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dignified among human vocations. It is the privilege of the teacher to develop character, and he does this largely by imparting to the pupil something of his own inner life. The higher and the richer his life, the more inexhaustible his own resources, the greater and grander will be the results of his work. It is not extravagant to say that there is a present demand, far outrunning the supply, for college-bred women as teachers in the colored schools, public and private. Unless this want can be supplied, these schools will lack the vitality, vigor and virtue so essential to their highest success. No work for the colored people exceeds in urgency and importance that of training, in the best possible way, a select class of women who shall be fully competent to take their places in the colleges, academies, high schools, grammar schools, and normal schools, where at present so many colored women are engaged in attempting to do a work for which they have had no adequate preparation.

The Twentieth Century.

We are about to enter upon the twentieth century of the Christian era. The human race is making great progress upward, and in nothing is this progress more marked than in the place it accords to women. Their spheres of activity have been enlarged and multiplied, and to-day the women, especially in America, are making their influence felt more and more, not only in the homes, but in society, in the church, and in all great intellectual, social, missionary and religious activities. The education of women ought to keep pace with their opportunities. Privilege and power should go together. Higher education is coming to be universally recognized as one of the essential elements that shall prepare women both for the enjoyment of all the privileges that the age offers to them and for the performance of the mul tiplied duties that it exacts from them. While the mass of women, both white and colored, are undoubtedly destined for many years to come to grow up in comparative ignorance, with limited education and with little fitness either to enjoy or to do, there is an increasing recognition of the necessity of offering to all those who will avail themselves of the opportunities, wider and wider privileges for study. We only ask

for the colored women that they shall share in this general progress of the race. We believe that the same considerations which justify any systematic attempt to develop the minds of the young through any lower stage, prove the desirability of offering to the few the opportunity for continuing the process through its higher stages. The spelling-book is the key to knowledge. If we give the key to the colored woman, we do not see why we should not offer her the privilege of using it to unlock whatever treasure-house of learning she wishes to explore.

These three reasons, then, because they are Women, because most of them will be Wives, because all of them will be Workers, seem to me to be ample justification for the statement that colored women ought to have the advantages of the higher educa. tion.

THE FRENCH-CANADIANS IN MAINE. REV. A. T. DUNN, D.D.

An interesting and important problem is now presented for the consideration of Christian men and women in Maine. There are to-day fully 53,000 French-Canadians, including native-born descendants, resident in Maine. These are distributed throughout the State, about one-half being found in the cities and larger towns, the manufacturing centres, the balance being scattered here and there upon the farms and among smaller industries. Lewiston has a French population of quite 9,000, Biddeford and Saco 9,000, Waterville 4,000, Westbrook 2,000, Augusta 3,000, Auburn 1,600, Brunswick 2,300, Caribou 2,000, Portland 1,200, Skowhegan 1,200. These are mostly engaged in the mills, and many of them are comparatively transient. In the extreme eastern part of the State there are several thousand, in some cases occupying whole townships and plantations. The towns of Frenchville, Fort Kent, Grand Isle, Madawaska, Van Buren, are almost solidly French in language, life and religion. The schools, largely supported by special grant from the State, are almost wholly French, many of the teachers being unable to speak or read English. Nearly fifty public schools are thus carried on under the patronage of the State, and State officials require an interpreter to converse with some of the teachers

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when visiting the schools. This has been true for some time, though at present steps are being taken toward recognizing the State law requiring the use of English in the public schools. Taken as Maine flesh and blood runs, these people, in town and country, are quiet, orderly and peaceable. Whiskey makes fools of some of them, just as it does of Yankees here and there, but, taken as a class, they are not intemperate, not trouble

some.

Comparatively few of them can be called in any sense educated, their early facilities being very poor and the present advantages (?), for some of them being little better.

As is to be expected, these people are mostly Romanists. Great efforts are being made to keep them such. Priestly domination, early training in the church, and almost inborn hatred toward Protestantism, make it difficult for them to realize the liberty assured them in the Gospel. Only a few comparatively have thus far been reached and led to the acceptance of Christ as a personal Saviour, some giving the number of Protestants (not all professing Christians) as five or six hundred. No very great effort in this direction has ever yet been put forth, nothing commensurate with the demand or opportunity. For more than twenty-five years certain efforts have been made in Waterville, the work having been laid in the earnest prayer of some who have long since passed into rest. The Waterville work has advanced with somewhat varying step, but, in so far as the eye of the workers has been on Him, the progress has been sure. Nearly or quite one hundred French-Canadians are now in the membership of the Baptist church; fifteen or more have been received within the last month. Lewiston, Biddeford and a few other places have been for several years the scenes of some efforts in this direction, but the actual accomplishments have been very small and the apparent returns very meagre. But the time seems at hand for a more earnest, intelligent, aggressive, courageous and faithful prosecution of the work. The spirit of "doing something" seems to be prevailing with many, and it is to be hoped that efforts may be made which may command the respect of men and the approval of God. It is to be believed that the Baptists of Maine are in readiness to join more heartily with the Home Mission Society in this work, and, except present signs

