike the lilies, I trust.\n\nI compliment and congratulate you for the splendid work which you have\ndone during the year just closed. Your faith is proven by your works,\nand your works are the fruit of the Tree of Life. We shall know the\ntree by its fruits. You are devoting your time and energies to God\nalong new lines of thought and service, and new fields of usefulness\nare opening up before you. It is always the case when God\u2019s children\nare earnestly seeking to do his will, He will lead them into greater\nfields of usefulness. I bid you Godspeed. The army of God is hard\non the march. There are many trials and tribulations, but God is our\nCaptain, and He will lead us to grand victories.\n\nAbimelek and the Philistines have gone to their place. Moses, the\nservant of God, was succeeded by Joshua, and Joshua, by another as\nleader, and so God has been marching with His people through all the\nages, leading them from one victory to another, into the very land\nof Promise, on the other side of Jordan. Study the history of God\u2019s\npeople, follow the example of these illustrious leaders, do not fear,\ndo not fret, but ever march along the Highway of the King. Ever take\nthe name of Jesus with you. Pitch your tent always in the valley of\nChristianity and toward Heaven. Always dwell in the right place, and\nmove in the right direction, and at last you will wear the white robe\nof the righteousness of Jesus Christ your Lord. Let this passage of\nScripture be closely inscribed on your hearts, and Grace be unto you\nfrom Him who was and is and is to come.\n\n\u201cUnto Him who hath loved us and washed us in His blood, and made us\nkings and priests, unto God the Father, to Him be glory and dominion\nnow and forevermore. Amen.\u201d\n\n\nChrist\u2019s Ascension.\n\n \u201cAnd it came to pass while he blessed them he was parted from them and\n carried into heaven.\u201d--Luke 15:51.\n\nThe coming of the Lord to the nations of the earth was not that He\nmight advertise Himself as a candidate for some high office among the\nnations, or in the nation to which he belonged. He came not as the Jews\nexpected Him, for they were looking for some temporal ruler who would\nre-establish their temporal kingdom on the earth. Their idea was that\nsome man would come and sit on the throne of David. Their dream was\nthat the Hebrew people would be formed into the most powerful nation\non the earth, and that in some mysterious, some mystic way, this great\nfeat would be accomplished. God\u2019s own chosen people at that time had\npractically no spiritual conception of what the Kingdom of God meant.\nThe disciples of Christ most frequently misconstrued His teachings on\nthis subject. The case of Nicodemus is an illustrious example of the\nspiritual misconception of the Jews.\n\nChrist came on a special mission, the saving of the lost, the saving\nof man. He is therefore represented as the Lamb that taketh away the\nsin of the world. When John, the Baptist, saw Him coming towards him,\nwalking on the shore of the river Jordan, he exclaimed, \u201cBehold, the\nLamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.\u201d This spiritual work\nof Christ is unchanged. He will rule until the kingdoms of this world,\nbecome the kingdom of God.\n\n\u201cHe came unto His own and His own received him not,\u201d we read, because\nHe did not come doing the temporal work which they expected Him to do,\nbut He came unto His own, and in a grand sense it was through this\ncoming, that the world has received a true conception of this Kingdom,\nand millions of hearts have experienced this Kingdom set up in these\nhearts. The Kingdom of God is within you, and as heaven, it will work\nin and through you, until you are entirely made spiritual. Christ has\never been the Light of the Word. He inspired our Pilgrim Fathers; He\nwas the friend of the poor Samaritans; He sought and saved the needy,\npoor and sinning of His day. Indeed, the human founders of His Kingdom\non the earth were the ignorant fishermen of Galilee. The law came\nthrough Moses, but grace and truth by Jesus Christ. His presence, His\nrevelation, His manifestation, His power, His goodness, thrilled the\nangels when they sang, \u201cGlory to God in the highest, on earth peace,\ngood-will to men.\u201d We are here to laud and to praise Him, and to say\nas the Scriptures say, \u201cBlessed is the womb that bare thee and the paps\nthat gave thee suck.\u201d\n\nSir Knights, we congratulate you on this noble spirit of acknowledging\nthe ascension of Jesus Christ. We are here not to talk about the mystic\nties which bind you together as a noble band of brothers, but to honor\nand glorify Him who rose from the dead that our life and immortality\nmight be brought to light. You have come from your asylum to this\ntabernacle that you may pay tribute to this ascension, the ascension\nday of the King of Kings. As Christ climbed the rugged hill of Calvary\nthat He might set the captives free so we have climbed, as weary\npilgrims, the holy mount of privilege that we might view the landscape\no\u2019er of our liberty on this and that side of Jordan. Let us raise our\nbanners and wield our swords for the defense of our country, and our\nhelpless women and children. Let us be valiant soldiers not only of our\nown teaching as knights, but also of the Cross of Jesus Christ. We can\nknow but one real captain; we can follow but one real leader; we can\nmarch in but one army; we can have but one victory; these are all in\nthe Kingdom of God.\n\nWhen Jesus arose from the dead, He met His disciples and blessed them,\nand having completed His mission on earth, He went on High, but He\nhas drilled us as He drilled those disciples; He has left us human\nleaders in His name and with His authority, and to us He said, \u201cIf ye\nwould be my disciples, deny yourselves, take up your cross and follow\nme.\u201d His work on earth is done, excepting through you and me, the human\nagency which He employs. He is doing His work at the right hand of\nHis Father\u2019s throne that we may be able here, to come off more than\nconquerors through Him.\n\nHe passed through the scenes of Gethsemane, He died on the cross of\nCalvary; He descended into hell or Hades that He might taste death for\nevery man, and forty days after the resurrection, He ascended on High.\nHe went up on the pinions of the clouds until they received Him out of\ntheir sight. Then two men stood by the disciples who were gazing into\nheaven and said to them, \u201cWhy stand ye gazing into heaven, as ye see\nHim go up ye shall see Him likewise come down again. You have heard\nof Zerubabel, you have met Darius and Cyrus, the Great, you have seen\nJesus Christ ascending; those great men will not return, but Jesus will\ncome again to take you with Him in the next ascension. He will not come\nagain as the victim of pagan hostilities or Jewish persecution, but He\nis coming without sin unto salvation as the spoiler of the grave, the\nconqueror of the world, the hero who conquered hell, and will lead us\nto victory over Satan and his forces.\u201d\n\nThe Gospel and the Word are preached to you because you dwell in His\nsecret place; thus you are abiding under the shadow of the Almighty,\nstay with Him, fight on through the conflict, the battle may be\nfierce, but you shall win. You see the triumph from afar, your faith\nis your power. God the All-Glorious One is with you, for remember that\nwhen star will shine no more unto star, and planet cease to revolve\naround planet, when flowers fade to bloom no more, the Word of our God\nendureth forever. Heaven is His throne and earth His footstool, and we\nare His children.\n\nI exhort you therefore to take Him more than ever before, as the Man of\nyour counsel, the friend that sticketh closer than a brother.\n\nHe has gone to prepare a place for you that where He is there ye may be\nalso.\n\n\u201cUnto Him who hath loved us and washed us from our sins in His own\nblood, be glory and dominion now and evermore.\u201d\n\n There is death in the pot.--II Kings 4:40.\n\nIn the year 895 B. C., in Syria, a certain woman resided. She was the\nwife of Obadiah, a devoted companion, a good, genial spirit; she was\na model wife, but misfortune overtook her, and the bright days of\nprosperity and enjoyment passed under the dark clouds of adversity.\nThe pleasant fragrance from the flowers faded and her husband too had\npassed to the bourne from whence none returns.\n\nShe is now a widow left to contend against the hard and unsympathizing\nworld.\n\n  \u201cTrouble like a gloomy cloud\n  Gathered fast and thundered loud.\u201d\n\nHer husband and father was God above. Her old-time friends who knew\nand recognized her in her prosperity, now passed her by unnoticed.\nAdversity makes a great change in friendship. It renders friends,\nstrangers, and breaks asunder the dearest ties. These friends were\nwilling to see her suffer and her children torn from her side and sold\ninto slavery that her debts might be paid. There was no helping hand,\nno money to loan, no salvation from this awful condition, no one to\nbecome her surety, but above all this darkness of night and of cloud,\nGod was dwelling, and watching. He never forsakes His own, He may seem\nto do so, but never, never.\n\nGod sent His servant Elisha to her and through him relieved her of\nall her troubles. Elisha was a mighty man of God. He had received the\nmantle of Elijah and was a student under him. He was full of wisdom\nand understanding, going about in the spirit of Jehovah serving the\npeople, instructing them, leading them to higher life, and making them\nacquainted with God and His ways.\n\nElisha during a famine had the people to gather herbs that their hunger\nmight be relieved. Among those herbs which were thrown into the pot,\nthere was some poisonous herb which some one had gathered by mistake,\nit too was thrown in. In the boiling of these together, the poison was\nspread through the pot. When they began eating the vegetable soup, the\npoison was discovered. Elijah was informed and destroyed its bad effect.