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 HISTORY, 
 BUILDING AND SITE, 
 
 AND 
 
 SERVICES OF DEDICATION, 
 
 AT 
 
 Nashville, Tennessee, 
 
 J A N V A R Y h T. 
 
 1876. 
 
 Xichol8on, Milliter, 104 William St. New York. 
 


 
 
 HISTORY 
 
 BUILDING AND SITE, 
 
 AM) 
 
 SERVICES OF DEDICATION, 
 
 AT 
 
 Nashville, Tennessee, 
 
 J A N U A RY Is T 
 
 1S7(J. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 T BUSHED FOR THE TRUSTEES OF FISK UNIVERSITY. 
 
(Dfjicifrs of ]Ft$l^ tlniimsity 
 
 \ \MI V ll.l.i:. TENJT. 
 
 TRUSTEES. 
 
 Gen. Clinton B. Fisk, New York, President; Rev, II. s. Benki i r, Nashville, 
 Secretary; REV. E. M.Cravath, Nashville ; Rev. M. K. StrieBY, I>.1>. New York; 
 REV. GEO. WHIPPLE, New York ; 1>. W. l'l.Al!<>l>Y, Eso. Nashville; M AJ. Enos 
 HOPKINS, Colorado; A. S. HXtCH, ESQ, New York. 
 
 FACULTY. 
 
 REV. E. M. CRAVATH, 
 
 President, and Professor of Men to/ and Moral Science. 
 
 REV. H. S. BENNETT, 
 Professor of Theology and University Pastor. 
 
 REV. A. K. SPENCE, 
 Professor of Greek Language and Literature. 
 
 MISS II. C. MORGAN, 
 
 Professor of Latin Language and Literature. 
 
 REV. E. A. CHASE, 
 Professor of the Natural Sciences. 
 
 ASSISTANT INSTRUCTORS. 
 Mr. Jamks BURRUS, Miss Anna CAHILL, Miss IIknriitia NCaTSON, MissS. E, 
 l'xDixtcK, Miss E. ]). Santi.kv, Miss Rkhkc < a MASSEY, MisS S. M. Wilis, 
 Mrs. y. a. Chase, Miss Susan Stevenson. 
 
 SUPT. OF CONSTRUCTION. MATRON. 
 
 iinx. t. c. Stewart. Mrs. m. m. Cahill. 
 
 American Utissiown Association, 
 
 56 RcaAe St., New York. 
 
 PRESIDENT, 
 
 Hon. E. S. Toisky, Mass. 
 
 CORRESPONDING SECRE1 \RIKS, 
 
 Rev. George Whipple. Rev. M. E, Strii nv. 
 
 TREASURER, ASSISTANT TREASURER*. 
 
 Edgar Ketchum, Esq. W. E. Whiting. 
 
v— %f \> I 
 
 Ftr*fc1 
 
 FISK UNIVERSITY. 
 
 HISTORY. 
 
 The emancipation of the slaves by the war, and especial- 
 ly their poverty, ignorance and helplessness, stirred most 
 profoundly the hearts of Northern people. It was felt that 
 only by education and religious culture could they be fitted 
 far their new sphere — that to this end they needed help and 
 needed it immediately. This benevolent impulse waited not 
 for the proclamation of emancipation nor for the close of the 
 war. The American Missionary Association opened a school 
 among the escaping fugitives that took shelter under the 
 guns of Fortress Monroe, Sept. 17, 1861, only five months 
 after the war began. This was the first Freedmen's school 
 in the United States, but others soon followed. Nearly all 
 denominations of Christians in the Northern States were 
 aroused to activity, and sent missionaries and teachers to 
 follow up the march of the army ; so that schools quickly 
 took the place of encampments. 
 
 The first Freedmen's school in Nashville was established 
 by Rev. J. G. McKee, of the United Presbyterian Church, 
 October 1.3, 1863. He was eminently fitted for the place, 
 being possessed of undaunted courage and an apostolic spir- 
 it of self-sacrifice. The school met with great success for 
 several years, until other schools were opened and colored 
 children were admitted into the public schools, when Mr. 
 McKee^s school declined in numbers, and was finally aban- 
 
 233 
 
4 Fisk University. 
 
 doned. Mr. McKee died a few years after he had opened 
 his school, but the heroic labors of this noble Christian man 
 deserve mention in any statement respecting schools for 
 Preedmen in Nashville. 
 
 Fisk school was opened, January 1), 18(>(i, in govern- 
 ment buildings, west of the Chattanooga depot, known at 
 that time as the Railroad Hospital. The buildings that had 
 sheltered the I'nion soldiers became the school-house lor the 
 emancipated children of bondage. General C. B. Fisk was 
 then chief of the Freedmens Bureau for Tennessee and ad- 
 joining States, and, taking great interest in the enterprise, 
 it was called by his name. He has since contributed large- 
 ly to its success. The school was under the auspices of the 
 American Missionary Association, of New York, and the 
 Western Freedmen's Aid Commission. In the course of a 
 \car or two the latter society turned over its interest in the 
 work to the American Missionary Association, by which.it 
 has been fostered ever since. 
 
 The Institution has been sustained by marked providential 
 interpositions. These were seen at the outset. The school 
 was needed; the hospital buildings were suited to the pur- 
 pose; but they could only be secured by the purchase of 
 the grounds on which they stood and neither of the socie- 
 ties which wished to start the school had the means at hand 
 to make the purchase. In this emergency, three men. Rev. 
 E. I\ Smith, then recently Secretary of the Christian Com- 
 mission, Rev.PlM.Cravath, lately a chaplain of the army and 
 then connected with the American Missionary Association, 
 and Mr. John Ogden who had been in the army and was 
 then in the service of the Western Freedmen's Aid Com- 
 mission, advanced their individual credit and monev to the 
 amount of$J6,00Q and the land was bought and the build- 
 ings opened for the school. It was placed under the care 
 of Mr. Ogden. a prominent educator before the war, who 
 during his two school years in Nashville instructed, with the 
 
History of the University. 5 
 
 aid of a corps of teachers, nearly 1000 pupils annually. The 
 indebtedness to Messrs. Smith, Cravath, and Ogden, was 
 subsequently discharged, and the American Missionary As- 
 sociation became possessor of the property. In 1861). the 
 Government transferred to it the buildings. 
 
 But a change came, developing new wants and followed 
 by providential supplies. In the summer of 1867 the city 
 of Nashville decided to open public schools for colored chil- 
 dren, (which was done the following Sept, ) The progress 
 of many of the pupils had already demanded higher schools. 
 A boarding hall and a dormitory building were needed for 
 like advanced scholars from other places. A chapel, too, was 
 required for teachers, pupils and others for Sabbath wor- 
 ship. In view of these facts, a charter w r as obtained in Au- 
 gust 1867 for Fisk University with the expectation that it 
 would grow with the growing wants of the people. In Nov. 
 1867 the first normal class was formed, a boarding depart- 
 ment was opened and students came for advanced instruc- 
 tion. With these new needs came also the good hand of 
 ( iod in meeting them. The Peabody Fund generously grant- 
 ed $800 a year to aid the indigent students; in 1868 came 
 the grant of $7,000 from the Freedmen's Bureau, and with 
 this and funds from the Association, the old buildings were 
 repaired, a dormitory and chapel were erected and ready 
 for use in 1869. Thus were these wants met. 
 
 But another and a greater crisis came in 1871. The old 
 buildings though often repaired could not be saved from 
 decay. A new site and new buildings were needed or the 
 University must be seriously crippled if not abandoned. The 
 American Missionary Association had no resources from 
 which to meet so large a necessity. But the hand of God 
 was not shortened. From a new, an unexpected and an 
 unexampled source did He provide the means. Geo. L. 
 White, a young man who was music teacher in the Institu- 
 tion, conceived the idea of training a company of colored 
 
6 FlSK rMYKKSITY. 
 
 singers and carrying them through the Northern States on 
 a concert tour. His enthusiasm tor musie was unbounded, 
 and his ability to train his classes extraordinary. Pacing 
 the greatest obstacles, he undertook the untried work upon 
 his own responsibility. He and his troupe set out from 
 Nashville, Oct. 6th, 1S7 1, and for awhile labored on making- 
 scarcely money enough to meet current expenses. But at 
 length the tide turned in his favor, his singers were applaud- 
 ed by crowded houses, they became famous, and both money 
 and friends were theirs. At the end of their first concert- 
 season they found that they had netted $20,000. Another 
 season resulted as prosperously, and $20,000 more were se- 
 cured. With these funds twenty-five acres were purchased 
 — the former site of Fort Gillem, northwest of Nashville, 
 one of the most eligible situations that could have been cho- 
 sen. On Jan. 1, 1873, excavation for the foundation was 
 commenced, and Oct. 1, 1873, the corner stone was laid. 
 The Jubilee Singers, then taking a tour through Great Bri- 
 tain, netted $50,000 which carried on the work to a cost of 
 $70,000. After this, the now celebrated troupe returned 
 home to Fisk University to reorganize for another season. 
 They are now again in Great Britain, and are engaged in 
 giving their unique concerts to delighted audiences. Since 
 going over last summer they have netted $20,000. 
 
 The dedication of Jubilee Hall, Jan. 1, 1876, completes 
 this remarkable story of divine help in the hour of need. 
 
 But while these outer providential interpositions have 
 been so marked, we can also record the no less signal man- 
 ifestations of divine grace. From the beginning, the school 
 has been blessed with teachers who have sought the spirit- 
 ual good of the pupils ; and the gracious manifestations of 
 the Holy Spirit have been granted as the almost constant 
 blessing on the school. Revivals of religion have frequent- 
 ly been enjoyed, of great power in the conversion of souls. 
 These spiritual influences have been borne by the pupils on 
 
Description of Juki lee Hall. 7 
 
 their return home and as they have gone forth to teach and 
 to prearh; and are recognized also in the humble deport- 
 ment of the Jnbilee Singers amid their many temptations 
 to vanity and worldliness and especially in the wonderful 
 success which God has been pleased to give to them. 
 
 Such is the history, in brief, of one of the institutions es- 
 tablished and fostered by the American Missionary Associ- 
 ation of New York. That society is sustained almost entirely 
 by the Congregational churches of the North. It has now 
 seven chartered institutions like Fisk University, in the South, 
 in addition to twenty-five normal and other schools. During 
 several years after the war it supported annually upwards 
 of 500 missionaries and teachers in the South, and number- 
 ed over 40,000 pupils in its schools. In the last twelve 
 years it lias expended in the South in its educational and 
 religious work about $3,000,000. For the last few years it 
 has concentrated its work more in its higher institutions and 
 churches. During the year just closed it has had under if§ 
 care in the South 5ft churches, 48 missionaries, 150 teach- 
 ers, and nearly 10,000 pupils; but many of these pupils 
 have in turn become teachers, and it is estimated that dur- 
 ing the year no less than 60,000 children were taught bv 
 those educated in the schools of this societv. 
 
 JUBILEE HALL. 
 
 SITE AND WILDING. 
 
 The permanent location for Fisk University is most hap- 
 pily chosett. It is situated about one mile northwest of 
 Nashville, Tenn., and occupies the former site of Fort Gillem. 
 The fort was named in honor of General Gillem, of Modoc 
 fame, who afterward resided on a farm near Nashville, and 
 who died there about four weeks ago. The fort was fur- 
 nished with a good armament, but there never was anv 
 fighting done there, and these ramparts were fitly leveled to 
 
8 Fisk I'mvkksitv. 
 
 receive a building won by the pathetic songs of enslaves, 
 
 and designed for the enlightenment and elevation of their 
 race, whose bondage once darkened our fair land. No 
 memory of Wood or of battle will cling to the spot, it Is 
 henceforth consecrated to education and religion, and tin' 
 fort will be forgotten in the rniversity. 
 