fail, there will be soon something more cheering to report. In the mean time let the Baptists of the United States awaken to our opportunity and obligation, and give to Maine, with her 50,000 blinded ones, a large place in faith-filled, purposeful prayer.

THE FRENCH-CANADIANS IN MAINE.

BY JOHN BEEDE, ESQ., AUBURN, ME. There are in this entire community about 12,000 Canadian-French, nearly all Catholics. They have among them a good num. ber of lawyers, well qualified physicians, many successful business men, and leaders of whom they are proud in their Catholic societies, besides a great multitude of illiterates, or, of what is little better, those having received primary instruction in their parochial schools. These last have learned something of Catholic saints, of Catholic dogmas and sacraments, and have been made to believe that Catholics have a right to the first places in this country by priority of discovery of this continent, but especially because of the heroic sacrifices of her Jesuit fathers in the early cen.. turies of our history in carrying the cross and the prayer-book to the aborigines of our great Northwest. Not only this, but there is instilled into the minds of the children that, intolerance and persecution were characteristics of Protestants when our country was being settled, while tolerance and establishment of religious liberty distinguished the pioneer Catholics.

These Canadians here have a massive brick orphanage, a hospital, soon to be supplanted by another, it is said, to cost more than $200,000, a very large church in Lewiston, with its chime of bells, and this church is now being doubled in size, with various appendages for priests' quarters, etc., attached, which will make it, all in all, the most capacious, if not the most imposing architectural structure in brick and stone in Lewiston, and, it may be added, for situation unrivaled in its beauty and commanding views; they have several orders of sisters, some devoted to nursing, some to teaching, others to ministering from house to house to the sick; parochial and private schools, and in Auburn a parochial school and place of worship under the same roof; they have eight active, vigilant priests, imported mostly from France, with

mediæval ideas and having little sympathy with our institutions, doing all they can to keep their people in ignorance of every fact that militates against Catholicism, encouraging misrepresentation and caricature of history, and filling their people with prejudices against Protestants, and especially against our system of free public schools. Added to this, these priests and brothers and nuns, each assigned to special work, are everywhere among their people, and prompt to address themselves to every work needed, whether to urge on or menace the wavering or to bind by affection, gratitude and reverence the sick and those in need of extreme unction. Nothing that affects or is likely to affect the loyalty and devotion of her adherents to the Mother Church is neglected; an espionage the most unremitting is kept over every movement that would tend to weaken the hold of the priests over their people. Rumselling and immoderate drinking is virtue itself in a Catholic compared to distrust or expressed disloyalty to Catholicism, while desecration of the Sabbath and debauchery are venial sins, objectionable, to be sure, as against the proprieties and harmful to their subjects, but not of a feather's weight in outbalancing the grace of regeneration through baptism, which will survive purgatorial fires and land at last the Catholic drunkard and debauchee within the gates of paradise.

In view of all these entrenchments and guards thrown around the Canadian Catholic, all the more easily maintained because of his illiteracy and inability in most cases to read or speak, even, our language; in view of the purchaseable element in his religion, either by money or sacramental ceremo nies; in view of the slipshod, casuistic morality which permeates Roman Catholics generally, and our French Catholics preëminently; in view of his bred in-the-bone, ingrained superstition and prejudice against all distinctly Protestant claims, the task of rescue from Catholic chains and evolution of the average French-Canadian seems herculean. It is one, however, before which we ought not to stand appalled, but by so much greater the task the more imperative the demand to grapple with it in the name of our Master, with the certainty that these strongholds of sin and Satan will be broken down.