\n\nIt is well for us to note that.\n\nI. The world is the pot.\n\nThe world has been cursed by sin. There is in it both the good and\nthe bad, both food and poison. God has placed us in the world that we\nmay as Christians, do the work which Elisha did in his day. When we\nlook about us, how many people we see who have been poisoned. There\nare murderers, suicides, thieves, robbers, liars, all these are acting\nin the way they act and live, because they have in them poison. It is\nwell for us to understand that we need not expect in this world to\nfind the good unmixed from the evil. Christ prayed that God would not\ntake His own out of the world, but that He would keep them from the\nevil in the world, and we are taught in the prayer called the Lord\u2019s\nPrayer, \u201cLead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.\u201d As\nGod\u2019s children, we cannot mix with the children of this world. We\ncannot allow the amusements of this world and its allurements to lead\nus away from God and His Kingdom. We are in the world, but not of it.\nWe are but pilgrims, passing through, on the way to the country of God,\nbut all that we are and have are in this world; just as all the herbs\nwere thrown into the pot, but there is also poison there. Is there any\npleasure, without its tinge of pain? Is there any hope without the\npresence of a cloud? Is there any expectation without some kind of a\ndisappointment? But Christ is our Elisha. The poison in the pot can be\nremoved and He will remove it for us. The pleasures of the world may be\nrendered sweet and pure. The work of this world can be raised to the\nhighest dignity. The power of this world may be turned to the highest\ngood of all. We are not left helpless and hopeless.\n\nII. The temptations of the world are the fire under the pot.\n\nThe question of temptations is a very interesting one, for the\nChristian. There are many who find their greatest trouble in\ntemptations. They are not able to distinguish a temptation from a sin,\nand confusing them, they look upon themselves as very great sinners,\nbecause they have very great temptations. This is a false idea. A\ntemptation is a trial. All temptations are not evil. There are also\ntemptations that lead us to noble action. God is not tempted of evil,\nneither does He tempt to evil, but He does tempt us to the good,\nand indeed, He permits Satan to ply us with temptations, and we by\novercoming these temptations may grow strong and pure.\n\nChrist, the sinless man, was in the world, full of temptations, but He\novercame them. His temptations were genuine, they were sinful, they\nwould have proven destructive, but He overcame them and He overcame\nthem without sin.\n\nIt matters not what the temptation may be, however dark and sinful, it\nis with you as to the result of that temptation in your life.\n\n  \u201cYield not to temptation,\n  For yielding is sin.\u201d\n\nIt is the yielding that is sin. Resist the devil, and he will flee from\nyou. Make friends of him and he will live with you. He will become a\npart of you, he will drag you down, he will work your destruction.\n\nHow often we realize that dark, sinful thoughts, pass through our\nminds. They are sins like a black cloud, sweeping over the beautiful\nlandscape of the soul. Well, does this constitute sin? By no means. It\nis only when these thoughts remain in the mind, when we harbor them,\nwhen we become fond of them; this is what forms sin in the soul. It is\nyour work to expel them, to drive them out, to hate them.\n\nPaul said, When I would do good evil is present with me. How true\nthis is with us today. Even in our holiest exercises, such as prayer,\npraise, worship, sin is found lurking in our aspirations after God.\nSelfishness enters our prayers, selfishness frequently inspires our\nholiest hopes, selfishness poisons our love, doubt weakens our faith,\nand so we find in our religion and its life, the element of sin. This\nis the death in the pot.\n\nSo the whole Bible deals with the problem of sin. The plan of salvation\nis simply the plan for removing sin from within and from without us.\nThe mission of Christ is to save the sinner from his sins. Frequently\nChristians get the idea that salvation is to bring us at last to\nHeaven; well, that is in a manner true, but remember that is the\nlast work of salvation, bringing us to Heaven. Salvation deals with\nthousands of things in our lives here, before we are ready for Heaven.\nAnd indeed we can never enter Heaven with sin in our natures. Sin must\nbe rooted out here in some manner. So we have our Elisha, he can and\ndoes remove the death from the pot. He is the bread of life, the water\nof life, in which there is no poison.\n\nI beg you, therefore, to take this text with you. Ponder over its deep\nmeaning. Apply its truths to your own life, come to our Elisha that He\nmay remove the death from your pot. Try and understand the deep meaning\nof your religion and that it is a rule of life for every-day living.\nThat it furnishes you with the wisdom and the power to overcome all the\nsin within you and all the temptations without you. Therefore watch and\npray. Be diligent in season and out of season and put your trust in\nyour Elisha, and He will make all things work together for your good.\nThis is His promise.\n\n\nThe Reward of the Righteous.\n\n \u201cFor ye are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance which\n the Lord your God giveth you.\u201d--Deut. 12:9.\n\nA description of Paradise is always acceptable to the humble believer.\nHe is seeking the rest, the inheritance, which God has so abundantly\npromised in His word. So our God has not omitted to give us glimpses of\nthis Heavenly rest. We have gathered together our own sweet bundle of\nsentiments regarding it. They are ever a blooming garden of flowers by\nour pathway. We are to so live that we may daily prepare for this Home\nof the Soul. Hezekiah was ordered to set his house in order. He was\nreminded that he would soon be called to enter into this rest prepared\nfor the people of God. He had something to do first, however--to set\nhis house in order.\n\nWe sadly realize that in the study of this deep question our knowledge\nof that country which is our eternal home, can be but faint. Paul saw\nsomething of its glory but would not undertake to describe it. And\nthe glowing descriptions which John gives us in his Revelation, are\nmost difficult to understand. They are figures, they are poorly drawn\npictures, outlines, photographs, of that Celestial Clime and its Holy\nInhabitants. But it confirms our hopes, invigorates our strength,\nennobles our efforts. Then let us study today something and somewhat of\nthis Happy Land.\n\nI. The Character of the Reward, the Inheritance.\n\nThe Israelites were worn and weary, with the desert journey. For forty\nyears they had been wanderers, pilgrims, in a land of sand, rocks,\nbarren waste and mountains. God so blessed them that their garments\ndid not wear out, and He gave them water from the rocks and food from\nHeaven and flesh from the far countries. But this was not enough.\nThey had been promised a land that flowed with milk and honey, a land\nof rest, an inheritance. God had promised to Abraham that He would\ngive them the land of Canaan for a possession, and that it should be\ninherited by all his children forever. While this promise had been\nmade centuries before their trials in the Wilderness, yet God had not\nforgotten His pledge and His people had not forgotten His promises.\nThe great encouragement which Moses always brought forward that their\nstrength might be renewed, was that God had made them a promise of a\nland of their own. With all their trials and disappointments, their\nmistakes and their failures, their doubts and perplexities, God was\nwith them and the Land of Canaan was just beyond the Jordan.\n\nIt is well for us to keep in mind the journey of the Israelites,\nbetween the Red Sea and the Jordan; between the land of slavery and the\nland of liberty. For indeed we are making just such a journey now. We\nare on the march to our Heavenly Canaan. It is called a rest. It is\ncalled an inheritance. What blessed descriptions these are! We could\nwant no better.\n\nThis wilderness of sin is a land of weariness. The way is hard, the\nmountains to climb are high. The rocks which cut our feet are many. The\nloads which we carry cause so often fainting, almost death. There is\nno rest here. We have temporary resting places where we may sleep and\nrefresh ourselves. But the day comes, and its work, its weariness. Even\nin our religious lives and work, we experience the same fatigue, we are\nexhorted not to grow weary in well doing, not to faint by the way, why?\nBecause we are in a land of weariness, of toil, of exhaustion!\n\n\u201cTo him that overcometh, I will give a crown of life. To him that\novercometh, I will make a pillar in the temple of my God and they shall\ngo out no more.\u201d Our abiding place there will be as permanent as the\npillars of the temple. We cannot be removed. Surely we will not want\nto go out any more. We will be satisfied to dwell in the temple of God\nforever. Then it is called an inheritance. Our children inherit our\npossessions. There is no law to prevent them from coming into what has\nbelonged to us. It is their own when we leave it by every right of\nhuman and Divine law.\n\nII. Our Saviour is the faithful witness of this promised land.\n\nMoses, you remember, sent spies into Canaan that they might bring\nback a report of the land which God had promised to Abraham and his\ndescendants. These spies returned. Only two, Caleb and Joshua, brought\nback a good report. The majority report was very discouraging indeed,\nso much so, that the Israelites turned back again.\n\nThere are many in this world who have a bad report of the Promised\nLand which the text tells us, is to be our rest and our inheritance.