 The whole tract of land purchased for Fisk University 
 embraces twenty-five acres, occupying a ridge or plateau, 
 having such slopes as to secure unobstructed views on both 
 sides, and to give perfect drainage. Jubilee Hall occupies 
 one end of the plateau, and future edifices will extend along 
 the remaining portions, so well fitted for the purpose. The 
 main angle of the building points almost directly to the 
 capitol, while the city of Nashville, sloping on all sides from 
 that central edifice is in more or less distinct view from both 
 of the principal fronts of Jubilee Hall. The city-view from 
 the Hall is fine, but the distant as well as near scenery on 
 the other sides, is even more pleasant. Indeed there is no 
 window in Jubilee Hall that does not command an exceed- 
 ingly beautiful outlook. 
 
 the nni.nixo. 
 
 The massive proportions of Jubilee Hall strike one pleas- 
 antly as he approaches it. The building is in the form of an 
 k * L," and has an east front of 145 feet, and a south front of 
 128 feet. Including basement and cellar, it is six stories 
 high, and is supplied with all the conveniences of water, 
 steam and gas. It is heated throughout by steam, and each 
 room has a radiator. The entire building contains 120 
 rooms. Jubilee Hall is to be ultimately the Ladies' Hall of 
 Fisk rniversity, but until other college buildings can be 
 erected, will be made to answer all purposes. The building- 
 is drained by a twelve-inch sewer pipe, which runs 1,600 
 feet to a natural aqueduct, which connects with the river. 
 The building is made of the best pressed brick, with stone 
 
Description of Jubilee Hall. 9 
 
 trimmings. The style is modern English. The main en- 
 trance is on the south front, and is composed of a stone 
 stairway with pillars supporting a small stone balcony. The 
 front door is composed of black walnut, of massive propor- 
 tions, and having complete bronze trimmings. On the right 
 of the hall are the reception rooms and parlor, one 16 by 
 32 feet, the other 20 by 32 feet, connected by large folding- 
 doors. On the other side of the hall is the office, and be- 
 yond, the assembly room about 20 by 32 feet in size. 
 Opposite this on the cross hall is the library, adjoining it 
 the music room, and further on smaller rooms that are to 
 be used as dressing rooms for visitors and transient guests. 
 The dining-room is in the eastern portion of the building. 
 Tt is 38 by DO feet, and will seat 300 persons. It has two 
 rows of columns through the centre. Beyond the dining- 
 room is the pantry, supplied with every convenience. A 
 dumb waiter connects with the kitchen below. There are 
 china closets, with innumerable drawers and shelves, dish 
 basins, etc. Opposite the pantry is the matron's sitting- 
 room, having a private stairway connecting with her bed- 
 chamber on the next floor. On this floor one finds himself 
 in the dormitory department. Each room is intended to 
 accommodate two students, and besides double beds, is 
 furnished with bureau, w^ash-stand, table, book-rack and three 
 chairs. Every room has two closets. The furniture is made 
 of solid black walnut. Forty of the sets were obtained by 
 Mrs. Clinton B. Fisk, and forty others were given by friends 
 in Great Britain. Each bed has a straw mattress and a heavy 
 cotton pad upon it. The three upper stories are fac similes 
 one of the other. All are divided into bedchambers and 
 all furnished exactly alike. Each floor has bath-rooms with 
 hot and cold water, water closets and wash closets. Three 
 tanks in the attic, holding thirty barrels each, supply the 
 entire water convenience, and they are in turn supplied 
 from five cisterns in the cellar, holding 25,000 barrels of 
 
10 FlSK rXIYKKSITY. 
 
 water. Bach floor lias also four fire plugs furnished with 
 fifty feel of hose and a nozzle each. Descending to the 
 
 basement story one sees in one portion of it the entire steam 
 heating apparatus. Near this is the laundry department 
 with Ironing room and drying room, complete in every 
 particular. In the other extreme end of the basement is 
 the kitchen. ;i commodious apartment, '20 by 40 feet, The 
 range occupies a position upon a cement Moor, thus lessen- 
 ing the dangers from lire. In the kitchen are four copper 
 steam kettles, connected with and operated by the steam 
 heating apparatus. Adjoining the kitchen is the kitchen 
 pantry, the oven robin, and the bakery, all admirably fitted 
 for the purposes for which they are intended. 
 
 The basement also eontains six rooms that have been 
 fitted ii}) as recitation rooms, having a black-board extend- 
 ing; all around These will serve the purpose until another 
 building ean be erected for a boys' dormitory and more 
 suitable recitation rooms. 
 
 The front halls and stairways are wainscoted with bean 
 tifnl wood, alternated in dark and light, brought from the 
 Mendi Mission, West Africa. The rest of the wainscoting 
 throughout the entire building, together with doors, door 
 facings, cornices, etc., is made of white, pine, which is 
 varnished. 
 
 Jubilee Hall, taken altogether — in solidity of walls, care- 
 fulness of construction, fitness for its purpose, in its safety 
 for health, in safeguards against lire, and in its general 
 convenience and facility for study and work — is worthy of 
 its origin in the songs of the Jubilee Singers. 
 
 It deserves to be mentioned that no inconsiderable share 
 of the substantial and tasteful work done in this building 
 was performed by colored men. 
 
 With its new facilities, the Tniversity offers better ac- 
 commodations and increased educational advantages. It 
 has thoroughly organized courses in the Normal, Higher 
 
Dedication of Jlbilee Hall. 11 
 
 Normal, College Preparatory and College, and also in The* 
 ologv. The school has already graduated one class from 
 the higher normal and one from the college course. But 
 this, bv no means, measures the extent of its usefulness. 
 Its pupils have, in the past year, taught 120 schools, with 
 10,000 scholars, to whom they have borne a healthful 
 Christian influence — as well as to homes, Sunday-schools, 
 prayer-meetings and churches, where they have temporari- 
 ly resided. 
 
 
 SERVICES OF DEDICATION. 
 
 The special act of dedication took place on Saturday fore- 
 noon, January 1, 1870, but the services may be said to have 
 begun on Friday morning, ere the rooms had all been clean- 
 ed out and the furniture arranged, and to have ended, 
 Jan. 3, 1876, when the school exercises were regularly in- 
 augurated. 
 
 The first public prayer in Jubilee Hall was offered on 
 Friday morning. "We assembled," says one of the teach- 
 ers, f} in a recitation room, and as there were no seats, we 
 lined the four walls of the room, standing with reverent 
 heads, as Prof. Spence committed to God our new and 
 beautiful house and ourselves its occupants." 
 
 WATCH NIGHT MEETING: 
 
 This meeting is of immemorial observance among the 
 colored people and has been held regularly in Fisk School 
 since it was founded. The services are devotional and 
 being continued till after midnight are a farewell to the old 
 year and a welcome to the new. On this occasion the 
 meeting was conducted by Mr. H. W. Hubbard, formerly 
 an instructor and assistant treasurer in Fisk University, 
 and was participated in by teachers and students and bv 
 
12 Fisk Cmvkhsitv. 
 
 friends from abroad. The hours were delightfully and 
 profitably spent in prayer and singing, interspersed with 
 grateful remembrances of past spiritual mercies and in sup- 
 plicating for Divine blessings on the coming services of 
 
 dedication and on Fisk University as it enters upon its new 
 era, and also upon the nation, now beginning its centennial 
 year. 
 
 A teacher gives these particulars : "The Special burden 
 of prayer seemed to be that God who had so surely been 
 with the school in the old home might take possession of 
 this, might so fill it with Mis presence that it should be as 
 the temple of old, when the glory of the Lord descended 
 and abode upon it, and in it, that it might be the birthplace 
 of souls for many generations to come. A student prayed, 
 '!0! Lord, Thou knowest, we hated to leave the old home, 
 which was so dear, and so sacred to us, and we do not want 
 to stay in this spacious building unless Thou art here.' 
 Mention was made of Moses, when he pleaded with God, 
 'If thy presence go not with us, carry us not up hence,' 
 and very sweetly came to our hearts the promise given to 
 God's servant, 'My presence shall go with thee, and I will 
 give thee rest/ Just at twelve o'clock, when 1875 was 
 numbered with the past, and the untried new year was 
 opening upon us, we all knelt in silent prayer, that God 
 would hide us beneath His wing, safely sheltering us, dur- 
 ing all the passing i years, whether they brought to us trial 
 and sorrow or joy and rejoicing, in the great work that He 
 lias given us to do." 
 
 DEDICATION OF THE HALL. 
 January 1, 1876. 
 
 A more delightful day could not have been desired for 
 the dedication of Jubilee Hall than to-day. Long before 
 the appointed hour, crow r ds were wending their way to the 
 beautiful hill on which the building is situated, and by the 
 
Dedication of Jubilee Hall. 13 
 
 time the exercises opened a vast throng bad assembled to 
 witness one of the most interesting events that has ever 
 occurred in the history of the colored race. Over the door 
 leading to the platform from the hall were the flags of 
 America and England, looped up with magnolia leaves. 
 
 On the speaker's stand were seated Revs. T. ( .). Summers, 
 I). I)., J. C. Granbery, I). I)., and N. T. Lupton, LL.D., 
 Professors in Vanderbilt University; Rev. J. Braden, D.D., 
 of Central Tennessee College, Rev. 1). W. Phillips, D.D., of 
 tlie Nashville Institute; Rev. J. B. McFerrin, D.D., Corres- 
 ponding Secretary, and Rev. I). C. Kelly, Assistant Secre- 
 tary, of the Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church, South ; Rev. J. B. Lindsley, Dr. YY . P. Jones; Ex- 
 Senator Fowler, Judge Alexander Campbell; Prof. J. W. 
 Coyner, Prof. Cole, Joseph Cares, G. W. Hubbard, J. J. 
 (•irry: (Jen. Clinton B Fisk, Rev. M. E. Strieby,D.D. Cor. 
 Sec. of the American Missionary Association, Hon. E. P. Smith. 
 Rev. 6. 1). Pike. Rev. \V. S. Alexander, Edgar Ketchum. 
 Esq., Samuel Holmes. H. W. Hubbard; Prof. A. K. Spence, 
 Prof. F. A. Chase, Rev. H. S. Bennett and the lady teachers 
 of the Institution. 
 
 A noticeable feature in the audience was the large number 
 of white citizens present. The Sixteenth Infantry Band 
 was in attendance, and while the multitude was assembling 
 and in the subsequent exercises, contributed to the inter- 
 est of the occasion. 
 
 (Jen. Clinton 11 Fisk, President of the Board of Trustees, 
 took the chair and invited the vast audience to unite in 
 singing. 
 
 ''Praise God from whom all blessings flow. 
 
 The audience remained standing while Rev. 1). W. Phil- 
 lips, I). I), invoked the Divine blessing. The Cniversity 
 choir sung 
 
 "Steal away to Jesus." 
 
14 FlSK rMVKHSITY. 
 
 Selections of Scripture were rend by Ke\ . .1. Braden from 
 an elegant Bible which had been presented to the .Jubilee 
 Singers by the Presbyterian church in New York city. 6f 
 which the Key. Dr. Burchard is pastor. The band played 
 the national airs, closing with * k Dixie" and k * Yankee 
 Doodle" amid loud and loll"' continued applause. 
 
