surrounding country; and it is further reported that he will give, in addition to the site, one thousand dollars.

Columbus is situated in a very thickly populated section of the country, and Mr. Stearns, of Cleveland, Ohio, has erected two school buildings suitable for primary work, and already has employed two Congregational teachers at his own expense. The results obtained after two years' work are marvelous, thus showing that the mountaineers are extremely anxious to obtain an education; and in proportion to the increase of facilities for so doing, the results would increase.

SOUTHERN FIELD NOTES.

BY REV. GEORGE W. MOORE.

Three thousand people were present at the Commencement exercises of LeMoyne Institute, Memphis. That vast audience paying an admission fee on an inclement evening to attend the closing-exercises gives evidence of the strong hold LeMoyne Institute has on the people.

The essays and orations were thoughtful addresses on the practical questions of the day. The meeting of the alumni association evinced the high regard in which Professor Steele and his corps of teachers are held by the graduates. The association expressed their intention to aid Professor Steele to sustain departments of the industrial work that had to be given up on account of hard times.

An amusing and interesting incident, which illustrates the struggles of many of the parents to educate their children as well as their faith in God, occurred at the alumni dinner of Fisk University, Nashville, Tenn. At the close of the Commencement, Rev. H.H. Holloway, of Turin, Ga., the father of one of the graduates, was called upon for an after-dinner speech. Mr. Holloway told of a letter he received from President Cravath when he felt compelled, owing to the hard times, to have his son John, who had been in the University only four months, return home. Mr. Holloway, being unable to decipher the president's writing (the president's chirography resembles that of the late Horace Greeley—ED.), asked a Southern minister of his village to read it. The minister read the letter, and advised him not to waste his son's time with a college course; this did not prove good logic to Mr. Holloway, as he observed that this minister's son was taking a college course of study without wasting his time.

We will let Mr. Holloway tell the rest of the story of the letter and his prayer in his own words: "Not being satisfied with the minister's advice I went that night down into the woods and knelt beside a hickory-tree, with the letter spread out, and prayed as follows: 'Lord here is a letter from Dr. Cravath; I suppose you know him. Here is his letter which I cannot read, but I am told that you can read as well in the dark as you can in the light. Dr. Cravath says for me to do all I can for my son, and look to you for the balance. Now I cannot do anything for my son; if he is to be aided you must do all, for one thing is certain I have no money; you have left none with me, and I do not know with whom you have left it. Now, dear Lord, I leave this whole matter with you. In your own way and time do for my son what seems best. I cannot do anything. I ask it all for Jesus' sake. Amen.' I repeated about the same prayer the following night, and then left it all with the Lord. In about two weeks I received a letter from my son stating that some one had put two hundred and fifty dollars in the bank at Nashville to his account to aid him through college. I considered it the direct answer to my prayer. This is the proudest day of my life to see my son John graduate from

Fisk University. May the blessing of God rest upon it and upon the Association which founded and fosters it."

There was an unusual number of the parents of the graduates at this Commencement. Some of the addresses and scenes recalled the words of the aged Simeon when our Lord was presented in the temple. There were fathers and mothers who at great sacrifice had come from Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri and other States to see this famous school and witness the graduating exercises of their children. They spoke out of hearts full of gratitude to their Northern friends for making it possible for their children to fit themselves for their life-work in the schools of the American Missionary Association.

An ordination service of special interest was held at Atlanta, Ga., in July, when Mr. H.H. Proctor was ordained to the gospel ministry as pastor of the First Church. He is twenty-five years old, one of "Uncle Tom's" sons, and is a graduate of Fisk University and Yale Divinity School. This was the first ordination held in this church, and the first Negro pastor to serve it, as all the former pastors were Northern men. Already all departments of the church have taken on new life, and the future is full of hope. This is one of our largest and most influential churches of the South, and starts out auspiciously with Pastor Proctor, as a self-supporting church.

The Second Church of Memphis, Tenn., which has been self-supporting for a number of years, reports a year of prosperity under its new pastor, Rev. George V. Clark. The building has been renovated, and over fifty persons added to the church. The church at Chattanooga, Tenn., with Rev. Jos. E. Smith as pastor, has made heroic struggles during these hard times as a self-supporting plant. At times the struggle has seemed greater than they could bear, but in the midst of all they have been cheered and sustained by the Lord. The new parsonage at Marietta, Ga., gives Pastor Lane a pleasant home. Our church at this point is near the Kenesaw Mountains, where Sherman shouted to his soldiers, "Hold the fort, for I am coming."

The people at Louisville were glad to have the field missionary expound our New Testament polity to them at the second anniversary of the dedication of their chapel. Pastor Harris has some earnest workers in his church. Dr. Whedbee, the superintendent of the Sunday-school and the president of the Christian Endeavor, is a graduate from Howard University. He has an excellent practice, and is a devoted Christian worker.

I must close these notes with an example of church work that shows what can be done in our Southern field when pastors and people have a wise direction and a mind to work. I find the following record in the minutes of the Tennessee Association for 1893. "Nashville, Howard Chapel. The church is not prosperous. Services have been discontin

ued. An effort, however, is to be made to revive and develop the life and power of the church." This effort took form in the appointment by the Association of Rev. J.E. Moorland, of Washington, D.C., as pastor last October. The appointment was made for ten months, with a view of continuance if the work proved fruitful. What has been the result of these ten months just ended? The church has been revived, its membership increased to seventy-five, congregations large and growing, a nourishing Sunday-school and mission school, two preaching services on the Lord's day, and a vigorous Y.P.S.C.E.; a wide-awake mid-week service, a woman's missionary society, and a sewing-school for girls. The church edifice has been renovated at a cost of three hundred dollars, and a parsonage is being erected. For intelligence, Christian character and progressive work, this church is considered the best among colored people in the city.

CAPPAHOSIC'S SIXTH COMMENCEMENT.

BY DEACON SAMUEL HOLMES.

May 31st was a proud day for Gloucester County, Va., for not only was Hon. Frederick Douglass to give the annual address, but the new dormitory called "Douglass Hall" was to be used for the first time. With only the roof on and but partially covered, still the lower story had been temporarily floored and seated so that a thousand persons could be accommodated. Although the previous twenty-four hours had been dark and rainy the crowd had been gathering all the