\nWill you listen to them? If so, you will also turn back and continue\nwandering in the wilderness of sin. Do not forget that Satan is one of\nthese spies. He will tell you false things regarding your religion,\nyour brethren, your Saviour, your God and Heaven. This is his business.\nHe is always at it. You find many Christians who do not think much\nabout Heaven, they consider it a dream, they contend that this is their\nHeaven, hence they place little value on all the reports in the Bible\nconcerning this land. But we have a true witness, our Joshua, our\nJesus. He came from that country. He knows its hills and dells, its\nclime, its fruits, its joys, its eternal delights. He has left us His\nreport. It is absolutely true. He has seen and heard and tasted and He\nspeaks as a true witness. He said to His disciples on the eve of His\ndeparture, \u201cI go to prepare a place for you, that where I am, there ye\nmay be also. In my Father\u2019s house are many mansions, if it were not so\nI would have told you.\u201d \u201cIf ye believe in God, believe also in me.\u201d\n\nGod liberated His people from Egypt. He raised the iron heel of\noppression from the necks of His people. He led them forth. He brought\nthem into Canaan. His omniscience guided them. His omnipresence was\never with them. He brought them to an end of the toil, labor, dust,\npains, weariness of the wilderness journey. The same God is leading\nus to a much better country. In this country there are no enemies, as\nthere were in Canaan. No battles will be fought, no sickness will be\nendured, no trials to pass through, no fading sunsets and following\ndark nights, no losses, no crosses, for \u201cAll the former things are\npassed away, behold, I make all things new.\u201d\n\nJesus says, \u201cI am the living bread of which if any man eat, he shall\nnevermore hunger.\u201d He has broken down the middle wall or partition, so\nthat we can enter into the very presence of God. Paul speaks of His\nwork when he says, \u201cBy whom also we have access by faith into this\ngrace wherein we stand and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.\u201d\nYes, the glory of God, that glory which shall be reflected from our\nhearts and faces when we stand complete before God. John says, \u201cIt doth\nnot appear what we shall be, but we know that when He shall appear,\nwe shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And every one\nthat hath this hope in him, purifieth himself even as He is pure.\u201d We\nshall be like Him! These are not misty descriptions of our rest and\ninheritance! They are real photographs. We need not doubt, we need\nnot fear. It doth not appear what we shall be, but in that beautiful\nhabitation of the soul, we will be more beautiful than the beautiful\nhome which God has prepared.\n\nIII. But this rest and inheritance will be the reward of the faithful.\n\nWe should not deceive ourselves for not every one will enter. There\nare many in this world who confidently expect to enter this Heavenly\nCanaan, but they have no passport. If you were to take a trip through\nEurope and Asia, it would be necessary for you to procure from the\nproper officials of this country a passport, for without this you would\nnot be permitted to go through these countries. You would be looked\nupon as some kind of an enemy. The passports to Heaven are goodness and\nfaithfulness. Not the goodness, however, which this world creates and\nloves and prizes. Christ said to the young nobleman who came to Him\nand wanted to know what good thing he could do to enter the kingdom of\nHeaven, \u201cWhy callest thou me good, there is none good but God.\u201d This\nyoung man said that he had kept all the commandments from his youth up,\nnow if he had done that and we have no reason to doubt it, for Christ\nlooked on him and loved him, then this young man was really good as\nthis world calls goodness; but mark you he did not enter the \u201cKingdom\nof God,\u201d for he went away very sorrowful, for he was very rich. Oh! he\nwas very rich!\n\nHe had his own little heaven, he had his own little bundle of goodness,\nhe had his own passport, but these did not suffice, for the Kingdom of\nGod. These were of no value in this Kingdom.\n\nI was born in a slave state. When I was a little boy, my mother being\nvery poor, sent me out on a very cold day to the river bank to gather\nup a bundle of wood. I gathered up the wood and tied it into a bundle\nand placed it on my head. I started home. It was a large bundle and\ngrew very heavy as I walked along. It was painful to my head and I\nbecame tired. I staggered under the burden, I thought that I could not\nreach the house, but I kept on. At last I got home and almost fainted.\nBut what a relief it was to me and what a comfort it became to my\nmother. As we sat that night by the crackling fire, I thought, well it\nwas worth all it cost me. The pleasure it gave my mother, the family,\nand satisfaction it gave me to know that I had done this and all were\nnow enjoying it, was my reward, my rest. But mark you, it was the\nreward of goodness and faithfulness. If I had been a disobedient boy,\nwould I have had that reward? Would I have had that enjoyment? Would I\nhave had the approval and the love of my mother? Never, never! So it is\nwith us today. We must carry our burdens, and the burdens of others. We\nhave always a double load on our shoulders, this makes it doubly heavy.\nSometimes we nearly faint under it, the road seems to have no end, we\nare almost tempted to throw down the load, but can we? If we really\ndesire to enter that beautiful city beyond the river of death, the load\nwhich God has given us, must be carried to the very end. We can drop\nthat load when we come to the river, when the death angel tells us that\nit is enough and that our Father wants us to come home.\n\nYou are to serve your brother-man, you are to love him, to pray for\nhim, and to love and pray for your enemies. This is the load, this\nis the work that is to be done! Without the cross there is no crown,\nwithout the weights there are no wings, without the prayers there will\nbe no praises! \u201cWell done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been\nfaithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things.\nEnter thou into the joy of thy lord.\u201d This is the welcome plaudit. Do\nyou long to hear that plaudit? Then be faithful today and tomorrow and\nthroughout life.\n\nIV. This place is called rest.\n\nAfter the victory there is peace. After the labor there is rest.\nAfter the pain there is pleasure. This world is not our abiding\nplace, our peace-place. As long as man lives on the earth he has\nvarious inducements to sin. Enemies within and without are continually\norganizing against him. Satan is seeking to devour him with lust and\nsin. He too often, alas! renounces his allegiance to his God, he\nforgets his Saviour, he turns away from the practice of his religion.\nWorldly pleasures allure him, they deceive him, they intoxicate. Ten\nthousand are the ways of this world to lead the humble pilgrim astray.\nThe Israelites wandered in the Wilderness forty days, but it was only\na seven days march from Egypt to Canaan; Why did they wander? Because\nthey sinned. The flesh is lusting against the spirit and the spirit\nagainst the flesh. When we would do good evil is present with us. What\na mighty conflict this life of wandering is!\n\nBut blessed be God there are no haunts of innocent (?) amusement to\nentice you from pure holiness, in Heaven! No dens to rob men and women\nof their virtue, no pit-falls of saloons and gambling hells to lead\nastray the holy inhabitants of that land of rest, none of these things\nare to be found there! The ungodly rich man, the oppressor of the poor,\nthe robber, the thief, these are all cast into the lake where the worm\ndieth not and the fire is not quenched. There is the place of our\nEternal Rest. It is a mountain where heavenly pastures grow and the\nrivers of life gently flow. It is here that we shall know as we are\nknown. Here ignorance is forever banished and we see face to face. God\nhelp as to enter this rest and to obtain this inheritance.\n\n\nOur Legacy.\n\n Peace I leave with you.--John 14:27.\n\nDear Brethren, in entering upon the work of this district two years ago\nI found that the ship had sprung a leak, the sails were furled, many\nof the crew had deserted the ship and left her to the mercy of the\nwaves. There seemed to be a heavy cloud over the church, her banners\nhad been trailing in the dust. I look back and almost shudder and\nwonder what would have been the fate of the church had things drifted\non as I found them. I wonder if there were any here who at that time\nwould have believed our report and to whom the arm of the Lord would\nhave been revealed. I ask the question now, shall the church in Trenton\nsink, shall her doors be closed, shall her banner be dust covered? No,\nnever, so long as God says \u201cThou shalt live.\u201d So like Paul at Athens\nI take courage and preach the Gospel to you that your strength may\nincrease and your faith grow stronger.\n\nBro. Joseph Long was the first man I saw, to whom I delivered my\nmessage. He said go ahead, my son, sound the trumpet and we will rally\nto the standard though the host of hell surround us. I accepted the\nsituation, seeing that there was a great field of usefulness before\nme. I saw and felt my inability to do any good or to be of any service\nto the church unless God was with me. So I consecrated myself anew to\nGod and made a complete surrender. My own capabilities united with\nyours, we brought our forces into line and began the battle which you\nhave fought so nobly and bravely against every obstacle. You have been\nfaithful soldiers, and may be called veterans in the cause of Christ.