 Gen. Fisk then delivered the following address: 
 
 GENERAL FISKS ADDRESS. 
 
 Friends and Brethren, the Faculty and students of V\sk 
 I'liiyersity : With devout thankfulness to the Giver of all 
 good : with songs of praise on our lips, and the spirit of con- 
 secration in our hearts ; we would this day gather in Jubilee 
 Hall to dedicate it to the good cause of Christian culture. 
 It is a glad day for all ; for those who have planned and la- 
 bored through much discouragement — who have prayed 
 and watched through the darkness and the sunshine for the 
 coming of this hour. It is a day of joy for those in whose 
 behalf this good work has been accomplished. We hail 
 you with a ".Happy New Year." 
 
 We listen to the silent footfalls of the Old Year, which has 
 just passed out into eternity la'den with its joys and sorrows. 
 We step over the threshold of a glad new year, and hail 
 each other and all with hearty greetings, and best wishes 
 and prayers that "your liyes may belong upon the land 
 which the Lord thy God giveth thee. 1 ' And was there ever 
 land more beautiful? Was there ever a more goodly her- 
 itage than yours, ye men and women of Tennessee? Did 
 lines ever fall to any people in more pleasant places than in 
 this grand Old commonwealth? From its magnificent rivers 
 to its boundary lines it is fitly described, as was Canaan of 
 old, by the mouth of the deliverer, law -giver and prophet, 
 as u a good land; a land of brooks of water, of fountains 
 
Dedication of Jubilee Hall. 1 "> 
 
 and depths that spring out of valleys and hills; a land of 
 wheat, and barley, — a land wherein thou shalt eat bread 
 without scarceness, thou shalt not lack anything in it ; a 
 land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou 
 may est dig brass." 
 
 At the capital of the State, near to the dust of the iron 
 man who sleeps at the hermitage — here within the encirc- 
 ling arms of the majestic river which flows at our feet, 
 where Nashville sits as Queen of the Cumberland — Jubilee 
 Hall this day throws its doors wide open, and bids you en- 
 ter in and seek wisdom in her pleasant ways and peace- 
 ful paths. How could we better do our part in the usher- 
 ing in of 1876V How better celebrate the centennial year 
 of the nation's birth than by the recognition of our grateful 
 duty to our God and country? How magnificent the out- 
 growth of the century of our national existence ! Time will 
 not permit us to tell you ; every schoolboy knows it. We 
 will not here undertake to portray the marvelous develop- 
 ment of this great country. One hundred years ago the At- 
 lantic coast was fringed with sparsely populated communi- 
 ties. To-day how magnificent the growth from sea to sea 
 and from the silvery lakes of the North to the Southern 
 
 s „if. 
 
 One hundred years ago this morning, Washington was at 
 Cambridge, planning his attack upon Boston; Lee was in 
 Connecticut, marching on New York. Gen. Greene, in a 
 New Year's communication to his friend Ward, a delegate 
 in the General Congress from Rhode Island, said : " The 
 interests of mankind hang upon that body of which you are 
 a member. You stand a representative not of America on- 
 ly, but of the friends of liberty and the supporters of the 
 rights of human nature, in the whole world. Permit me, 
 from the sincerity of my heart, ready at all times to bleed 
 in my country's cause, to recommend a declaration of inde- 
 pendence, and call upon the whole world, and the great 
 
16 Fisk University. 
 
 God who governs it, to witness the necessity, propriety and 
 rectitude thereof. America must raise an empire of perma- 
 nent duration, supported upon the grand pillars of truth, 
 freedom and religion." One hundred years ago to-day the 
 germs of civilization were just springing up on the banks 
 of the Watawga, in East Tennessee. The wild beasts of the 
 unbroken forests disputed with the wilder tribes of savage 
 men the occupancy of these and surrounding heights, where 
 your magnificent capitol, the spires of (liristian temples, 
 and towers of universities now lift their beautiful propor- 
 tions to the sky. It was nearly a quarter of a century later 
 when Tennessee took her place among the sisterhood of 
 States. Time would not permit us, nor would this be the 
 occasion, to recite her marvelous growth and the inarch of 
 empire within her borders. 
 
 During that unhappy period when wv States were dissev- 
 ered, discordant and belligerent, and the land was rent with 
 civil feuds, 11 your soil was lL drenched in fraternal blood/' 
 Here in the smoke and flame of battle, from every section 
 of this broad land, strong arms strove and brave hearts bled. 
 
 " Here boomed the cannon's thunderous roar, 
 The sickened earth was dark with gore." 
 
 And did not all battle for the right, as God gave them to 
 see the right? Here, on this very spot, was the beginning 
 and the end of the bloody strife; and now. "with malice 
 towards none, with charity for all, 11 we trust that by the 
 operation of just and wholesome laws we and our children, 
 and children's children to the remotest generation of man- 
 kind, may enjoy uninterrupted peace and harmony, forever 
 established injustice and righteousness. 
 
 " Lord of the universe, shield us and guide us. 
 Trusting Thee alway, through sorrow and sun ; 
 Thou hast united us, who shall divide us? 
 Keep us, oh keep us, the many in one! 
 
Dedication of Jubilee Hall. 17 
 
 Then up with our banner bright. 
 
 Sprinkled with starry light, 
 Spread its fair emblems from mountain to shore, 
 
 While through the sounding sky. 
 
 Loud rings the nation's cry. 
 Union and liberty! one evermore." (Applause.) 
 
 When, in 1865, the rainbow of peace spanned the coun- 
 try's horizon, to myself was assigned the duty, in this and 
 adjoining States, of aiding, to the extent of my ability as 
 an officer of the army, in the re-establishment of the suprem- 
 acy of the civil law, in the restoration of prostrate indus- 
 tries, and of doing whatever else should promote the wel- 
 fare of a people whose fields, in man}' sections, had then no 
 fresh furrows save those which had been turned by the red- 
 hot ploughshare of war, and to whom had come, through 
 the arbitrament of the sword, a revolution upheaving the 
 great social and industrial system which had grown with 
 the growth and strengthened with the strength of centuries. 
 In the discharge of the important duties assigned to me, 
 from no source did I receive more cordial and helpful aid 
 than from those who had been chief spirits in the great con- 
 flict, and who, with sword and pen, had served the " lost 
 cause " with all possible devotion and earnestness; but hav- 
 ing returned to the old paths they with equal ardor ham- 
 mered swords into ploughshares, and thus forgetting the 
 things which were behind, the great aim was to follow 
 those which made for peace. We struck hands of fellow- 
 ship and said : " How best can we, shoulder to shoulder, 
 c the blue and the gray,' uplift the prostrate communities ? ,? 
 The years it was permitted me to serve in that capacity are 
 among the most satisfactory of my life. From far and near 
 came up the busy hum of resurrected industry. Churches 
 and college buildings were restored to their original pur- 
 poses, and the Christian pastor and teacher, the Scriptures 
 and spelling book, resumed the places from which they had 
 been driven by the stern behests of war. 
 
 1 
 
IS FlSK FnIVKKSITV. 
 
 At the close of the strife, thousands of the freed people 
 had concentrated in the cities and large towns of the South- 
 ern States. For themselves and their children, they earn- 
 estly appealed, for the advantages of schools, which their 
 own communities were not then prepared to afford. The 
 people of the North, through many religious and education- 
 al organizations, promptly, to the extent of their ability, 
 aided their Southern brethren in meeting this imperative 
 demand for schools for the Freedmen. 
 
 It is with great pleasure that I refer, in this connection, 
 to one whose name in this community is as ointment poured 
 forth. 
 
 ''O for the touch of a vanished hand, 
 And the sound of a voice that is still/' 
 
 Did Christian character ever shine in greater completer 
 Jiess before men, than was revealed in the beautiful and 
 blameless life of Dr. A. L. P. Green ? Did ever better heart 
 throb in human bosom than that which grew still in his 
 breast? During the period of my service here, Dr. Green 
 was mv constant adviser and wise counsellor. His intimate 
 knowledge of all parties in the South, and his earnest desire 
 to promote peace and goodly fellowship rendered him in- 
 valuable to me in the discharge of the delicate duties to 
 which I had been called. Dr. Green was the first man in 
 the nation to place in my hands any considerable sum of 
 money for the education of the Freedmen. This noble 
 Southern man was among the pioneers in this good work. 
 | Loud applause ] T can hold him up before this vast 
 throng of young men who listen to my words this day as a 
 worthy example. Stand to-day with your face to the 
 stars and say, "j will be a man; a Christian man in all gen- 
 erosity and earnestness. I will follow the pathway which 
 shall make me loved while I live, and which will make me 
 honored when I fill my grave." 
 
 " Tell it in all human story, 
 The path of duty is the way to glory. 
 
Dedication of Jubilee Hall. 19 
 
 Chief among the agencies, and earliest on the ground 
 with educational facilities, was the American Missionary As- 
 sociation, which for almost a third of a century has been in 
 the front rank of mission work, especially devoted to the 
 uplifting of the lowliest of the earth on both continents and 
 in the sea. Patiently and faithfully, through good and evil 
 report, has this Association marched on in the plain path of 
 duty, courting no antagonisms, but winning the favor of all 
 classes, lifting up the lowly, educating the poor and saving 
 the souls of men by the pow r er of the gospel preached and 
 taught by their faithful ministers and teachers. All hail to 
 the noble men who were inspired to found the American 
 Missionary Association ! 
 
 It is with deep regret that we are unable to welcome to 
 these halls to-day, the Rev. George Whipple, the venerable 
 senior Secretary of the American Missionary Association, 
 who, from the day of its birth has been at its helm, assisted, 
 for many years, by his esteemed and valued associate, Rev. 
 M. E. Strieby. They have under the blessing of God, car- 
 ried it forward to its grand success, and many successes have 
 they achieved all over the world. All gratitude to the host* 
 of generous men and women, who have cast S3, 000, 000 in- 
 to its treasury ; and thanks be to God for his continued 
 blessing upon its faithful managers, under whose adminis- 
 tration this and kindred institutions have been founded and 
 conducted. 
 
 It is a decade since many of us who share in this day's 
 joys participated in the inauguration of Fisk School, estab- 
 lished in yonder vacated army barracks, under the auspices 
 of the American Missionary Association, by two of its most 
 faithful, sagacious representatives, Revs. E. M. Cravath and 
 E. P. Smith, who, after a survey of many inviting fields, de- 
 cided that here, in this central city of the South, they would 
 plant a university for the higher education of the freed peo- 
 ple. It was the day of small things; and to an observer, 
 who did not with prophetic soul scan the future, the idea 
 
20 Fisk University. 
 
 that a university should be the outgrowth of the beginning 
 6f ten years ago was al)surd. Let us not despise the day of 
 small things. When a young elergyman eenturics ago 
 landed from the Old World on the shores of New England 
 in search of health, and, failing to obtain it, exchanged both 
 the Old and the New World for Heaven, and in dying be- 
 queathed £400 sterling for the founding of a college, he lit- 
 tle knew how well he was building, and that Harvard would 
 become a household word the wide world over. And when 
 a Few poor ministers of the gospel in Connecticut brought 
 together each a few books, and said, u W^e give these for 
 the founding of a college," they had no conception that 
 their act was the first step in the creation of Yale. 
 
