West-Jersey pioneer., 1873-03-21
BRIDGETON, j., FRIDAY, MARCH 81, 1878

a text and breaches fifteen minutes, then
the bell is rung and we criticise the whole
thing. And if brother in the course Of
three or four years learns to read, they will
rise from their seats and thank the Lord
They call that progress.
! A year ago preacher said to him, 81
wish to 60 to school. He asked show old
are you? "Forty-six." ''How many
children have you ?'' 'Ten." "What was
your salary last year ?'' 'sFifty- five dollars.
''Then how can you go to school?' "Wel
my wife used to be a field hand, and she is
going to work. You see | can't preach
without going to school. I preach and the
| Lord blesses my labor. go ir to the church
and | look at that brother there and there,
and have to keep their names i'll my head
| So once went out into the woods and said,
Oh, my Lord I can't do this work, must
go to school,
One of the most interesting facts in con-
nection with their desire for learning to read
is, they want to read Gods precious word OF
| life.
If you ask the majority of colored people
through the South what they want they will
tell you first religion, second education and
then property; if you give them the first
the last will follow.
A leading rebel general said to me ''the
colored people command the respect of the
| 4 notion tbau 4ruo =
us, and faithful to YOU
thought they would remember theii
wrongs, and as soon as our sons were in the
field, would revenge themselves. But new.
er did they take care of the interests ol
the family, as during the war" Just look
at them; SO deporting themselves, as to
command the respect OF their former own
ers.
There is not soldier sleeping in q
| Southern grave to-day, that has been be,
trayed by colored man. The colored peo
pie don't look at things as we do. | heard
one, real orator, speaking in reference tt
Andrew johnson, 1--WE were really angry
with Andy, and almost thought he ought tt
have been impeached), he said i" Glory tc
|
he has been; glory If Andy had worked
in harmony with Congress, ali these States
would have come in, and we would have
been left out. Hallelujah, Andy was crook
ed, and that brought i'll the Fourteenth
Amendment; and Andy got worse and
worse crooked, and that brought in the
Fifteenth Amendment. Hallelujah to
Godr'
! Tn ooroincipp ha r,ant;nnoI hot he
Both day of May, each yea1, the grateful
colered man decorates the graves of the
seventy thousand soldiers that sleep in Ten
nessee, and so throughout the South.
| Dr. Rust was then introduced. and gave
stirring address, of which the following
is summary.
/ Mr. Prestdent:-The brethren who pre-.
ceded me. have travelled over the whole
ground. But | may say that the New
| Testament has no book of Resolutions,
| while it has book Of Acts. | like the
Acts.
| Once received letter from lady who
wanted a situation as teacher. There
were plenty Of places but we had no mon
ey. When | wrote her these facts, she
wanted to go for nothing. When she came
on to engage in the work, found her a
beautiful accomplished lady.
said, do you know the character of this
work; you will be despised. You will have
plenty Of room in church and on the street.
| People in the South will shun you as a
s'nigger teacher" Still she was willing to
60, and she replied, ''The blessed Jesus has
done so much for me | ought to give one
year to him.
fo.
When they close up, there are some who
come to us and say, 81 want to go South to
teach" God is touching the hearts of the
ladies and they are offering themselves to
this great work.
The colored people do feel an interest in
education. AS former speaker has said.
you may hear through the South that ''the
niggers arc making fuss-the whole coun-
try is in stew" about an education. One
told me of a boy, only a short time before
his slave, who now reads and can parse a
sentence readily. Mind does not depend
upon color-''a mans a man for all that. :"
One lad, by name, John Green, had a les
son to learn The words were ''rhou God,
seest me- He was in the habit of talking
to himself, and he said ''Joln, learn your
lesson'' So he commenced, 9Th o-u thou. :"
To the end he spelled it out, and added,
'<John, that is right-you know your les
son-you can read-John Green, you are a
man!'' That was the birth of an immor-
tai spirit. You can hardly find a porter
through the South without a spelling book,
and you are liable to be questioned any
where about the lesson.
Under what disadvantages these people
study A wasler-woman at her tub had
spelling book put up in the fence, from
which she would take it to turn the leaf and
look at her lesson. Did You ever know All
Irish woman to do that?
Their desire is to learn about Jesus. An
old man said, 'sWhat a start it will give me
To learn to read the Bible before l go to
Heaven"
| saw a child, the mother and the grand
mother in class on the same seat. Angels
in heaven would crowd each other to see a
sight like that.
In collection, $40 note was found with
a slip of paper, on which was written, CIV
en- by one saved from starvation and death
by colored man. Some of your sons were
helped by the colored man-don't you owe
him something?
collection was then taken, and the