\nThe enemy has been many times defeated and main victories have been won\nand the cause has been greatly advanced, but the time of our separation\nis drawing nigh, our communions will soon cease, they have been very\nsweet and precious to me, very helpful, your kindness has been like\nthe bud on the tree continually swelling, and blossoming for my own\npleasure and profit. Like David, we have cried from the bottom of our\nhearts, How long, O Lord, How long shall the wicked reign? Save thy\npeople, bless thine inheritance, feed and lift them up for ever. You\nhave proven your loyalty to the church at large, your efficiency in the\nchurch here, I commend your integrity, your faithfulness. Your warm\nhearts have beat continually for the success of the church during this\npastorate.\n\nThe old heroes have gone home to their reward. Their seats are vacant,\ntheir work is complete but we have entered into their labors and their\nmemory is still precious among us. They are still with us in spirit,\nthey are looking down from the battlements of glory and are witnessing\nour race here below. They have been described as a cloud of witnesses.\nTherefore we are to lay aside every weight and the sin that doth so\neasily beset us and run with patience the race that is set before us.\nTheir skill and bravery we should imitate, their example we should\ncopy, their life of service we should relieve. Oh! Could many of those\nold warriors awake from their graves and revisit old Mt. Zion and stand\non her battleground, to tell us of the contests through which they had\npassed and to show us the scars which they had received while fighting\nthe battle of the Lord, how often they have witnessed the going and\ncoming of ministers, having listened to their sad farewells, I am sure\nthat we would take courage today and rejoice that we are a part of that\ngrand procession, some of which are now in glory, some of which are\ncrossing and some of which are still on this side. These old veterans\nof glory are not here to shake our hands; they have risen from the\nbloody battlefield of earth to the sun lit hills of eternity and have\nwashed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Some\nthat I met two years ago are not here tonight to shake our hands, to\nbe with us in this farewell exercise, where are they? Where is father\nCrusen and Sister Layten, Tolson, Phinley, Reley and Rachel Conover.\nYoung men, I ask you tonight where is Enoch Limehouse, Jimmie Vroom\nand others of your companions? Parents and Sabbath School teachers,\nI ask you where are the Scotts, the Sees and Lily Wright and others\nwhom I met here two years ago? They have gone down to the grave, they\nare mouldering in their graves. But this shattered Mt. Zion church is\nthe same now as then, a few pillars are left. Brothers Long, Johnson,\nFisher, Jones, Ward, Ayers, Charna, Sisters Long, Ward, Perine, Hall,\nScroden, Hutchens, Lewis, Harriet, Charmer, and a host of others, we\nhave stood together through these years and are one tonight in spirit\nand in truth. Our spirits have shared each other\u2019s burdens, each\nother\u2019s sorrows, we have mingled our tears.\n\nYour Christian advice, tender care, loyal friendship, all these have\nhelped me on my way to the better land. You have performed your part\nwell, a uniform desire to contribute to the harmony of all. Your\nzeal for the growth of the church when it seemed to be dying, your\nconstant watching for its highest welfare, have often caused me to\nsay, \u201cI was glad when they said to me, let us go into the house of the\nLord.\u201d Although we separate here in sorrow we will meet in a place\nwhere sorrow is unknown. Do you promise to meet me there? March on, ye\nSoldiers of the Cross, be not afraid, God is your helper, He will not\ndesert you! Keep your eyes on the city whose builder and maker is God.\nDo not grow weary in well-doing nor faint by the way.\n\nChrist said, My peace I leave with you. I can say my blessings I leave\nwith you. Let us pray for each other and look forward to the time when\nwe shall meet to part no more. Farewell!\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nArticles and Contributions\n\n\nAn Echo to the Manager\u2019s Call.\n\nMr. Editor: In your issue of June 21, 1877, an article appears,\nemanating from the business manager, indicating trouble ahead. He\nsays that from the very fact of the editor receiving two letters to\nhis one, and the supporters of our publishing department placing\nthe major portions of their communications on the wrong current,\nthe most pernicious effect is designed to flow through the stream\nof intellectual knowledge gleaned from the columns of the Christian\nRecorder.\n\nI have only to ask my brethren, Can we, as pillars of the porch that\nleads to the great temple of African Methodism, sit still on our easy\nchair and hear such powerful peals of thunder ringing through our\nears, constantly coming from the subverting clouds now overhanging our\nmanager\u2019s head?\n\nLet us burst loose the bands of oppression, open the prison door and\nset the captive free. Give the manager a fair start in the race, and\nthen if he die (as he says the death warrant has been served on others\nwho had charge of the concern), let us bury him in a recreant\u2019s grave.\nAs to the department being whittled away by the ministry, I would\nlike to ask, Mr. Editor, who is responsible for that? Is there not a\nprescribed mode of bringing these would-be men to justice? These vipers\nthat creep through the money till of all our departments and from\ntheir atrocious dereliction or their villainous designs to defraud the\nconnection out of what is rightfully due it? These things are actually\nundermining the foundation of our Church. Put them between the upper\nand lower millstones and grind them as fine as powder. Do not let us\nall suffer from the effect of the same blow. The blow the Doctor struck\nhas shocked the connection like a mighty earthquake. Now the question\ngoes from every loyal fort along the line, \u201cWho are these whittlers?\u201d\nAgain, the manager says there is a wolf howling about the door of\nhis sanctum, and that unless there be sufficient food to satisfy his\ndemands, at no distant date there will be a burst up. I again ask,\nCannot this eternal howling be stopped?\n\nNow, the manager says that our articles of commendation and sweet\npats on the shoulder, telling him to go ahead with the engine without\nanything to propel it, does not amount to much. He wants action--noble,\nsublime, Godlike action--such as will place him on the road to success.\nThen, brethren, let us act. According to the report made at the\nGeneral Conference of 1872, we have three hundred thousand members,\nseven thousand preachers in our connection. Let a Sabbath be set apart\nand let it be universally known throughout the Church, and one-fourth\nof a dollar be collected from each member. This would give us the nice\nlittle sum of $75,000. Say that the preachers give one dollar each,\nincluding bishops, managers, editors and all others, which would make\na total of $82,000. Would not this stop the howling wolf and save the\ndepartment? The echo is, Yes! Then, brethren, let us awake from our\nsleep. Call the forces to the front, wheel into line, fire on the\nenemy, and the victory is ours. I will guarantee one-fourth of a dollar\nfrom each one of my members, and not only one dollar from myself, but\nfive, at whatever time may be mentioned as a day for this purpose in\nthe interests of the Book Concern.\n\n  A. H. NEWTON.\n  Algiers, La., July, 1877.\n\n\nThe Race Problem Solved at Asbury Park.\n\n  For the Christian Recorder.\n\n  New Brunswick, N. J., August 2, 1890.\n\n  Mr. Editor.\n\nSir: As a native of the \u201cOld North State\u201d myself, it is but natural\nthat I should feel some pride in every honor or mark of respect paid\nto her honored sons; and yet, sir, when I see metropolitan papers,\nwhose politics are not very favorable to our race, teeming with\npraise of the speeches made, with some very remarkable quotations of\nopposition to the \u201cForce Bill,\u201d or apologizing for certain reasons\nwhy it should not become a law; when I see certain gentlemen denied\nby those in authority not especially committed to our side of public\nquestions regarding our interest, it is but natural that some of us\nshould become alarmed lest these honors are received and bestowed at\nthe terrible expense of compromising the rights of our race.\n\nWe are forced to believe that President Grandison must have committed\nhimself with all the force of his eloquence on the beach at the park\nto thirty thousand people in favor of the Force Bill. We are also led\nto believe that our popular friend Dr. Sampson was very conservative\nin his Fourth of July speech. But now comes out one of the leading\nillustrated journals with all the pictures of these orators of the\nFourth at the park, and the Doctor is made to say if a colored man is\ndiscriminated against or in any way persecuted in regard to his rights,\nthat it ought to stimulate him to greater effort to make himself more\nworthy, and to not only make himself the equal, but the superior of the\nother men. With other compromising remarks, and after several highly\npleasing speeches on the beach to the multitudes from the hotels, it is\nsaid that the Doctor and founder, Bradley, repaired to the dining rooms\nof the different hotels and told the colored help when and where they\nmight be allowed to bathe.\n\nWas this arrangement made by the Doctor with Mr. Bradley for the\ncolored people? Will these two North Carolinians answer this question?\nWere they paid one hundred dollars for these speeches, and were they\nproperly quoted in the New York World? I mean President Grandison, of\nBennett College, as to his views on the Force Bill delivered at the\npark or elsewhere, and also Dr. Sampson on the Race Problem, delivered\non the grand stand on the Fourth of July at the park. I understand that\nmy old friend did say that a Negro\u2019s occupation should not be above\nthat of a servant, for he must know well how to discharge the duties\nbelonging to this sphere before he is able to meet the more responsible\nduties of life. I ask the Doctor if this is all true.