 It is permitted to but few men to combine with the ac- 
 cumulation of great wealth an honest, earnest desire to so 
 administer God's bounty bestowed upon them as to contrib- 
 ute large sums of money within their own lifetime for the 
 founding of educational and eleemosynary institutions. The 
 satisfaction of administering upon one's own estate, and wit- 
 nessing with one's own eyes, and rejoicing in one's own 
 heart in the presence of good thus accomplished, is one of 
 the best gifts, too seldom earnestly coveted. A notable 
 exception is revealed in yonder group of architectural 
 beauty, Vanderbilt University. [Applause. | The venera- 
 ble Commodore's gatherings from the wave and the rail are. 
 without ostentation, dispensed by the repeated hundred 
 thousand dollars. May his broad pennant continue to float 
 from the masthead of commercial success, and his generous 
 gifts be supplemented in a life well rounded in the good 
 work of blessing mankind; and afterward may an abundant 
 entrance upon heavenly reward be his. [Applause. | 
 
 The history of the rise and progress, successes, disap- 
 pointments and triumphs of Fisk University would reveal a 
 story replete with illustrations of heroic Christian faith, and 
 a sublime courage which knows no such word as fail The 
 
Dedication of Jubilee Hall. 21 
 
 demand from every section of the country inhabited by the 
 freed people, for educational facilities, exceeded the ability 
 of the American Missionary Association and kindred organi- 
 zations to supply. The immediate friends and promoters 
 of this institution, though poor in worldly goods, and beset 
 with discouragements without limit, were, nevertheless, 
 rich in faith, and never faltered from their original purpose 
 to build here a college, or, at least, make the beginning, 
 trusting to the blessing of God upon those who might come 
 after them to carry forward the enterprise to complete suc- 
 cess. Year by year, after the undertaking of ten years 
 since, grew upon us the perplexing problem of obtaining 
 the means to purchase a new site and erect the permanent 
 initial building of Fisk University. When, through decay 
 of the old buildings and the urgerrt demands for increased 
 facilities, the necessity for a solution of the problem became 
 imperative, there was found one man equal to the emer- 
 gency. 
 
 The son of a village blacksmith, who, from limited ad- 
 vantages of culture, became a successful country school 
 teacher, a brave and gallant soldier of the army of the 
 Union, and a most faithful staff officer in my own military 
 family, became the man of all work in the hour of our 
 greatest need ; and to no human agency, nor to all other 
 human agencies combined, are the triumphs of this glad 
 hour so much indebted as to George L.White. [Applause.] 
 
 u There's music ever in the kindly soul; 
 For every deed of goodness done is like 
 A chord set in the heart, and joy doth strike 
 Upon it oft as memory doth unroll 
 The immortal page whereon good deeds are writ.'' 
 
 There was music in the soul of our good Brother White. 
 He gathered around him the children of the Freedmen, and 
 with them 
 
 *' Sung the old song." 
 
 He conceived the idea of coining the slave melodies of the 
 
tt Fisk I'nivkksity. 
 
 old plantation and th<^ camp-meeting into fjoM and silver, 
 wherewith to purchase this commanding site, and upon it 
 erect Jubilee Hall. [ Applause. | George L. White was 
 eminently a man of faith, and when he went before God on 
 his knees and asked his blessing upon his efforts, lie believed 
 that (Jod was going to help him. His was the prophetic 
 soul. He saw the 
 
 " Glorious coming years, 
 This prophet saw them far upon the way : 
 With timbrel and with song 
 Before the doubting throng 
 He bore the standard of the coming day." 
 
 How well do I remember when this good brother wrote 
 me at my home in St. Louis, and asked me to loan him 
 s:>()() to take his singers north of the Ohio river. I wrote 
 an answer and told him not to think of such a thing ; that 
 he would bring disgrace upon us all, and told him to stay 
 at home and do his work. He wrote back that he trusted 
 in God and not in Gen. Fisk. [Laughter. | Next we see 
 him marching onward with his little band. Reaching the 
 city of Cincinnati destitute, he went down to our old friend 
 llalstead, of the Commercial, and said to him, " You are a 
 friend of Gen. Fisk; I have some students of his who are 
 going to sing Sunday morning at such a church. T have 
 no money to pay for the advertisement, so will you please 
 say in your paper that they are here ?" This was on Friday 
 and they were to .sing on Sunday. Judge of Mr. White's 
 surprise to see announced in Saturday morning's paper that 
 (Jen. Fisk's negro minstrels from Tennessee, | laughter | 
 were in the city, and would sing in such a church the next 
 morning at 10:30 o'clock, and advising everybody to go. 
 Everybody did go, as it was something really wonderful to 
 witness a negro minstrel performance in a church on Sun- 
 day. [Laughter. ] It was a grand triumph for the negro 
 minstrels ; it was the foundation of their success. 
 
Dedication of Jubilee Hall. S3 
 
 The story of the .Jubilee Singers fills a volume. The 
 little poorly clad company of emancipated slaves who, four 
 jrears a$o, left Nashville on their mission of song, have, 
 since that day. written their names indelibly on the hearts 
 of millions in our own country and Great Britain. They 
 went forth weeping, bearing precious seed; they came 
 again rejoicing, bringing their sheaves with them. 
 
 We should fail in the discharge of our grateful duty on 
 this occasion did we not .speak of the faithful and persever- 
 ing labors of Rev. G. D. Pike, who as business manager for 
 the Jubilee Singers, made their great achievements possible, 
 bv his unremitting toil in properly presenting them before 
 the public. 
 
 In America they conquered social prejudices, and by 
 their modest. Christian demeanor, which they have so hap- 
 pily retained, commanded the respect and generous pat- 
 ronage of the best and highest in the land. Beyond the 
 sea they have twice received hearty welcome and Godspeed 
 from the noblest and best of England, Scotland and Ireland. 
 We this day record with a becoming spirit of gratitude our 
 obligations to the Earl of Shaftesbury, whose great heart 
 throbs generously for all humanity, and its every good 
 cause, for royal welcomes to England by his lordship ex- 
 tended ; to her Majesty, Britain's most noble Queen, and 
 the royal family, for their kindly benediction upon the 
 Singers ; to her Prime Minister, Mr. Gladstone, to Hon. 
 John Bright,- to Rev. Newman Hall, Spurgeon, Parker and 
 Dr. Allon, and to hosts of others in the United Kingdom, 
 who have smoothed the pathway of the Jubilee Singers, 
 and caused their treasury to ring with the clink of British 
 gold, therein cast for the furtherance of our cause. We 
 can express for them all no better wisli than that, in the 
 great day of final rewards, they and we may be gathered 
 into the common citizenship of that better and heavenly 
 country, where 
 
24 Fisk Tnivkhsity. 
 
 " Unfailing palms we'll bear aloft, 
 Unfailing songs we'll sing, 
 Unceasing jubilee we'll keep, 
 In presence of our king." 
 
 (Jod bless her Majesty, the Queen of Great Britain, and 
 the Doble land so prosperous under her benign reigiL 
 | Applause. | God bless the President of the United States 
 of America, and the goodly land of the Great Republic. 
 | Applause. | The flags of these two Christian nationalities 
 are here this day displayed in loving embrace. God grant 
 that they may never again be borne against each other in 
 the thunderous roar and flame of battle ; but may their 
 protecting folds, leading the march of commerce on land 
 and sea, cover the missionary of the Cross and the school- 
 teacher, as in every land on the globe they preach revealed 
 truth and establish Christian civilization. 
 
 And now with gratitude to Him who hath raised up for 
 us so many friends, and with grateful memory of every 
 instrumentality by Him employed to promote our welfare, 
 we this day come to dedicate our Jubilee Hall. Here 
 within these walls may there ever be taught that which 
 will mature into noble manhood and womanhood the 
 thousands of youth, who we trust will throng these halls in 
 seeking wisdom that they may be properly fitted for posi- 
 tions of responsibility and usefulness. Let there be laid, 
 broad and deep, the foundations of virtue, truth and hon- 
 esty, in every character here moulded. Who can portray 
 the value of education? It has been well said, " Of all 
 the blessings which.it has pleased Providence to allow us 
 to cultivate, there is not one which breathes a purer fra- 
 grance or bears a heavenlier aspect than education. It is 
 a companion which no misfortune can depress, no crime 
 destroy; no enemy alienate, no despotism enslave ; at home 
 a friend, abroad an introduction, in solitude a solace, in 
 society an ornament ; it chastens vice, it guides virtue ; it 
 irives at once a grace and irovernment to genius. Without 
 
Dedication of Jubilee Hall. 25 
 
 it, what is man ? A splendid slave — a reasoning savage, 
 vacillating between the dignity of an intelligence derived 
 from God, and the degradation of passions, participated 
 with brutes, and in the accident of their alternate ascend- 
 ency shuddering at the terror of an hereafter, or hugging 
 the horrid hope of annihilation." 
 
 "Wisdom is the principle thing, therefore get wisdom. f 
 But, .above all else, may they who herein enter be made 
 " wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus/* 
 who by the mouth of the prophet hath said, "'Wisdom and 
 knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength 
 of salvation. " 
 
 Lift up your eyes and behold the outstretching, whiten- 
 ing harvest, which invites you who will go forth from this 
 Institution with the Divine benediction upon you, to teach 
 and preach among the millions of our land, who stretch out 
 their hands appealing for knowledge, and the unnumbered 
 millions more, who from the heart of Africa are inviting 
 the means of religious renovation of that mysterious land 
 from which — thanks be to God — the pall of barbarism is 
 being lifted. Let it be the aim of Fisk University to fash- 
 ion those who shall be sufficient for these things. And up- 
 on all, the teachers and the taught, and upon our friends 
 everywhere, may there this day come, and forever upon 
 them remain, the blessing of the Father who hath loved us, 
 the Son who hath died for us, and the Holy Spirit which 
 quickeneth and sanctifieth. Amen. 
 
 CONGRATULATORY DESPATCHES. 
 
 Gen. Fisk remarked that a large company of friends in 
 Great Britain were that day celebrating with the Jubilee 
 Singers this glad occasion, and stated that the Jubilee 
 Singers had just sent them the following despatch from 
 Leeds, where they then were. 
 
l>i; Fisk Fniykksity. 
 
 CABLK TELEQBAH FROM ENGLAND, 
 
 -British friends and Jubilee Singers send greeting. 
 Hitherto hath the Lord helped us. May Fisk University be 
 inspiration to straggling humanity in America, and light to 
 Africa's millions. May Great Britain and America ever 
 thus unite to extend Christ's kingdom. 
 
 Leeds, 9 a.m. F. M. Cuayatii." 
 
 RESPONSE FROM NASHVILLE. 
 
 a Fisk University responds with thankful greetings. To 
 tin* Jubilee Singers, to their friends at home and in the land 
 of Wilberforce and Sharp, we owe what God hath wrought* 
 May the two flags floating to-day from Jubilee Hall ever 
 symbolize the united purpose of both lands to fit the strug- 
 gling Freedmen of America to cany tight to Africa. n 
 
 The audience then united with the choir in singing, 
 
 "The year of Jubilee." 
 
 Rev. .John B. McFerrin, D.D. senior Secretary of the Mis- 
 sionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church South 
 was introduced by Gen. Fisk, as having most faithfully 
 aided him during his official residence in Nashville. He 
 also introduced him as one of the vigorous young men of the 
 times who had for more than fifty years preached the gos- 
 pel of the blessed Master and was still valiantly bearing the 
 banner of the Cross. 
 
 Dr. McFERRIN'S REMARKS. 
 