The first thing needed is a French mis

sionary to be kept here constantly on the ground. We have the missionary, but his time is divided. If his wife could work with him as he goes from house to house it would be a great help. They should not only be supported liberally, so that they could spend all their time in this work, but be supplied with religious literature in French for distribution and reading themselves to those visited, to enable them to make a strong impression upon these ig. norant, priest-bound souls. Much, we might say every thing almost, depends on the kind of missionary employed to work among them. It would be easy to idealize such a man as we might suppose would work wonders, but we probably shall realize few better workers than the one now in the field. I have thought that if some of our brightest theological students with missionary proclivities would learn the French language and fit themselves to work as missionaries among them, they would prove very helpful to the native French missionaries, and in some respects would have an advantage over them; they would escape the stigma of being regarded as apostates, would gain the ears of Protestant Christians better, and would have certain other advantages that it would seem invidious to mention. But that at present is out of the question; still, I believe it is worthy of serious consideration as an addition to our means of evangelizing our French Catholics.

The next thing is a place of worship and instruction; this is an essential. It is difficult, almost impossible, to lease any hall in these two cities for these purposes, and unless such a place is provided very little headway can be made among our Frenchspeaking population. Last summer a site for such a building could have been purchased without ultimate loss to the Conventions, as in all probability its rise in value in the next decade would pay a good interest on the money invested.

Thirdly: The converts, or those showing signs of being ready to break away from the Mother Church, must be protected from violence and persecution and helped to obtaining employment. There should be a committee of suitable members, men of weight and influence from our different churches, and these should organize to bring influence to bear upon employers of labor to see to it that no efficient, faithful

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worker should lose or fail of getting employment because he has abandoned the Catholic communion. Indeed, other things being equal, such should have the preference in our shops and factories.

Another thing: Intelligent Canadians who insist on supporting our public schools, and will not send their children to the parochial schools, should be sought out and encouraged, not only by being given preference in obtaining work, but, if qualified, be the nominees for political places, which policy or other considerations will contribute to cause them to be filled by French Catholics.

Lastly: Our ministers and Protestant church members should encourage our French missionary and take pains to acquaint themselves with his work, and invite him to bring converts or inquirers at certain specified times to their studies, in order that they may through him converse with them, and pray for them in their presence, and assume in general such a paternal attitude towards them as shall inspire their respect and gain their friendship and sympa. thy. Ministers should now and then put this French Catholic question before their people, and thus arouse them to aid by purse, prayers and cooperation in this work. Lewiston is a great field, but a hard one. A nucleus of Canadian Catholics must be gathered here into some place of worship, and they need to be cared for and taught constantly by our missionary, and encouraged in every way to hold on and gain over others to the true faith.

THE FRENCH WORK IN MAINE.
REV. C. A. TOWNE.

The imminent necessity of a more aggressive work by the Baptists of Maine in behalf of the French Catholics is becoming more and more apparent. While great numbers of the French-Canadians are constantly passing through our State, still there are other large numbers who go no farther than Maine. They are filling our larger cities and settling on our farms. In such cities as Biddeford and Lewiston they are already shaping to an increasing extent the social, political and religious life of our people. They are being trained to the strictest loyalty to their native tongue and to their Mother Church. This, together with their parochial schools, is exerting a

mighty influence upon our Protestant population. What can be done to offset this growing power? There is certainly an urgency to the situation here, and especially in the cities of Lewiston and Auburn, that cannot be denied nor winked at. God has already set down here at our doors something like 11,000 of these priest-ridden souls, who are sitting in the darkness and shadow of death. What is the duty of our denomination? This people certainly have a claim upon us. We are their debtors. Shall the debt be paid? We have upon this field in Lewiston the Rev. Mr. Leger and wife, who are giving a part of their time to the work of preaching the Gospel to the French. But his time is divided between Lewiston and Biddeford. Brother Leger is a fearless worker, but he is shorn of his power here from want of a place in which to hold mission services. During the past year halls have been secured for such work, but in a short time he is warned out, until the time is come that a lot must be secured and a neat and attractive chapel must be built ere any successful work can be done by our missionary in Lewiston. The pressing need is twofold-a lot and chapel held by our denomination, and then two wise consecrated workers to go together and labor together here until a good, strong nucleus of French Protestants is gathered. Such a chapel with such workers on the field, giving their whole time to the work here, will mean more for the conversion of French Catholics in Maine than those in any other Maine city at the present. To concentrate effort in Lewiston means a centre from which to work more effectively in other places later

on.

Shall it be done? It must be done, or else we must surrender to some other denomination to take the field, and the quicker the better. But surrender is not the word-rise to the occasion, and in the Master's name push the work, is the proper word. There are many of our denomination in our State who are feeling the need of the hour, and it is to be hoped that with a great united purpose, by the aid of the Home Mission Society, we, as Baptists, shall be permitted to pour the Gospel of our blessed Lord into the ears and hearts of our deluded neighbors and citizens, and reap fruitful harvests to the glory of our common Lord.

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