\n\n  Yours respectfully,\n  A. H. NEWTON.\n\n31 French Street, New Brunswick, N. J.\n\n\nIntemperance.\n\nBy Miss Ada A. Newton.\n\nIntemperance is a fatal evil. What are felons, murderers and thieves\nbut men who began drinking but moderately, just for fashion or to see\nhow it tasted? From drinking moderately they go on taking a little more\neach time, until finally they become confirmed drunkards. How common\nit is to hear a wife say, Ah! He was a good husband before he began\ndrinking. There was nothing he thought too good for me. How we pity\nthe drunkard\u2019s wife and children! The little ones are made to suffer\nfor the doings of their father, for God says that \u201cthe iniquities of\nthe fathers are visited upon the children unto the third and fourth\ngeneration, while His mercy is shown unto thousands that love Him and\nkeep His commandments.\u201d How careful, then, should all be to guard\nagainst this evil. The cup that has the glow of ruby at last biteth\nlike a serpent and stingeth like an adder.\n\nLet us give an illustration that all may see the course of this sin.\nHere is a rich man who has a son; he indulges him beyond measure; he\nteaches him in youth to drink wine. At first he makes a wry face and\ntells his father that he does not like it and cannot drink it. His\nfather scorns and ridicules the idea, and tells him that unless he\ndrinks some he will never become a man. So the little fellow drinks\nbecause it is his father\u2019s desire and not his own. He soon acquires a\nthirst for the poisonous cup, and when he comes to manhood\u2019s estate\nhe drinks often and freely. At last he drinks too much and becomes\nintoxicated--yes, intoxicated! This is his first step to ruin; the\nhabit has been formed. His father is now much mortified. He threatens\nto disinherit him if he does not stop drinking, but it is too late.\nThe father has laid the foundation and the son has built on it, and\nneither of them is now able to undo what has been done and fixed into\na habit. His mother begs him to never again touch the deadly drug. For\nher sake he promises and takes the pledge. There is great rejoicing\nnow. His father, mother, friends, all rejoice at the reclamation; the\nson has reformed! Yes, he has reformed. His eyes lose their redness\nand become bright and lustrous. He attends diligently to his business.\nAfter a while he marries. Then the rejoicing is universal. All delight\nat the great reformation. But alas! how frail is human nature. Soon\nafter his marriage he meets at the tavern his old chums. He has perfect\nconfidence in himself. He knows he will not drink again. His pride\nasserts itself. His old companions are gleeful and congenial; they ask\nhim to drink. He pays no attention to them. Then they sneer, they\nridicule, they appeal to his manhood, they accuse him of being tied to\nhis wife\u2019s apron strings. To prove to them that he is not all that they\ndeclare, he takes one drink, then another and another, and soon he is\nbeastly drunk. Then they kick him out. His wife watches for him, then\nshe watches over him, and he does not return, so it seems. He is now\ndetained on business; he has an engagement at the club, at the lodge.\nHow little does she know how soon she is to be bowed down and broken\nunder grief! She watches. It is midnight; she meets him at the door\nwith a glad heart; the sight is heart-sickening. She reels and faints.\nHe is fearfully intoxicated! When he is able to reason, she reasons\nwith him, but in vain. Down, down he goes from one step to another,\nuntil from a large mansion he brings her to live in a cellar. Who is\nthat grinning monster the boys are pelting in the street? And who is\nthat emaciated creature entreating the boys to let the miserable wretch\nwhom she calls her husband go home? The once noble husband and the\nonce beautiful wife! What has brought them so low? What has caused her\nmisery, her anguish? Rum, rum, rum; nothing but the demon RUM!\n\nOh, young man, if you only knew the harm that the social glass does\nyou, the misery that it brings, the death that follows, you would cast\naway the poison and turn from it now, before it is eternally to late.\n\u201cTouch not, taste not the unclean thing, for wine is a mocker and\nstrong drink is raging.\u201d\n\nAlgiers, La.\n\n\nFrom Arkansas.\n\n  For the Christian Recorder.\n\nMr. Editor: You have not heard from us for several months, not because\nwe have lost interest, for we have always stood among the active\nworkers of the Church, but we have been very busy. The last time we\nwrote you from the South we were in the State of Tennessee.\n\nIn the month of October last year Bishop Brown ordered us to strike our\ntent and move to Arkansas. With the knapsack of faith and the musket of\ntruth we came and engaged in the contest, taking charge of Little Rock.\n\nThe Little Rock Conference is composed of some of the noblest and\nmost energetic men in the Church. They work, sing and fight against\nSatan like men of war, determined to conquer although they die in the\nbattle. Elder J. T. Jenifer, so well known throughout our widespread\nconnection as a pioneer of African Methodism, erected a new church\nedifice at Little Rock, a monument that can never be forgotten, and to\nbe admired by unborn generations. Bishop Brown and J. F. A. Sisson, P.\nE., contributed their share towards the construction of this model of\nbeauty. H. H. Petigrew, P. E., John A. Jones, S. A. Patten and R. A.\nSinquefield are the pioneers of African Methodism in this State, and\ntheir labors have been given entirely to the Christian Church. Their\naffectionate and kind-hearted spirits draw every one near to them in\nthe fullest confidence, and none can but love and cherish them.\n\nThe Conference is divided into eleven districts and is cared for by\ngood and faithful presiding elders who are not afraid of the truth,\nthough dark and gloomy clouds oppose them on every hand. We have\nseveral churches in course of construction in this State which will be\nornaments when completed.\n\nIn Little Rock the work is in a prosperous condition. We are preparing\nto hold the Conference on the 9th of November, 1876. Bishop T. M. Ward\nis now with us on his way to the South Arkansas Conference. Our church\nis not yet completed, and we are about four thousand dollars in debt;\nbut, thank the Lord, we were successful in paying off $1200 this year.\nWe have 483 members, who say that they are determined to succeed. We\nhave 229 scholars in the Sunday School and 25 officers and teachers.\nWe have not done much for the Recorder, but we intend to fall into\nline. \u201cHold the fort, for we are coming!\u201d (\u201cYes, but hurry up!\u201d)\n\nKing Cotton has a powerful influence in this State, and the same is\ntrue of another king--Alcohol. There are 113 rum shops in Pine Bluff\nand 108 in Little Rock. Thousands of people are inquiring for the\nbyways to hell, and, comparatively speaking, very few are inquiring the\nway to heaven. Over $1,000,000 are spent in this State annually for rum\nand tobacco.\n\nOn September 25th we visited the Conference of Tennessee, held in\nPulaski, where we met many smiling faces and hearts and enjoyed a\nhearty shake of many hands.\n\n  A. H. NEWTON.\n\nLittle Rock, Ark., October 18, 1876.\n\n\nAlgiers, La.\n\nAlgiers is situated on the north bank of the Mississippi River, about\none hundred miles distant from the Gulf. It is connected with New\nOrleans by ferry boats, which run every five or ten minutes. There is\nnot much enterprise here, as all the business is done in the city.\nIt is not a separate parish from the city, as one mayor controls the\naffairs of both places. Beelzebub has his headquarters here, and his\ncourt and his orders take the premium. The Sabbath is not respected.\nMechanics labor and stevedores flock and flutter about the ships. You\nwill find human beings as thick on the ballroom floor on Sunday as\nfleas on a dog\u2019s head. And this is only a substitute for the wickedness\nindulged in here on the Sabbath. But our Church is progressing. We\nhave just had a glorious revival. Our forces were drawn up in line in\npitched battle with the devil and artillery of hell. After a heavy\nconflict for several weeks the battle subsided. When the smoke was\nover we picked up thirty souls happily converted to God. Bishop Ward\nwas with us about eight weeks ago. He organized a new mission work\nin this city. He threw two or three bombshells against the forces of\nCatholicism, crippled, wounded and captured several of their troops,\nand moved on down the line, leaving the boys to push the battle to the\ngate.\n\n  A. H. NEWTON.\n\nJune 21, 1877.\n\n\nWord from Algiers, La.\n\n  For the Christian Recorder.\n\nMr. Editor: Elder A. H. Newton has charge of the branch of African\nMethodism of Algiers, La. When Elder Newton arrived in Algiers he\nfound the church in an almost hopeless condition, there being but\nten members belonging to the fold, and as far as Sabbath School was\nconcerned, they hardly knew what it meant. The majority of the people\nof color are Catholics. There are three Catholic churches to one\nMethodist church, therefore he had to labor under great disadvantages,\nbut with King Jesus as his Captain, the Bible as his shield, he fought\nthe battle bravely and gained the victory. Our church now is in a\nprosperous condition. We are doing a good work. Instead of ten members\nwe have ten times ten, and they are coming to the fold every day.\nWe have the finest Sabbath School in the State of Louisiana. There\nare one hundred and seventy-five members, and still they come. Our\nsuperintendent, Prof. J. H. Corbin, is alive to our Sabbath School.