 Dr. McFerrin was greeted with much enthusiasm and 
 spoke with great earnestness as follows: 
 
 Gen. Fisk, and Ladies and Gentlemen: I am here this 
 morning contrary to my expectations. I have an appoint- 
 ment forty or fifty miles south of this place to-morrow, and 
 must depart in a moment to meet that engagement. One 
 of the greatest things in a Methodist preacher is punctual- 
 
Dedication of Jihilke Hall. 21 
 
 itv, but when I knew you (addressing (Jen. Fisk) were 
 here, I could not forego the pleasure of meeting you, of 
 greeting you, and of giving countenance, little as my in- 
 fluence is, to this great occasion. [ Applause. J I was very 
 glad to hear you say here to-day that the first considerable 
 sum of money placed in your hands to he used in promot- 
 ing educational facilities for the Freedmen was contributed 
 by a Southern man and a Southern Methodist preacher. 
 [Applause.] I hope it may never be said hereafter any 
 where, that we of the South are opposed to the education 
 and elevation of the colored people. Then, sir, you made 
 another remark that touched me deeply. There's not re- 
 corded such an instance in history that a few men and 
 women, like the Jubilee Singers, have, within the space of 
 a very few years, raised $100,000 for the education of 
 their race. But the beautiful point in it is this, that I had 
 some hand in that. [Applause. | Now, you askme, a how 
 do you account for that, 7 ' and I tell you that it is owing en- 
 tirely to camp-meeting songs. I helped to teach the colored 
 people the camp-meeting songs which lie at the foundation 
 of Jubilee Hall. I have heard those songs sung during my 
 ministry of fifty years. I thank God that after delivering 
 hundreds and hundreds of discourses to colored people, I 
 have lingered around to hear these beautiful songs, which 
 were sung until the break of day. If the teachers here 
 will teach them to send up songs and shouts of praise to 
 Jesus, I simply say Amen. [Loud applause. ] I want you, 
 Gen. Fisk, and all others, to understand, that the Southern 
 people, as far as my information extends — that is, the in- 
 telligent, patriotic, and Christian people of the South, with 
 perhaps, a few exceptions — rejoice in the education and 
 elevation of the colored people, and full)' appreciate the 
 grand work you are doing for them. [Loud applause. ] 1 
 stand on my native soil and bear this testimony. It meets 
 the hearty co-operation and sincere approbation of all 
 Christian people. 
 
28 KlSK I'M VERITY. 
 
 In the elevation to which the colored people may attain 
 it is my prayer that all the instruction they may receive, 
 all the culture you may bestow upon them, may bring them 
 to Jesus, Your Sunday-schools, churches, seminaries, and 
 your colleges, are worth nothing unless you bring those 
 taught to Jesus. I pray that the President, the Faculty, 
 the teachers and the pupils may all be sanctified in Christ, 
 and at last meet in heaven for Christ's sake." [Applause. | 
 
 LETTERS FROM INVITED GUESTS. 
 
 Letters were then read by Gen. • Fisk, from a number of 
 prominent gentlemen, expressing their interest in the cause 
 to which Fisk University is devoted and regret that they 
 were not able to attend. The letters were from Mr.D. L. 
 Moody, the Evangelist, Gen. Garfield, M.C., Hon. L. Q. C. 
 Lamar, Hon. W. E. Dodge, Bishop Payne, Hon. Geo. H. 
 Stuart, and Hon. John Eaton, U. S. Commissioner of Edu- 
 cation. 
 
 ADDRESS OF SECRETARY STRIEBY. 
 
 Gen. Fisk introduced Rev. M. E. Strieby, DD., one of the 
 Secretaries of the American Missionary Association. 
 
 Dr. Strieby said : We are called to dedicate a building 
 of peculiar origin. Some one has said that " architecture 
 is frozen music." The music of the Jubilee Singers has 
 rolled over this land and swept across the ocean, moving 
 the hearts and calling forth the tears of vast multitudes, 
 and it is now, by a magic touch, consolidated into this sub- 
 stantial and beautiful building. It is fit that the American 
 Missionary Association should rejoice to-day, through its 
 representative, but I prefer, instead of mere congratula- 
 tions, to answer the question: *" Why build such large and 
 permanent edifices ?" It has been said frequently that this 
 work among the colored people is transient, but I pro- 
 
Dedication of Jubilee Hall. 2!) 
 
 pose to show that the Christian education of the Freedmen. 
 to which this building is devoted, is connected with three 
 great achievements of our second national century, and that 
 the responsibility of the results is shared by the three con- 
 tinents, America, Europe and Africa. 
 
 The first of these is the solution of the Labor Question. 
 This is the profoundest problem for Europe to-day. It is 
 not simply the question of u a day's work and a day's wage," 
 nor of the relation of " Labor to Capital," but the still deep- 
 er one of the condition of the laborer. In Europe, a man born 
 a laborer is expected to remain a laborer. He is trained for 
 that only, and is held there by all the weight and surround- 
 ings of society. His discontent augments that of his class, 
 and that discontent is the growth of ignorant and crushed 
 generations. This is the volcano on which the old world 
 slumbers with wakeful anxiety and alarm. It was one of its 
 outbreaks that overflowed Paris with fire and blood in the 
 dreadful days of the Commune after the Germans had left : 
 and, ever since, Europe has slumbered yet more uneasily. 
 
 The remedy for all this is to break the crust of class op- 
 pression and let in the stimulus of opportunity and of edu- 
 cation. As the warmth of the sun and the genial shower on 
 the frozen meadow unbinds its icy fetters and warms the 
 seed, the root, the plant, into germination, so must the means 
 of culture be given to every man irrespective of class, that 
 he may develop whatever of talent or power he has in him. 
 The plants of the field are not of equal size or value, nor are 
 the talents or possibilities of men the same, but society must 
 give to man what nature gives to the plants — the opportuni- 
 ty and means of unfettered growth. 
 
 America was once afflicted with this labor difficulty in its 
 most aggravated form. Slavery held its victims in the most 
 absolute caste-oppression. The national, state and munici- 
 pal authorities combined to strengthen its grasp upon the 
 negro; every individual white person added his vigilance 
 
30 Fisk I'mvkhsitv. 
 
 and the color-brand marked the oppressed as a separate class. 
 Hut the crust is broken, not by the uprising of the patient 
 people beneath, but by a bomb-shell from without. This 
 leaves us our present gigantic problem, " what shall we do 
 with these people?" Thfey are >l ii nation born at once,'" born 
 in their helplessness, unskilled in the arts of industn . econo- 
 my or of thrift, born with almost nothing* on the face of the 
 earth; with no land, no home, no capital, no skill. Their 
 ignorance — while they are citizens and voters — gives a start- 
 ling preponderance to the illiteracy of the South, as com- 
 pared with any other section of the Union. The census of 
 1870 shows that while the West has only 409, 1 To persons 
 over 10 years of age who cannot read, the Booth has, in- 
 cluding both whites and blacks, 3,550,425— -an excess of over 
 three millions! It shows that of the voters, the West has only 
 217,403 who cannot read, but the South has, including 
 both races, 1,137,303, or nearly one million more! If we 
 are alarmed at the prevalence of ignorance through the 
 incoming of foreigners in the North and West, what should 
 l»e the alarm at the dense illiteracy in the South!' What 
 a theatre for demagogues, of both parties and of both 
 colors! What a range for the growth of the vices 
 begotten of slavery ! The negro is not a communist 
 — the danger is not of violence and blood; it is rather that 
 of stagnation. The malaria in the low-lands hangs heavy 
 and close to the ground. It is only dissipated by the sun's 
 rays and the influx of the pure mountain winds, which ming- 
 ling with it and lifting it up, render it harmless. So is this 
 Southern problem to be met. These colored people must 
 have the rays of the sun of knowledge and the pure air of 
 divine truth to dissipate their ignorance. There is no hin- 
 drance. They ean be educated. They must be helped to 
 develop whatever of talent or manhood ( rod has given them. 
 They are to take their place among men. not bv compul- 
 sion, but by showing their fitness for it. 
 
Dedication OF Jubilee Hall. .'} 1 
 
 The American Missionary Association comes to lend a 
 helping hand. We claim not to be alone in this work. We 
 recognize gladly the institutions and labors of kindred so- 
 cieties from the North and the co-operation of the people 
 of the South. We come not with Force Bills, Civil Rights 
 enactments, nor with denunciation. We come not to seek 
 office nor public emoluments, but Ave have come simply to 
 aid in the education and Christian culture of the people — to 
 help to develop in them all the manhood, the talent, the ge- 
 nius and the piety with which God has endowed them. This 
 ( 1 hristian work is the surest bond of union between the North 
 and the South. Men talk of political unity, but there is a 
 far more tender and enduring tie — that of Christian love and 
 labor. When the Christian people of the South see that our 
 sole purpose in coming here is to lift up this people by 
 educational antl religious culture," they will extend to us the 
 hand of welcome and say, u Brothers of the North, if you 
 come for this, we are with you heart and soul." In one of 
 our institutions in the South there was an examination, at- 
 tended by several influential Southern men. A prominent 
 gentleman, an ex-governor, avowed that he came to prove 
 from that examination that the negro belonged to an in- 
 ferior race; but after three days of patient attention to the 
 examinations, lie declared with a noble frankness character- 
 istic of the Southern people, that he had been all wrong, 
 that many of these pupils exhibited a degree of mental cul- 
 ture which would do credit to the members of «hy race. 
 That gentleman said further that he once thought that these 
 Northern teachers came South to stir up the hatred of the 
 negroes against their old masters, but he was now con- 
 vinced that they came only to give them Christian culture, 
 and that there must be thousands of people at the North 
 who had the same generous feelings, for they gave the 
 money that sustained the teachers. In like manner do we 
 hope that Fisk University, and our other institutions in the 
 
'.VI FlSK I'MYKKSITY. 
 
 South, will vindicate the intelligence of the negrQ and the 
 kindly feelings of the North. 
 
 Some of* the good fruits from the planting of Fisk Univer- 
 sity begin to appear. It once had a thousand pupils. Now 
 it has less, but its graduates and students are teaching nearly 
 ten thousand scholars in the South, and arc carrying the bless- 
 ings of the Gospel with them into every home, hamlet, 
 school and church where they are located as teachers; and 
 this influence is ever widening and deepening. A bag of 
 wheat can only be eaten or sown — not both — but the in- 
 tellectual and spiritual food these student-teachers take with 
 them is both eaten and sown; multiplying, some sixty and 
 some an hundred fold! 
 
 Other results of these institutions in the South are yet to 
 appear. The negroes have gifts — a wealth of gifts in song, in 
 eloquence, and in warm hearted piety, that will yet enrich 
 the world. The Jubilee Singers are my proof in regard to 
 song; many of their lettered and unlettered speakers are 
 evidence of their native eloquence; and their emotions, so 
 warm and overflowing, will, when cultured, enkindle and 
 arouse our cold business-like Anglo-Saxon religion. Give 
 them the Christian light and they will repay us a thousand 
 fold! 
 
 A second great achievement for Europe and America is 
 religious liberty. Romanism is yet to make its last battle for 
 supremacy. It must rule the consciences of men, and direct 
 the education of the children — or die. Rome is old in ex- 
 perience. She has learned to watch and wait — to be bold 
 when she can : unassuming when she must, She has seen 
 vicissitudes. Her popes have been driven from their 
 thrones; and they have mounted the saddle when kings 
 menially held the stirrup. The Reformation swept half of 
 Europe from her grasp, but the Jesuits arose for her defence, 
 and the tide was suddenly stayed. We admire her patience 
 and her unconquerable courage while we fear her success. 
 
