chool and church work among
the colored people, with good strong men as ministers, and it is sure
to be the leaven of the church of the future for the Negro people.

Last summer an old father, who had educated four children at Fisk
University and had himself been there on one Commencement occasion,
said to me:--"That Fisk school is the _buildin'-up-est_ place to our
people in the world. I never expect to have such a good time and
treatment again until I get to heaven." Thus are our hopes quickened
and our aspirations for nobler things awakened.

But to one who understands the situation, the question of our
education is of serious moment. All our institutions of higher
learning are living from hand to mouth, with no endowment, and the
North's purse-strings are growing tighter as the years go by. On the
other hand, prejudice strikes savagely at our State appropriations.
This year, in the advanced State of Tennessee, the white State-student
gets one hundred dollars while the colored gets only twenty-two
dollars and a half. In his poverty what can the Negro student do with
this sum in the way of educating himself?

I could take you in the homes of those whom you have educated, then
could you appreciate the wisdom of your investments. It is around the
fireside, and in the conduct of the children, that your noble work is
manifesting itself so clearly. The intellectual, moral and spiritual
life found there are the true and only guarantees that old things are
passing away.

The abject condition of the great body of Negroes appeals to Christian
religion and philanthropy for the help that must come to redeem their
lost minds and souls. The South cannot give them a Christian
education. The cry goes up to the great, warm heart of the North. We
crave the crumbs that fall from your God-given, bountiful table.

* * * * *

A PASTOR'S FIRST VIEW.

A pastor who was educated at the North and who was graduated at the
Hartford Theological Seminary, has for the first time made the
acquaintance of his race in the South. He had never met his own
people as a race until he entered into the service of the American
Missionary Association. His impressions and testimony have,
therefore, an additional interest.

In reference to the field: it is large and interesting, and requires
more {133} than ordinary attention, both to that part of it under
cultivation and that which is not yet. I have arranged my visits