\nHe is pious, kind and educated. The children all love him, and in\nno Sunday School throughout our entire connection could you find a\nbetter superintendent than he. He is also the principal of the colored\nschool of Algiers. Our musical director, Prof. S. W. Otts, is also one\nof our bright stars. He makes the walls of Zion ring with melodies\nfrom the \u201cGospel Songs.\u201d Miss O. B. Flowers, the assistant principal\nof the colored school of this city is also a noble worker in our\nSabbath School. As a teacher she is interesting, and she is also the\nembodiment of Christian forbearance. We have a very intelligent corps\nof teachers, and, altogether, our school is progressing quite rapidly.\nWhen Elder Newton came to Algiers there was not a book in the Sabbath\nSchool library, not even a Testament; but with the help of God we have\nbeen enabled to get Testaments, Bibles and Catechisms, and we also have\nan organ. All this has been done in three months. In another three\nmonths we have hopes of as much more being accomplished. Our agent for\nthe Christian Recorder is Mrs. Lula L. Newton. She sells as many papers\nas are sent her, and could sell as many more if she had them. The\npeople take quite an interest in the paper, simply because it is edited\nand published by our own color.\n\nFor the last week we have had a practical effort, six souls have been\nadded to our number and we have prospects of as many more. Algiers bids\nfair of becoming one of the strongholds of the connection. In the city\nof New Orleans, Bishop Ward (blessings on his venerable head!) has\norganized a new mission, which the elder in charge--Elder Cargile--with\nthe help of the Lord and good management, is making a good charge.\nThe people in this city are very wicked, some of them, although in a\nChristian land and among Christian people, are worse than heathen. They\nhave never read the Bible. The Bishop, knowing this, organized the\nmission in the most wicked portion of the city, and it is progressing\nfinely.\n\n  ADA A. NEWTON.\n\nApril 4, 1877.\n\n\nWord from Algiers, La.\n\n  For the Christian Recorder.\n\nMr. Editor: I am glad to say that our church is gaining ground.\nChristians are a unit in this place in laboring for the building of\nChrist\u2019s kingdom. Meetings are being held everywhere, with very marked\nresults. Elder James Madison is carrying on a great work in St. James.\nHe seems to be determined that every valley shall be filled and every\nhill made low. I think that he is the right man in the right place.\nThe Elder visited my Sabbath School and addressed the children. He\nexpressed himself as highly pleased with the progress of the church and\nschool.\n\nElder Lazarus Gardiner, of St. Peter\u2019s Chapel, is scattering Gospel\nseed and contending against the assaults of sin, at the head of\nnoble-hearted workers for the success of African Methodism in this\nState. They have paid five hundred dollars on their new church and have\narranged for the payment of another five hundred when due. The Elder\nis up and a-doing. God speed him on his journey!\n\nDr. George W. Bryant is sounding the Gospel trumpet from the\nbattlements of Zion at the Union Bethel. He is master of the situation.\nIf our Gospel be hid, it is hid unto them that are lost. The Baptist\nchurch is also doing a great work in this place. I was at a union\nmeeting at the Rev. James Chaig\u2019s church, a Baptist brother, and the\nSpirit of the Lord God filled the house. It was densely packed. The\nconference of glad voices giving praise to God was a heaven below.\nBrother Benjamin Buchannon also held a union meeting last Sabbath,\nwhich was a complete success. Fully three thousand people were present.\nThe church and the yard were literally packed. God bless these\nbrethren! May they live long and continue as instruments in the hands\nof God, enemies to ignorance and friends to holiness! J. H. Scie, P.\nE., is on the scout, I presume, although I have not heard from Elder\nThomas. And Elder Burch I can give no account of, as I have no news\nfrom their district since Conference.\n\n  A. H. NEWTON.\n\nJune 5, 1877.\n\n\nDedication of Macedonia Church.\n\nThe Rev. A. H. Newton was ably assisted in the service of dedicating\nthe beautiful new Macedonia Church in Camden, N. J., last Sunday. The\ndedicatory service was conducted and sermon preached by Bishop A. W.\nWayman, D.D., at 11 A. M. In the afternoon the editor of the Christian\nRecorder and at night Macedonia\u2019s ex-pastor, Rev. W. H. Yocum, B.D.,\npreached. There were present the Rev. G. A. Mills, Rev. J. W. Cooper,\nT. N. Allen, S. B. Williams, G. S. Smith, T. Gould, L. J. Coppin, B.\nT. Tanner, D.D., J. H. Bean, J. W. Becket, D.D., W. Rice and G. M.\nWitten, of our church, and S. P. Smith, of the Congregational Church of\nKnoxville, Tenn. There may have been other ministers present. In the\nafternoon the audience of the main audience room overflowed, filling\nthe basement, where they were addressed in a good sermon delivered by\nRev. G. M. Witten. The collection of the day amounted to over $900.\nMacedonia has been partly described while in course of erection. It\nis of brick, the windows are of beautiful stained glass, the floor\nis entirely carpeted, the pulpit is furnished, the gas jets, the\nexcellent finish of the entire building within and without command our\ncongratulation to our Brother Newton and constituents, who with him,\nas well as with his predecessor, Elder Yocum, under whose pastorate the\nbuilding was started, erected and enclosed, have been faithful.\n\nOctober 24, 1886.\n\n\nAnother Account of the Dedication of the Macedonia Church.\n\n  For the Christian Recorder.\n\nMr. Editor: In the midst of the ranges of thought and sentiment, and\nwhile the busy world was moving on in the grand march of improvement,\nthe Church of the Living God is unfolding and developing everywhere.\nThe Kingdom of Christ is gaining territory in the marts of men.\n\nSunday, October 24th, the Macedonia A. M. E. Church of Camden, N. J.,\nwas dedicated with imposing services. Indeed, I venture the assertion\nthat it was the grandest occasion in the history of the congregation.\nMore than forty years ago a few fathers and mothers, African\nMethodists, concluded to build the house to God in that city, all of\nwhom have finished their well-begun work, and have fallen asleep;\nbut Brother Wilson, Father Sample, Mother Quinn and Sister Hill. The\nyounger men and women, inspired by the fathers, took hold where they\nleft off and have carried forward the work until the third building is\nsuccessfully reared on the same lot; but the glory of the latter house\nis greater than the former. The members and congregation needed this\nnew church seventeen years before it was built. They were losing their\ncongregation of young people, their societies were taking their start\nfrom Old Macedonia until eight other churches were built in Camden.\nWith the exception of one or two, Macedonia was the poorest. Standing\ntwo and one-half feet below the grade of the street might be seen a\nsmall flat-roof house covered with felt, pitch and gravel; this was the\nA. M. E. church with a gallery all around it, yet some of our ablest\nministers had pastored there.\n\nAfter I had labored three years in the city of Providence, R. I., in\nAugust, Bishop John M. Brown said to me, \u201cBrother Yeocum, we have\nneeded a new church in Camden for years, can you not go there and\nbuild that church. You will find a good lot of people. We must have a\nchurch there that will compare with the churches in Philadelphia or we\nshall lose all that we have.\u201d On the 22nd of August I found myself in\nCamden, N. J., and it was not long before we commenced talking about\nthe new church. About the last of October our first grand rally netted\nus $575.00; at the last service in the old building we raised about\n$300.00 and soon $1,000.00 were in hand. The old church was taken down\nand many were fearful that the church would never go up again. We took\nthe congregation some distance from its stamping ground to what is\nknown as \u201cKaighnsville\u201d and worshipped in our mission school-house just\nin the rear of the A. M. E. Z. Church. Here we remained eighteen months\nwhile the carpenters and masons were working on the present noble\nstructure. There were many discouragements and trying circumstances\nconfronting us, but we toiled on trusting in the Lord whose work it\nwas. The tribes led on by the presidents, Mrs. Anna White, the late\nLyda McCoy and Mrs. Maggie J. Moseley and Mrs. Lizzie Green, collected\nmoney perhaps as they never expected. It was simply marvelous. The\nformer, if my memory is correct, raised over $500.00 during my three\nyears pastorate while the building was being erected.\n\nOn the first Sunday in December, 1885, we went into the basement of the\nnew church complete. That was an occasion of surprise as well as of\njoy to the members of the congregation. For many a Job\u2019s comforter had\nprophesied that it would not go up again, while others laughed saying,\n\u201cAha! Aha!\u201d \u201cWhere is their church now?\u201d Perhaps some said, \u201cWhat\nthey do build, if a fox go up thereon, it will break down.\u201d In April,\n1885, I was succeeded by the Rev. A. H. Newton, who is a successful,\nenergetic pastor, who does not sit down or stand still waiting for\nsomething to turn up in his favor, like some pastors. But he goes to\nwork with such vim and is here and there so much among his members\nthat one following him learns that Rev. Newton has been there. With\nthis spirit he carried to completion this fine and beautiful church.\nHe and his members deserve much credit. The church has all the modern\nimprovements and many say that it is the finest A. M. E. church in New\nJersey. I do not remember the dimensions but it is a large two-story\nbrick building with a cellar below where all the heating is done. On\nentering the front door there is a stair-way leading to the audience\nroom on the right and on the left. Before entering the lecture room\nthere is a fine study and lecture and class room with frosted windows.