Dedication of Jubilee Hall. 35 
 
 She meets the battle in Spain, Italy and Austria with the 
 exultant announcement of the Infallibility. She struggles 
 in Germany with the progress of the age, yielding not an 
 inch of mediaeval claim to authority. England's great 
 statesman discerns the coming battle ; and in America Ave 
 sec it in her hostility to our common schools. Rome has 
 long discerned her danger in Europe and her hope in Amer- 
 ica. She has wisely cast her anchor to windward on our 
 shores. 
 
 No where in America is Rome achieving greater success 
 than among the Freedmen of the South. Her plans for 
 this object were laid and publicly announced soon after the 
 close of the war, and she has steadily, quietly and persist- 
 entlv pushed them forward. She is not fitful in her move- 
 ments, nor is she discouraged by hindrances. It would 
 startle the Protestants of America if they fully understood 
 her success. A prominent colored man has openly called 
 his whole people to unite with that strong church, and 
 thus make her still stronger to protect them. It is said 
 that she has colleges across the water, to educate colored 
 missionaries to send among the Freedmen. Her schools 
 here for colored children are Well sustained and increas- 
 inglv popular. Her Sisters of Charity are busy and her 
 churches are open to blacks and whites alike. 
 
 It must not be supposed that she has no hold upon the 
 colored people. Her open door to them ; their equal stand- 
 ing with others in the church and cathedral; her august 
 service and rich vestments, attracting the eye and gratify- 
 ing the love of splendor, appeal to their manhood and to 
 their imagination. It may be that before Americans are 
 aware of the danger, Rome may add the voters of these peo- 
 ple to the obedient masses which she now so completely 
 controls, and thus her political supremacy in this land will 
 be assured. We are to meet the efforts of Rome not by 
 denunciation, but by zealous, steady and prompt measures 
 
 3 
 
:}4 Fisk University. 
 
 for popular education and the religious culture of the 
 Freedmen. Let us do our part, and God will take care of 
 the result. Fisk University will take her place in the work 
 of this educational and Christian enlightenment. 
 
 A third achievement before us is the enlargement of Mis- 
 sionary efforts. The partition of the Turkish Empire is near 
 at hand. The effect may be a war of governments, but its 
 political results will touch no vital human interests. In 
 other respects, however, the consequences will be deep and 
 far reaching — and in none more than in the extension of 
 missionary labors. England will possess Egypt. She now 
 has her canal — which is virtual possession, and she will 
 sway a vast influence over the destiny of Africa — a sway 
 that no nation is more entitled to hold, or will wield more 
 wisely. 
 
 Africa is the land of mystery, so large in extent, so vast 
 in population and yet so unknown, so rich in its undevel- 
 oped resources, so strange in its ruins of cities of grandest 
 dimensions now standing on the borders of trackless des- 
 erts, with monuments, pyramids and sphinxes the wonder 
 of the world — a land so bright in its past history, dazzling 
 with galaxies of kings, heroes, sages, saints and martyrs — 
 a land now so dark in its ignorance, degradation and cru- 
 elty, blighted with the curse of fetisch superstition, Moham- 
 medan arrogance, and the unalloyed evils of slavery and 
 the slave-trade. 
 
 It is the shame and the sorrow of the church of Christ 
 that Africa has remained so long in her present darkness 
 and woe. But she has not been wholly neglected. The 
 history of modern missions shows no more heroie self-denial, 
 no more apostolic consecration than has been exhibited on 
 the shores of Africa. Men and women of highest culture 
 and position from all Christian lands have gone there to 
 preach the Gospel, nor have they been without a measure 
 ofsuccess. God has blessed these laborers, and a few of 
 
Dedication of Jubilee Hall. 35 
 
 the many millions have heard of the Saviour. But the vast 
 interior and long reaches of coast line are yet the "habita- 
 tions of cruel ty." The savage hostility of the people, and 
 still more the merciless and unrelenting slave-trade bar the 
 way, while the deadly climate has speedily and remorse- 
 lessly swept to premature graves the devoted, the learned 
 and the intrepid missionaries. 
 
 But now the eyes of British and American Christians are 
 turned towards the Freedmex. Has not God a great work 
 for them in Africa ? Will not their color win a welcome 
 for them in the land of their fathers ? Will not the climate 
 be less fatal to them? Is there not a call here that will 
 arouse their deepest sympathies and move their noblest en- 
 deavors ? Who can estimate the uplifting power of a great 
 thought — of a heroic purpose ? These Freedmen have a 
 grand duty to perform for themselves in this land, but how 
 much deeper will their souls be stirred if they can be 
 aroused by the grander impulse to carry Christianity, civil- 
 ization and empire to the benighted millions of Africa ? 
 American Christians, too, will feel the elevating power of 
 the great thought, that the slaves they have just freed are 
 to be trained by them for this glorious achievement. Brit- 
 ish Christians have long felt so deep an interest in Africa 
 that their hearts will be deeply moved by this new hope, 
 and a stronger tie will unite British and American Chris- 
 tians, as they join together in earnest endeavor to lift up the 
 long oppressed slave, and with him to enlighten and save 
 1 )enighted Africa ! 
 
 Fisk University is dedicated to-day to these great 
 achievements for God and humanity, patriotic for America, 
 helpful to pAirope and redeeming to Africa. 
 
 I have a pleasant duty yet before me. Gen. Fisk has 
 given due honor to those who have been helpful in the 
 founding and growth of this young University — to all but 
 himself. 1 may step in where his modesty halted. The 
 
')(> Fisk Fxiversity. 
 
 efficient and noble services of Gen. Fisk at the beginning 
 are attested in part by the bestowal of his name on the In- 
 stitution. His zeal has never since flagged, and in the late 
 anxious days before success came to the second campaign 
 of the Jubilee Singers in Great Britain, his wise counsels 
 and timely assistance in the use of his credit and money, 
 are, and can be, known only to the few of us who were 
 permitted to witness his cheerful unselfish spirit and his ef- 
 fective measures for present relief and future prosperity. 
 
 I would say more of him, but that I take the liberty of 
 saying a few words for his "better half." The furniture of 
 the rooms in this building, like the flowers that beautify 
 the plant and prepare for the coming fruitfulness, — this 
 neat and substantial furniture — is largely due to the untir- 
 ing efforts and the good taste of Mrs. General Fisk. 
 
 The band played 
 
 "Nearer my God to Thee." 
 
 REMARKS OF REV. G. D. PIKE. 
 
 Two hundred and fifty-six years ago, a Dutch vessel 
 brought twenty negro slaves for sale to Jamestown, Virginia. 
 Fifty years thereafter the number of these had increased 
 to two thousand. During these fifty years, the Governor 
 of Virginia proclaimed, " I thank God there are no free 
 schools, nor printing ; and I hope we shall not have, these 
 hundred years — God save us from both." So it was, as is 
 known and read of all men, that the foundations for a civ- 
 ilization were laid in the degradation of labor, but those 
 foundations have finally given way, and now we are en- 
 deavoring to build up a civilization on the basis of free, 
 remunerated, educated, and Christian labor. I need not 
 tell you that such civilization is virtually an experiment in 
 the world, or that of all people, perhaps the negro has the 
 irreatest interest in it, For ten vears we have been meas- 
 
Dedication of Jubilee Hall. .*>7 
 
 uring, in a limited way, the adaptability of this experiment 
 to the people of the South. We are met to-day, at one 
 of the important centres, where the doctrines of this new 
 civilization are taught and exemplified. We are about to 
 dedicate a building unmatched, in its origin, in the annals 
 of the world ; for this magnificent edifice, expresses more 
 than the renowned and praiseworthy efforts of the Jubilee 
 Singers — more than the tact and skill of every one who 
 has given thought and labor for its construction, because 
 it was only made possible by experiences earlier than 
 emancipation. The price thereof came from stricken souls 
 who in times of grievous sorrows, burst forth 
 
 " O Lord, O my good Lord, keep me from sinking down." 
 
 It was built with the coin of those who, in their seas of 
 trouble, breathed in whispered accents : 
 
 ki Steal away, steal away, steal away to Jesus/' 
 
 And it shall ever stand a monument to those who glori- 
 fied with hope, blazing heavenward, midst trials and afflic- 
 tions, exultingly sang, 
 
 11 Didn't my Lord deliver Daniel, 
 
 'liver Daniel, and why not every man >" 
 
 "Oh! stand the storm it won't be long, 
 We'll anchor by and by." 
 
 This building represents history and ideas. It stands on 
 the boundary line betwixt two civilizations. On these 
 grounds a fort was once erected for defence, but this edifice 
 is more than a fort, it is a light-house ; yea, it is more than 
 that, it is a University, in which may be taught the prin- 
 ciples that will shape the destiny of nations. What Ave 
 say here will not largely add to what has been done. 
 We can do little indeed to consecrate, for God baptized 
 this enterprise long ago. It is rather for us, while we 
 stand here, to dedicate ourselves to the unfinished task of 
 placing the civilization this building represents beyond 
 
38 Fisk University. 
 
 peradventure. It is for us to take on new devotion with 
 every triumph won for exact justice, and a reign of elevated 
 industries and Christian intelligence. It is for us here, to 
 resolve that, God helping us, our nation shall be redeemed 
 and made typical for many nations yet unborn. The long 
 expected, better day, is being ushered in, and the morning 
 stars are singing together as we approach the epoch of the 
 new centennial year. It is for us to resolve that this new 
 era, born out of slavery and war — and spanned with a 
 rainbow of promise — shall never, by any fault of ours, 
 perish from the earth till He, who so signally has been the 
 black man's song and rejoicing — shall reign over even 
 nation, in every land and every sea. Then " we will rise 
 and shine and give God the glory — glory for the year of 
 Jubilee. 11 
 
 REMARKS OF REV. E. P. SMITH. 
 
 It is eleven years and two weeks since I was follow- 
 ing an army corps out of the city on the turnpike which 
 leads along within sight from the door of this Hall. It 
 was the morning of the last day of the last battle of the 
 war for all this vicinity. It was one of those battles on 
 which large issues were turning — perhaps the issue of the 
 war. A deep anxiety pervaded the city, and especially 
 the colored population. To them the question to be settled 
 on that day between Hood and Thomas was one of destiny, 
 and before night-fall, the victory for the Union and for 
 freedom was complete. The ranks of dead colored soldiers, 
 filling a long trench dug on the hill side in front of our 
 earthwork where the fiercest fighting occurred, testified to 
 the part borne by your representatives in the decisions of 
 that day. They did not die in vain. They made it pos- 
 sible for this occasion to summon us together this morning. 
 
 A few days before this battle, I met an old negro out 
 near the picket line. He was bent with age and rheuma- 
 
Dedication of Jubilee Hall. 39 
 
 tism. and his short hair was as white as a snow-ball. He 
 seemed to be ont for a recognizance for his own benefit. 
 I said to him: "Uncle, how does it look? 1 ' "Dat's it, 
 marsa — dat's just what I was stud'in' on.*' "Well, what do 
 yon think, Avill General Hood take Nashville?" "Dat's 
 jnst it. Dat's what I was studin' on myself? an' I reckon 
 General Hood wont come into Nashville." "Why not?" 
 I asked. " Bekase he couldn't do justice to hisself in here." 
 The old man gave his judgment with a shake of his white 
 head and a mien of face as wise as Solomon's, but he an- 
 swered wiser than he knew. If General Hood's plans of 
 that day had fully succeeded, they would have brought no 
 lasting credit to him, while they would have inflicted 
 untold injury upon all the country, and fastened a mon- 
 strous wrong upon the colored race. They would have 
 put back on the dial of time, for at least one century, the 
 possibility of Jubilee Songs and Jubilee Hall. Ay, they 
 would, in my judgment, have rendered Vanderbilt Univer- 
 sity, whose structure of noble architecture on yonder hill 
 seems to give us friendly greeting this morning — erected 
 by Northern benevolence, dedicated to Christian learning, 
 and standing forth as a land mark of maturing union and 
 fellowship between North and South— not only unlikely but 
 impossible in your day and mine ; and I believe that Gen. 
 Hood himself, walking through this Hall and looking yon 
 in the face from this platform, would agree with us that 
 that is the best issue of human plans or of God's provi- 
 dences which brings the largest liberty, and best oppor- 
 tunity for men to make the most of themselves and give 
 most to their fellow men. 
 
