The American Missionary — Volume 32, No. 05, May, 1878Various
Religion
The American Missionary — Volume 32, No. 05, May, 1878
Various
Congregational churches -- Missions -- Periodicals; Home missions -- Periodicals
This charmingly told story has but one fault, and that, probably,
is without intention. It may give the impression that King David
is a fair sample of the Northern teachers in the South, and that
his ill-success is the record or the prophecy of their general
disaster and defeat. The true lesson of the story, and that which
may have been, if any, in the writer’s mind, is only this: That
this David was no Solomon. That goodness, unsupported by wisdom,
is not sufficient capital for educational work. That a man who is
a failure at home, amid favorable surroundings, will not be likely
to succeed abroad, alone, with everything against him. That the
lame, the halt and the blind do not make good recruits for the war
against ignorance and sin.
Just to offset this story, which has doubtless had its counterpart
in Southern as in Northern schools and villages, we give the
story of one of our teachers in the State of South Carolina,
as written to us by himself only a few months ago. Its simple,
straight-forward truthfulness will, we think, make amends for its
lack of the spiciness and crispness of expression, which give so
delicate a literary flavor to the story of King David:
“I was born in Western New York, and, as all my friends continue
to reside there, I still call it my home. I have been a member of
the Household of Faith since 1859; I have been engaged in teaching
the freedmen since the fall of 1866, and, for the greater part of
the time, my salary has been quite small; but I love the work, and
expect my reward hereafter.
“I came to this place in 1872, and organized a Normal school, and
am still at its head. I met with much opposition, but I put my
trust in God, and went on doing what I thought was right, and soon
saw a change coming over the people. Students began to come in from
neighboring counties, and those who had talked most against me now
came to visit me. I organized the first temperance society for the
colored people in this part of the State, and thus got quite a hold
on the people. The organization is still continued, and is doing
much good. Several of our students, who are out teaching, have
organized similar societies, and I hear good reports from them.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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