\nThe ceiling of the basement is high, it is easily ventilated, the\nwindows of the best enameled glass. There is no paint on the wood\nwork, simply finished in oil, thus retaining the natural color of the\nyellow pine. The audience room is large with three isles, one in the\ncenter and one on each side, with a door at each isle, making the\nexit very easy. There is a large gallery across the front, making the\nseating capacity about 550. The windows are the best variegated stained\nglass. In each there is a memorial to Bishop R. H. Cain, the Rev. A.\nH. Newton, W. H. Yeocum and Mr. Perry Wilson, the oldest member. The\nceiling is very high, carved and angled, with two large reflectors\nwhich give a mellow, beautiful light. Unlike many of our churches all\nthe floor is carpeted and the fine furniture on the pulpit, together\nwith the splendid pipe organ, make an elegant finish.\n\nAt 10:30 a. m., after the usual form, Bishop A. W. Wayman, D.D.,\npreached one of his noted sermons which was well received by the\npeople, the text being, \u201cWho is she that looketh fair as the morning?\u201d\nAnd Rev. B. F. Lee, D.D., preached a most elegant, instructive, sermon\nat 3 p. m. The congregation was so large that the Rev. G. M. Witten\npreached to a crowded basement also at the same hour. At 7 p. m. your\nhumble servant tried to preach from Rev. 1:11, \u201cI am Alpha and Omega,\u201d\nthe theme being, \u201cChrist, the First and the Last.\u201d The collection was\n$900.00, which was very good considering the circumstances of our\npeople. The visiting members present were Dr. B. T. Tanner, Rev. J. W.\nCooper, Rev. G. A. Mills, Rev. S. B. Williams, Rev. W. A. Rice, Rev. J.\nH. Bean, Rev. J. H. Morgan and Rev. L. J. Coppin.\n\n  Rev. William H. Yeocum, B.D.\n  Trenton, New Jersey.\n\n\n\n\nResolutions, Etc.\n\n\nLittle Rock, Ark.\n\nWhereas, The Rev. A. H. Newton, since his advent in our midst as pastor\nof Bethel A. M. E. Church and subsequently, became superintendent of\nour Sabbath School, demonstrating a great love for the Sabbath School\nand zealously desirous of promoting its complete success as a place\nof reform and education for the young, has ardently labored to extend\nits usefulness and sound religious and moral teachings in the minds\nof our youthful members, has striven to lead the young to religious\ndevotion, has spared no pains to cause the officers and teachers to\nimbibe the same zeal, and, being a devotee to music, has caused its\nuplifting influence to flow among us, leading our voices to leap forth\nin joyous strains in adoration to our King of kings, and to promote\na higher intellectual and spiritual standard among officers, members\nand scholars, and has sown the seed that will bring forth an abundant\nharvest when his hoary head is laid to rest in its last resting place;\ntherefore be it\n\nResolved, 1. That the officers and teachers of the Bethel A. M. E. S.\nS. give to Rev. A. H. Newton a vote of thanks for the expending of his\ntime and labors in promoting our welfare.\n\n2. That we commend him to his many Christian friends for his many deeds\nof kindness and labors of love, for both our temporal and spiritual\ngood.\n\n3. That the above preamble and resolutions be recorded by our\nsecretary, and a copy be given to him.\n\n  H. J. BROWN,\n  W. H. SMITH,\n  G. W. OLIVER,\n  Committee.\n\nNovember 19, 1876.\n\n\nRespecting Rev. A. H. Newton.\n\nAt a meeting of the officers and members of the Bethel A. M. E. Church,\nheld in this city in 1876, the following preamble and resolutions were\nadopted:\n\nWhereas, He has served us faithfully for one year as pastor of Bethel\nStation, in this city, and labored faithfully and honestly to build up\nour Sabbath School and other organizations placed under his charge by\nthe General Conference; and\n\nWhereas, He has taken special pains to instill into the minds of the\nyoung of the church the grand and beneficent principles of temperance\nand morality; and\n\nWhereas, His Christian conduct, scholarly attainments and liberal views\nhave endeared him unto us; therefore be it\n\nResolved, That we, officers and members of the Bethel Church, do hereby\ntender to him our heartfelt thanks for the noble work he has done among\nus, and we will ever pray that the blessings of Almighty God may rest\nupon him and his family, and aid him in his new work to accomplish good\nwork for the cause of Christ.\n\nResolved, That a copy of these resolutions be presented to Brother\nNewton, and that they be published in the Little Rock daily papers.\n\n  G. W. OLIVER, Secretary.\n\nNovember 18, 1876.\n\n\nMacedonia Church Endeavors to Retain Their Pastor.\n\nCamden, N. J.\n\n  To the Presiding Elder and Members of the\n  Quarterly Conference of Macedonia A. M.\n  E. Church:\n\nWhereas, The New Jersey Annual Conference of the A. M. E. Church will\nhold its annual session at Trenton April 20; and\n\nWhereas, Another year\u2019s faithful service of our pastor, Rev. A. H.\nNewton, will expire; and\n\nWhereas, His Christian deportment and liberal views, his gentlemanly\nand agreeable qualities have endeared him to us; therefore be it\n\nResolved, That we, the members of the Macedonia Quarterly Conference,\ndo, for his two years of earnest labor in the upbuilding and finishing\nof our church and increasing our membership, tender him our heartiest\nthanks; and\n\nResolved, That in this he has our heartiest regard and the good wishes\nof the members of the Quarterly Conference, and we sincerely hope that\nhis future may be as bright and prosperous as he may hope or desire,\nand we also pray that the Bishop may return him to us for another year.\n\nResolved, That a copy of these minutes be presented to Rev. A. H.\nNewton and be printed in the Sentinel and the Tribune.\n\nSigned in behalf of the Quarterly Conference of the Macedonia A. M. E.\nChurch.\n\n  WILLIAM STEVENSON,\n  JAMES HURT,\n  CHARLES COX,\n  EZEKIEL WALLACE,\n  GEORGE ROBERTS,\n  JAMES BRISCOE.\n\nMarch 24, 1887.\n\n\nNotice.\n\nRev. A. H. Newton, pastor of the Bethel A. M. E. Church, has been\ntransferred to the Louisiana Conference. We regret to lose Mr. Newton\nfrom this city, as gentlemen of his attainments are none too plenty\nin the ranks of the A. M. E. ministry. Aside from being liberally\neducated, he has shown a practical Christian spirit and work since his\nresidence in this city. He is to be succeeded by the Rev. J. R. Jenifer.\n\n\nEast Camden, N. J.\n\nAt the last Quarterly Conference of the Hosanna A. M. E. Church the\nfollowing resolutions were offered by the Rev. W. W. Chase:\n\nWhereas, The church has prospered under the presiding eldership of Rev.\nA. H. Newton for the past four years; and\n\nWhereas, This is his last year and Quarterly Conference; be it therefore\n\nResolved, That we return to him our grateful thanks for the manner in\nwhich he has conducted the business of the church, and pray that the\nblessings of God may rest on his labors; and\n\nWhereas, In the appointment of the Rev. F. A. Sherman to fill the\nunexpired term of Rev. G. B. Smith has proven a blessing to the church\nand the community; we pray that he may be successful in preaching the\nWord of God; and\n\nWhereas, He has been zealous and faithful in the discharge of his\nduties, both temporal and spiritual; therefore be it\n\nResolved, That he has our prayers and best wishes for his future\nsuccess.\n\n  HARRY INGRAM,\n  WILLIAM INGRAM,\n  DAVID CORSE,\n  JOHN TOULKS,\n  BENJAMIN INGRAM,\n  NATHANIEL INGRAM,\n  GARDNER INGRAM,\n  HEZEKIAH COMMARGER,\n  Church Officers.\n\nMarch 14, 1896.\n\n\nResolutions of Respect.\n\nThe Fourth Quarterly Conference of the Mt. Zion A. M. E. Church, at its\nregular session, adopted the following resolutions:\n\nWhereas, The Rev. A. H. Newton, having served us as pastor, and as he\nis near the termination of his administration, it is the honor that\nshould be given to whom it is due and credit to those who justly merit\nit; therefore be it\n\nResolved, By the members of this Quarterly Conference that in the Rev.\nA. H. Newton we recognize a faithful Gospel minister and energetic\nworker in his Master\u2019s vineyard; and furthermore we recognize him as\na gentleman whose character is irreproachable and whose ministerial\nbearing and executive ability commend themselves to the judgment of the\nintelligent; and furthermore be it\n\nResolved, That we highly appreciate his efficient management of the\ntemporal, financial and spiritual interests of the church, and whose\nadministration of two years has been one of perfect tranquillity and\nfraternal feeling, one of its prominent characteristics; and be it\n\nResolved, That in giving him our testimony of appreciation we would\nnot forget his companion and coadjutor in his ministerial work, and do\nhighly esteem her as a Christian lady for her untiring perseverance and\ndevotion that has characterized her during her husband\u2019s administration.\n\n\nMt. Zion A. M. E. Church.\n\nThe quarterly meeting of Mt. Zion Church last Sunday was a grand\nsuccess. The Rev. A. H. Newton, the pastor, is very energetic and a\ngrand church worker. Rev. Gilbert T. Waters preached a noble sermon in\nthe afternoon. The Rev. Thomas held the audience spellbound at night.\nElder J. H. Morgan consecrated the elements and administered the Lord\u2019s\nSupper, with the assistance of Elder Thomas. The church was crowded\nafternoon and evening. There were many strangers present, who expressed\nthemselves benefited during the day. Mrs. Lulu L. Newton left last\nMonday morning to spend a few days in Camden and Philadelphia with old\nfriends. Mrs. Ada A. Harris, daughter of Rev. A. H. Newton, will spend\nsome time in Atlantic City before returning to Raleigh, N. C. Elder A.\nH. Newton has raised $900 since Conference for church purposes. The\ncongregation of Mt. Zion are well pleased with the appointment of the\nBishop. The Sabbath School of Mt. Zion will give a grand concert in\nthe near future, conducted by Mrs. Ada A. Harris, for the purpose of\ngetting new singing books. The collection at Mt. Zion last Sunday was\n$45.83.