 In August, 1865, the American Missionary. Association 
 sent two of its officers to "prospect" for a school in Nash- 
 ville. The Western Freedmen's Aid Society, represented 
 by Prof. John Ogden, was here before them, and that other 
 man whose name will never be mentioned in. the hearing of 
 
40 Fisk I'mvkrsity. 
 
 any who knew him, whether friend or foe, without recall- 
 ing the life of a man who could not live selfishly, — Rev. J. 
 (J. McKee, — the pre-eminent pioneer friend of the colored 
 people of this region. Rev. Mr. Cravath, now your honored 
 President, and myself, searched this city through to find a 
 building or a hall which could be rented for the school. 
 There were vacant buildings, but none for a colored school. 
 We found an army barrack structure belonging to the 
 Government which could be made to insure the purpose 
 for which we were sent, the establishment of a primary 
 school, but it stood upon private ground, whose owner, 
 though in need of money, was not, as he said, 4 so low 
 down " as to sell or rent property for that kind of business. 
 At last in our search, we came upon the group of hospital 
 buildings near the Chattanooga depot, The ground upon 
 which they stood could be purchased — if it was only known 
 for what purpose — for $16,000, one-fourth cash. Prof. 
 Ogden joined us, and together by using all we had, and 
 borrowing all we could, we raised the cash payment and 
 gave our paper and a mortgage for the balance, and the 
 infant Fisk, though not yet named, had a cradle. 
 
 Of the early days of that school I will not speak. Some 
 of you know them by heart. I wish your President and 
 his wife and Prof. Ogden were with you to-day. What it 
 cost then and costs now to be identified with and respon- 
 sible for such a school, none of us who have not tried it 
 can know. The world has its roll of honor, and sometimes 
 the names and deeds inscribed thereon get intermingled 
 with a strange incongruity ; but even now as the years go 
 by, those who have lived and died unselfishly for others, 
 are steadily, pushed towards the top, and when that which 
 is in part has passed, and we know as we are known, high 
 up among those who followed most closely in the foot steps 
 of their Great Master, and are best fitted for the purest joy 
 and highest duty of heaven, will be found the names of the 
 
Dedication of Jubilee Hall. 41 
 
 young men who left business and professional prospects, 
 and cultured Christian women who gave up home and 
 consented to be outcasts in this city from society, ay, what 
 is called Christian society, and toiled and prayed and 
 hoped through those early years in the old barrack build- 
 ings. My friends, when hereafter the question is asked, 
 Who originated Fisk University ? let the answer be, It was 
 founded in the loving patient toil of its first teachers. The 
 result of such lives will be an inspiration to all who shall 
 come to this Hall of learning. In that result, and in the 
 lives of others like them, will be found the index finger 
 pointing to the crowning benefit of this University. 
 
 My young friends, students of this University, God grant 
 that all of you, and all that come after you, may so con- 
 ceive of the true end, of all learning and all living, as that 
 the lessons and opportunities of this Hall shall fit you for 
 no small part in the great Jubilee Anthem which is to 
 celebrate the triumph of right and truth over all the earth. 
 
 PRAYER OF DEDICATION. 
 
 The dedicatory prayer was then offered by Rev. H. S. 
 Bennett, Prof, of Theology in Fisk University, and Pastor 
 of the church. 
 
 DELIVERING THE KEYS. 
 
 Gen. Fisk paid a well deserved compliment to T. C. Stew- 
 ard, the superintendent of construction. Mr. Steward had 
 served faithfully, and he had that day turned over the keys 
 of the University to the Trustees. For the excellent work 
 that he had accomplished, the Trustees thanked him most 
 heartily. 
 
 Gen. Fisk then delivered the keys to Rev. A. K. Spence, 
 thanking him in behalf of the Trustees, and of the American 
 Missionary Association, for the fidelity with which he had 
 kept his post through sunshine and storm. 
 
 Prof. Spence said that, in the absence of the President, 
 he took the keys with a full realization of the responsibili- 
 
42 Fisk University. 
 
 ties which devolved upon himself and the teachers in as- 
 suming* charge of the school. Three years ago, with a few 
 friends and students, they had repaired to this hill. In be- 
 half of the faculty he had lifted the first spadeful of earth, 
 Judge Lawrence had lifted the second, and a student, af- 
 terwards in the first graduating class, had lifted the third. 
 He spoke of the inestimable labors of George L. White/ 
 Referring to the services of the day, he said he felt much 
 encouraged by the assertion of Dr. McFerrin, that the in- 
 telligent people of the South were in accord with them. 
 
 The Professor closed by remarking he would hold the 
 keys in behalf of the Faculty, promising to keep the build- 
 ing sacred to the great cause of Education and Religion. 
 [Great applause.] 
 
 The Jubilee Anthem was then sung. This was compos- 
 ed in England for the occasion, and was given with the pe- 
 culiar sweetness of tone for which the race are so celebrated. 
 
 Mr. Holmes, of New York, offered the following resolu- 
 tion, which was adopted by a rising vote : 
 
 Resolved, That having listened with great interest to the 
 historical statements regarding Fisk University, and recog- 
 nizing the valuable services under God of all officially con- 
 nected with it from its earliest inception, we desire especially 
 to bear testimony to the noble efforts of the Jubilee Sing- 
 ers, and those associated with them, as well as the mam 
 friends at home and abroad, through whose joint labors 
 and substantial sympathy the funds have been mainly pro- 
 vided for the erection of this Jubilee Hall. 
 
 The benediction was pronounced by Rev. Mr. Pike, and 
 the vast audience was dismissed. 
 
 THE SUPPER. 
 
 At six o'clock the invited guests, about three hundred in 
 number, were conducted to the dining room where a sub- 
 stantial supper was spread. Gen. Fisk presided. 
 
Dedication of Jubilee Hall. 43 
 
 The University Choir chanted the Lord's Prayer, as the 
 grace before meat; When the supper was over, Gen. Fisk 
 paid a well deserved tribute to the Matron of the Univer- 
 sity, whose skill and taste were manifest in the preparation 
 of the repast ; and to the students of the University, who, 
 as hungry as those who feasted, yet had so cheerfully and 
 handsomely served the tables. 
 
 Speeches were then in order. 
 
 Mr. Edgar Ketchum of New York, Treasurer of the Am- 
 erican Missionary Association, being first called upon, res- 
 ponded. He said he had two objects in coming here. One 
 was to attend the dedication of this Hall and witness the 
 scene of fraternal accord now before him. It was all very 
 cheering. We should have agreement everywhere, for we 
 were one people, and could not be otherwise. We should 
 be brethren, but not brethren at variance. And so it was 
 good to hear the Rev. Dr.McFerrin that morning for him- 
 self and his people welcome among them this Institution 
 and its work for the Freedmen. His other object was to 
 visit the Hermitage where dwelt that iron man Gen. Fisk 
 alluded to in his opening address — that man beloved and 
 revered, AndreAV Jackson. In the enthusiasm of youth he 
 gave his first vote for him, and while he did not always fol- 
 low, he had always honored him. He gathered some leaves 
 at his tomb to keep in remembrance of the soldier and 
 statesman avIio cared for his fellowmen irrespective of their 
 condition, and as soldier and statesman labored for their 
 welfare. We of this generation must cherish that spirit and 
 follow his example if we would prosper as a people. 
 
 Professor Spence here read the following poem : 
 
 Songs from the Sunny South land. 
 
 Songs from over the sea, 
 Sougs from the house of bondage. 
 
 Songs of the glad and free, 
 They sang, those children of sorrow, 
 
 Those children of dusky hue^ 
 
44 FlSK rXIYKRSITY. 
 
 Strange and wild were their accents, 
 But their hearts were warm and true 
 
 Echoes from unknown ages, 
 
 From Afric's distant strand, 
 Down through the generations, 
 
 To wake in a captive land, 
 They brought like the summer breezes 
 
 Blown from a land of flowers, 
 Like the voice of whispering angels 
 
 From a fairer land than ours. 
 
 They caught the sweet inspiration 
 
 When lulled on their mother's breast, 
 As at evening they sang of heaven, 
 
 Where the weary are at rest ; 
 And they saw sweet angels coming 
 
 To carry them away, 
 And the chariot swinging lower 
 
 Through the gates of opening day. 
 
 Sometimes their songs were waitings 
 
 Of the anguish-smitten soul 
 In the land of dark perdition 
 
 Where tiery billows roll, 
 And their strains grew wild and wilder, 
 
 As before their eyes entranced 
 Things that no tongue may utter 
 
 In fearful visions danced. 
 
 And men in rapture listened, 
 
 And strong men wept to see 
 These children of the bondman, 
 
 These children of the free, 
 And they opened up their coffers, 
 
 And they poured their treasure forth 
 From the ocean to the river, 
 
 From the South land to the North. 
 
 And afar o'er the restless billow, 
 
 Where castles are gray and old, 
 And many a bard of sweetness 
 
 Has sung to a harp of gold, 
 Entranced by the song they listened 
 
 To these children of the sun, 
 And many a tear drop glistened, 
 
 And many a heart was won. 
 
 And prayers and benedictions 
 
 Were -theirs from many a breast; 
 
Dedication of Jubilee Hall. &f 
 
 They sang so sweet and mildly, 
 
 So sad, as when oppressed; 
 And they stood among the great men 
 
 In the palaces of earth — 
 They from the house of bondage, 
 
 They of servile birth. 
 
 And aloud they sang in triumph, 
 
 They sang of the Jubilee, 
 When broken is every fetter 
 
 And the sons of men go free, 
 In the age of peace so golden 
 
 That the prophets have seen so plain, 
 When men shall be friends and brothers, 
 
 And Christ Himself shall reign. 
 
 Oh Africa, land of shadow, 
 
 Oh Africa, land of song, 
 Land of long night's oppression, 
 
 Land of sorrow and wrong. 
 Thy echoes return unto thee, 
 
 Bearing on golden wing 
 The tidings of earth's salvation. 
 
 The song that the angels sing. 
 
 Oh songsters of liquid sweetness. 
 
 Songsters of beauteous lay. 
 Sing on of the glad hereafter. 
 
 Sing of the blessed to-day. 
 Sing to the listening nations 
 
 The song so new and old, 
 Till the echoes are caught by the angels 
 
 In the city whose streets are gold. 
 
 Mr. Samuel Holmes, of New York, after some humorous 
 remarks and incidents, expressed the earnest hope that the 
 institution dedicated to-day would be prospered in the 
 noble work for which it was founded — to elevate and bless 
 man kind. We are not working for ourselves but for 
 others. 
 
 Judge Lawrence responded by remarking that his hope 
 for the elevation of humanity by means of education was 
 confirmed by this day's exhibition. He thought the work 
 — the special work before us — had but just begun, and he 
 trusted it would go forward with steady progress hence- 
 forth. 
 
4(> Fisk University. 
 
