s. Previously these churches
had been in great measure supported by Northern aid, but now they have
to deal with all the problems connected with running a church, such as
gathering and holding a congregation, securing pastor's support, and
all the expense of keeping up and maintaining a house of worship.
Hence the necessity is upon them to reach the masses if they expect to
exist, not only to save souls, but also that their forces may be
strengthened and made more efficient; and they stand to-day as good a
chance in this race as do the Methodists or Baptists. Their past work
in an educational line in behalf of the Negro in general has given
them a lasting hold upon the hearts of the people, who feel that they
owe these denominations a debt of gratitude which can never be paid.
Most of the Methodist and Baptist leaders of to-day were trained in
the schools of these denominations. So they enjoy the best wishes of
the communities in which they exist, with very few exceptions. The way
is open to them to grow if they will only seize it and use it for all
it is worth.

[_Note by the Editor._--We assume that the membership of neither the
Baptist nor the Methodist churches would claim for a moment that
theirs is the only church suitable to the Negro race. But we think it
would be unfair to leave the discussion of this topic without
correcting an erroneous impression given by the Rev. J. W. Whitaker in
the paper above. Perhaps not more than one other church has done more
for the education of its Negro ministers and membership than has the
Methodist Episcopal Church through its Freedmen's Aid Society and by
other methods. This education commenced immediately after the war. We
have reason to believe that the Baptist is a close second to the
Methodist Church in this matter of educating the Negro. It is possible
that some of the Negro Baptist and Methodist Churches that are
entirely separated from the white churches of the same denomination
may come under the category of especially ignorant ministry and
membership; but even these exclusively Negro churches began the work
of education soon after emancipation. We suspect that the two churches
under criticism as given above preferred not to wait until the
freedmen became cultured before attempting to save them.]

THIRD PAPER.

ARE OTHER THAN BAPTIST AND METHODIST CHURCHES ADAPTED TO THE PRESENT
NEGRO?

BY REV. O. M. WALLER.

[Illustration: Rev. O. M. Waller]