\n\nThe members of Mt. Zion Church tendered their pastor, Rev. A. H.\nNewton, a nice little surprise in honor of the reverend gentleman\u2019s\nfiftieth birthday. They had a good time and left many substantial\ntokens of their regard.\n\n\nThe Obituary of the Rev. William Watson.\n\nThe Rev. William Watson, a member of the New Jersey A. M. E.\nConference, died at his residence in Woodbury, N. J., Tuesday, August\n7, 1888. He was one of the oldest preachers of the Conference, and was\ntherefore regarded as the \u201cFather of the Conference.\u201d\n\nThe funeral services were held August 9 at the A. M. E. church,\nWoodbury, N. J. The Rev. J. T. Rex preached the sermon, which was very\nimpressive, and Rev. A. H. Newton and Rev. Johns made very appropriate\nremarks concerning the character and usefulness of the deceased.\nFriday, August 10th, the body was carried to Frankford, Pa., where\nservices were held in the church, when eulogies were delivered by Elder\nG. A. Mills, Bishop Turner, Elder J. W. Cooper and others. Rev. A. H.\nNewton read the following resolution:\n\nWhereas, we realize the fact that we sustain a great loss by the\ndecease of our dear brother and colaborer in the work of the Master; be\nit therefore\n\nResolved, That it is but a just tribute to the memory of our brother\nwho has been taken from us to say that in his removal from our midst we\nmourn for one who was in every way worthy of our respect and our regard;\n\nResolved, That while we bow in humble submission to the hand of Divine\nProvidence, and while sorrow for the loss of a good man, a kind\nshepherd, a faithful and beloved minister, we find consolation in the\nbelief that \u201cit is well with him.\u201d He fell at his post, and we believe\nthat he has triumphantly entered the Haven of Eternal Rest.\n\nResolved, That we also remember the family in the hour of affliction\nand trial, we tenderly condole with and devoutly commend them to the\nkeeping of Him who looks with pity on the widow and fatherless, and\nthat we share with them the hope of a reunion in that better land where\ndeath and separation are forever unknown.\n\nResolved, That a copy of these resolutions be presented to the family\nand printed in the Christian Recorder and other papers.\n\n  REV. J. T. REX,\n  REV. A. H. NEWTON,\n  REV. G. M. WITTEN,\n  REV. WALTER THOMPSON,\n  Committee.\n\n\nLODGE NOTICES.\n\nPast Grand Master P. T. Colding, G. Bailey, W. O. Castor, A. H. Newton,\nRev. Bean and twenty others of the State of New Jersey paid Prince Hall\nLodge, No. 10, a fraternal visit on last Wednesday. Short addresses\nwere delivered by those present.\n\nLast week we left out the names of the officers elect of the Grand\nChapter: S. N. Robinson, M. E. G. P., P. L. Colding, R. D. G. H. P.,\nCamden; W. H. Jackson, R. E. G. K., Bordentown; A. H. Newton, R. E. G.\nS., Trenton; J. L. Derrick, R. W. G. Treasurer, Camden; W. F. Powell,\nR. W. Grand Secretary, Burlington; W. H. Douglas, R. W. Dist. Dept.,\nPlainfield.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nMadams Pitts, Daniels, Webb, Hack and Newton have been assiduous in\ntheir efforts in making the fair a success.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nAt a meeting of the Damascus Commandery, K. T., No. 4, Trenton, the\nfollowing officers were elected: Sir A. H. Newton, Em. Com.; Sir J.\nThornton, Gen.; John Seruby, Capt. General.\n\n\nRev. A. H. Newton, Chaplain of the Senate, Trenton, N. J.\n\nRev. A. H. Newton has been appointed Chaplain of the State Senate,\nTrenton, N. J. Thus we creep up. This is a great honor to Rev. Newton,\nas well as the race. We congratulate him.\n\nMarch 29th-April 3d.\n\n              Camden, N. J., August 20, 1894.\n\n  The Adjutant-General W. S. Arcory, W. S. U.\n  S. A., Washington, D. C.\n\nDear Sir: Will you please inform me of the probable number of troops\nenlisted during the Civil War, those having died from wounds, being\nsick in hospitals, and the number of those killed on the battlefield?\n\nAlso please advise me of the cost of the war, how many colored soldiers\nenlisted, the years they enlisted, and the first battle they engaged in.\n\n  Very respectfully yours,\n  A. H. NEWTON.\n\nThe following was the reply to the above:\n\n  Address: \u201cChief of the Record and Pension Office,\n  War Department, Washington, D. C.\u201d\n\n  RECORD AND PENSION OFFICE,\n  War Department,\n  Washington, August 24, 1894.\n\n  Respectfully returned to\n  Mr. A. H. Newton, 332 Washington St., Camden,\n  N. J.\n\n Inviting attention to the accompanying printed statement showing the\n number of troops furnished by the several States and Territories under\n the different calls by the President, including the number of colored\n troops.\n\n According to the latest official compilation, 67,058 officers and men\n were killed in action, and 292,470 died of wounds or disease during\n the war.\n\n According to a statement made by the Secretary of the Treasury on June\n 10, 1880, \u201cthe expenditures of the government on account of the war of\n the rebellion from July 1, 1861 to June 30, 1879,\u201d including interest\n on the public debt, \u201caggregated $6,189,929,908.58.\u201d The amount\n expended since the latter date is not shown by any statistics filed in\n this Department.\n\n The first authorized enlistment of U. S. colored troops during the\n war of the rebellion was made in the State of Louisiana in 1862. No\n detailed information as to the organization and service of colored\n troops can readily be furnished from data now accessible.\n\n                  (one enclosure)\n  By authority of the Secretary of War:\n                        F. C. AINSWORTH,\n              Colonel, U. S. Army, Chief of Office.\n  Per\n\n\n\n\nThe Legal Form of Apprenticeship Used in the Case of A. H. Newton.\n\n  State of North Carolina,\n  County of Craven,\n  ss:\n\nThis Indenture, made the eighteenth day of December, in the year of our\nLord 1852, between the Worshipful William S. Blackledge, Esq., Chairman\nand Presiding Justice of the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions of\nthe county aforesaid, of the one part, and Jacob Gooding, of the same\ncounty, of the other part,\n\nWitnesseth, That the said Presiding Justice, in pursuance of an order\nof said Court, doth put, place and bind, unto said Jacob Gooding, a\nfree boy of color, an orphan, named Alexander H. Newton, aged 17 years\n16th July, 1852, with the said Jacob Gooding, to live after the manner\nof an apprentice and servant until he shall attain the age of 21 years.\nDuring which time the said apprentice his said Master shall faithfully\nserve, and his lawful commands gladly obey, and not absent himself from\nhis Master\u2019s service without leave, but in all things as a good and\nfaithful servant shall behave.\n\nAnd the said Jacob Gooding doth covenant, promise and agree, with the\nsaid Presiding Justice, that he will teach and instruct, or cause to\nbe taught and instructed, the said apprentice the art and mystery\nof a bricklayer and mason, and constantly find and provide for the\nsaid apprentice, during the term aforesaid, sufficient diet, washing,\nlodging and apparel fitting an apprentice, and also all other things\nnecessary both in sickness and in health, and at the expiration of said\napprenticeship will pay to said apprentice six dollars and furnish him\nwith a new suit of clothes and a new Bible.\n\nIn witness whereof, the parties have hereunto set their hands and seals\nthe day and year aforesaid.\n\n          J. GOODING. (Seal)\n          WILLIAM BLACKLEDGE. (Seal)\n  Signed, sealed and delivered in the presence of\n          J. G. Stanly.\n  State of North Carolina,\n  County of Craven,\n  ss:\n\nI hereby certify that the above is a true copy of the original filed in\nthis office.\n\nWitness my hand and official seal this 22d day of August, 1878.\n\n  S. W. CARPENTER, C. S. C.,\n          Per J. B. Willis, Deputy.\n  (Seal Superior Court.)\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber\u2019s Notes\n\nMinor errors and omissions in punctuation have been fixed.\n\nPage 20: \u201cthe thoughlessness\u201d changed to \u201cthe thoughtlessness\u201d\n\nPage 78: \u201cloaded with human frieght\u201d changed to \u201cloaded with human\nfreight\u201d\n\nPage 79: \u201cthe Rio Grand\u201d changed to \u201cthe Rio Grande\u201d\n\nPage 99: \u201cKlu Klux Klan\u201d changed to \u201cKu Klux Klan\u201d\n\nPage 100: \u201cwere Klu Kluxing\u201d changed to \u201cwere Ku Kluxing\u201d\n\nPage 104: \u201cin Chatanooga\u201d changed to \u201cin Chattanooga\u201d\n\nPage 111: \u201cnow occupied ed by\u201d changed to \u201cnow occupied by\u201d\n\nPage 113: \u201cone of the the Ten Commandments\u201d changed to \u201cone of the Ten\nCommandments\u201d\n\nPage 122: \u201cthis conncetion\u201d changed to \u201cthis connection\u201d\n\nPage 123: A repeated line of text was removed.\n\nPage 124: \u201cHarriet Henson, son and others\u201d changed to \u201cHarriet Henson,\nand others\u201d\n\nPage 128: \u201c$57 for for traveling expenses\u201d changed to \u201c$57 for\ntraveling expenses\u201d\n\nPage 133: \u201cwas begining\u201d changed to \u201cwas beginning\u201d\n\nPage 177: \u201cOmnipotence, Omnicience\u201d changed to \u201cOmnipotence,\nOmniscience\u201d\n\nPage 179: \u201cmost greviously\u201d changed to \u201cmost grievously\u201d\n\nPage 186: \u201cothers may life?\u201d changed to \u201cothers may live?\u201d\n\nPage 199: \u201cDibine Leadership\u201d changed to \u201cDivine Leadership\u201d\n\nPage 243: \u201cassistant princial\u201d changed to \u201cassistant principal\u201d\n\nPage 247: \u201csermon deliverd\u201d changed to \u201csermon delivered\u201d","title":"Out of the briars : $b an autobiography and sketch of the Twenty-ninth Regiment, Connecticut volunteers","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":57008}