 J. D. Burrus, a graduate of Fisk University, said that 
 the graduating class of last year were deeply interested in 
 the work of education, and of lifting up those around them. 
 He wanted to see Tennessee dotted all over with Fisk 
 University students. In behalf of the class, he returned 
 thanks to the American Missionary Association, also to the 
 officers of Fisk University for the many courtesies extended 
 them. No matter where they wentj they would cherish 
 their association with Fisk University, and always consider 
 this their home. 
 
 Judge H. H. Harrison congratulated Gen. Fisk, the 
 teachers and the students. He was glad to see that the 
 prejudices which has served to blight this section were fast 
 melting away. What was wanted in this country was 
 more liberality on questions affecting all the people and 
 their posterity. He was hopeful, and believed that a 
 bright and glorious future was in store for us. 
 
 J. J. Cary said that no one would have thought that the 
 school on Knowles street would culminate in this grand 
 building. They should not forget it ; but should remember 
 and thank the God who had done so much for them. 
 
 Dr. Phillips was the next speaker. Very much had been 
 accomplished, and they had great hopes for the future. 
 This was only a beginning, and they ought to thank Him, 
 who ruleth all things, for what had been done in the last 
 ten years. He felt as much, for the white man as for the 
 colored man, and in the work in which he was engaged, the 
 white man would be indirectly reached. He hoped that 
 much good would be accomplished within the next decade. 
 
 Prof. Chase was then called on, and responded in words 
 of exhortation to stand by the work begun. Now, that 
 the University had been started, it must not be thought 
 that the labor was ended. There was still much to be 
 done. Not only must they labor to build up the Univer- 
 sity; they must so educate the people that there would.be 
 
Dedication of Jubilee Hall. 47 
 
 a demand for the higher branches of education. The next 
 ten years would cost a deal of labor. They must pray to 
 God that He would build up an University, indeed. 
 
 Capt. D. W. Peabody suggested that Rev. W. R. Cobb 
 take his place. Mr. Cobb said the students of Fisk Uni- 
 versity must educate themselves if they would break down 
 the walls of prejudice. Let them go forward, trust in the 
 good God and all would be well. 
 
 Rev. E. P. Smith and Gen. Fisk added further tributes 
 to the memory of Rev. J. G. McKee. 
 
 Gen. Fisk, in a few appropriate remarks, gave a brief 
 review of the day's exercises. 
 
 All sang "Nearer, my God, to Thee/' and the exercises 
 were brought to a close. 
 
 THE SABBATH SERVICES. 
 
 January 2, 1876. 
 
 The services of the forenoon were under the direction 
 of the pastor of the church, Rev. H. S. Bennett. 
 
 The sermon was preached by Rev. M. E. Strieby, from 
 the words in Gal. 5 : 1. 
 
 u Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath 
 made us free } and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage." 
 
 After the sermon, the Communion of the Lord's Supper 
 was administered ; the Rev. E. P. Smith and the Rev. W. 
 S. Alexander officiating in the services. 
 
 In the afternoon at 3 o'clock, a large audience listened 
 to a very interesting and instructive lecture on Africa, by 
 Rev. G. D. Pike. The lecture was delivered under the 
 auspices of the " Society for the Evangelization of Africa" 
 — a society recently organized by the students of Fisk 
 
48 Fisk Tnivkusity. 
 
 I liiversity, and which has taken a strong hold upon their 
 hearts. The members pledge themselves to do what they 
 can to evangelize Africa — to pray, give, or go, as God 
 shall call. 
 
 ADDRESS OF REV. GUSTAVUS D. PIKE. 
 
 THE POSSIBILITIES OE AFRICAN CIVILIZATION. 
 
 Mr. President and Brethren — The continent of Africa 
 contains nearly a fourth part of the dry land on the face 
 of the globe, and a coast line of 16,000 miles in extent. 
 If yon should journey from the diamond fields of South 
 Africa to the straits of Gibraltar, north, you would find the 
 distance about 5,000 miles. If you should traverse the 
 continent — from Cape Guardafui on the east, to Cape Yerde 
 on the west coast — the journey would occupy you many 
 months, and extend over a distance of more than 4,500 
 miles. 
 
 At the outset, it is fitting to observe that there is nothing 
 cither in the nature of this continent, or the origin of its 
 people that precludes the idea of a high state of civilization. 
 
 The ruins of cities and monuments south of the Lybian 
 Desert in Ancient Ethiopia ; the vast armies that came 
 up from them, like that of Zerah's, who went forth against 
 King Asa with a million men and three hundred chariots ; 
 the great wealth and wisdom represented in persons like 
 the Queen of Sheba ; have led many to believe that civili- 
 zation had its origin on the banks of the Nile in Negroland. 
 Indeed, Herodotus wrote for us four hundred years before 
 the annunciation, that the Egyptians came up from Ethio- 
 pia ; however this may be, there is no doubt as to the early 
 existence of a very powerful Egyptian civilization. This 
 is well attested by ancient Thebes, with its four millions of 
 people, its vast armies, its massive walls, with an hundred 
 gates, its knowledge of geometry, astronomy, and many an 
 art that has since been lost. 
 
Dedication of Jubilee Hall. 49 
 
 It is attested also by Alexandria, which for seventeen 
 hundred years was the chief maritime city of the world ; 
 the birthplace of Clement, Apollos and Origen ; the seat 
 of the largest library of ancient days, and of a magnificent 
 light-house, built by the Ptolemies, which for ages was 
 recognized as one of the wonders of the world. Add to 
 all this the history of Egyptian pyramids, tombs, mummies, 
 sphinxes, obelisks, hieroglyphics, paintings and statuary, 
 and we have evidence of an African civilization not only 
 most remote, but most powerful. 
 
 Then there was ancient Carthage from which fleets of 
 ships whitened the waters of every sea, and landed its 
 colonists in countries known and unknown, while Hannibal, 
 one of the greatest of generals, reversed its destinies in the 
 second Punic war. Without controversy, so far as I know, 
 these Ethiopians, Egyptians and Carthaginians were the 
 descendants of Ham, and if it be said that they did not ex- 
 hibit the characteristics of the tropical negro, I argue that 
 the tropical negro is best accounted for on the supposition 
 that he sprang from these people, and became what he is 
 on account of the climatic influence of malarial Africa and 
 the debasing tendencies of the slave trade. 
 
 Tli is brings me to observe, 
 
 I. The possibilities of African civilization were long ob- 
 scured by slavery and the slave-trade. 
 
 These date back at least to the time when the Midianites 
 bo ught Joseph and took him down to Egypt. The pictures 
 upon the walls of temples and the mummies found in tombs 
 indicate also that slaves were employed in the days of the 
 Pharaohs. The Carthaginians, five hundred years before 
 the death of our Lord, manned their navies with negro 
 slaves. The Greeks and the Romans purchased black Af- 
 ricans on account of their singular appearance and affec- 
 tionate natures. During the Middle Ages large numbers of 
 
 4 
 
50 FlSK FXIVKHSITV. 
 
 natives from the kt land of the moon' 1 were stolen and 
 pressed into the armies of Arabia and Persia. Before the 
 voyages of Columbus, the Portuguese people imported as 
 many as 10,000 slaves a year; while, during the days of 
 Ameriean slavery, 100,000 black men — mostly from the 
 gorilla country of West Africa — were brought to Brazil, 
 the West Indies, and the United States. As many as 16,00$ 
 men are occupied the year round in the Nile basin procur- 
 ing slaves for the markets. One merchant at Khartoom in 
 Ethiopia, has 2,500 men in his employment, pursuing this 
 business, and it is not uncommon for ivory merchants, who 
 are in reality slave traders, to take an army of 5,000 sol- 
 diers with them, in their marauding campaigns, for plun- 
 dering villages and tribes of their boys and girls. 
 
 The blighting influence of this when reckoned up for 
 periods of thousands of years, cannot be estimated. Slave- 
 are bound together by chains, or yoked with limbs from 
 trees, and crowded into boats, where they sometimes die in 
 heaps, and are thrown overboard. Others are chained in 
 gangs while traveling over long stretches of country, till a 
 large majority of them perish, either by hunger, or thirst, 
 or pitiless lashings, or an unendurable heaviness of heart. 
 Others become unable to march, and fall a prey to wild 
 beasts, or meet death in some other way. Sometimes men 
 are left lying in their own blood, while defenceless women 
 are bound to trees, and children abandoned to die alone. 
 This condition of things is now — and has been for centu- 
 ries — so far as we know, the fate of from 300,000 to 
 1,000,000 black people every year. Well may the voice of 
 the church of Christ cry, u Oh, Lord, how long!" and well 
 might Dr. Livingstone affirm, u To overestimate the evils 
 of slavery is simply impossible. The sights I have seen. 
 though common incidents, are so nauseating 1 always strive 
 to drive them from my memory; but slavery scenes come 
 back unbidden and make me start up at dead of night, 
 horrified at their vividness.'' 
 
Dedication of Jubilee Hall. 51 
 
 The Mohammedans, who are the great slave hunters of 
 Africa, number one hundred and fifty millions of people, 
 and vast hordes of these occupy a portion of the continent 
 equal in extent to Europe. They believe in the divine 
 right of slavery and furnish the chief markets for the traf- 
 fic. It is unnecessary to affirm that this condition of things 
 is evermore antagonistic to the progress of civilization, but 
 from these dark eras of history the cloud is beginning to 
 break. 
 
 In 1792, the people of Denmark abolished the trade in 
 that country. Then after a long struggle it was abolished 
 by the British Parliament in 1807, and by France in 1815. 
 
 In 1815, also, representatives of eight European powers 
 met and pledged their respective governments to the work 
 of putting an end to the slave trade, which they declared 
 had too long desolated Africa, degraded Europe, and af- 
 flicted humanity. Since then the trade lias been practi- 
 cally outlawed by civilized nations, while the British Gov- 
 ernment expends at present $700,000 per year for its 
 suppression. Efforts for the overthrow of slavery in Ameri- 
 ca are too recent to require mention here. I will just call 
 attention, however, to what has been done by the Khedive 
 of Egypt, through Sir Samuel Baker, who penetrated to 
 the equatorial regions of Africa, and broke up, for the time 
 being, the slave trade on the banks of the Nile. For al- 
 though so much was not accomplished by this campaign as 
 was desired, nevertheless, by it, the Khedive advertised his 
 hostility to the system, and laid foundations for better 
 things to come. 
 
 II. The possibilities of African civilization have been 
 enhanced by the intrepid efforts of heroic explorers. 
 Among the earliest of these was James Bruce, who ex- 
 plored Abyssinia, and concluded he had discovered the 
 source of the Nile. Mungo Park, however, takes rank as 
 the pioneer explorer, inasmuch as he entered Africa by the 
 
52 FlSK rxIVKKSITV. 
 
 west const, and proceeded to the river Niger, and discov- 
 ered in the heart of the continent, not only a most wonder- 
 ful river, but cities with walls, and mosques and courts of 
 justice and schools of learning. So great was the enthu- 
 siasm awakened by Mungo Park that the British govern- 
 ment appropriated money for further explorations, which 
 resulted in the ultimate discovery of the course and outlet 
 of the Niger, and the fertile country and interesting people 
 along its banks. 
 
 Then followed the settlement of Sierra Leone, Liberia, 
 the delta of the Niger, and other lands, by English-speak- 
 ing people. South of the Niger, the country was explored 
 by Du Chaillu, Andresson, and many others. Greater in- 
 terest, however, has been awakened in South Africa by 
 such men as Barrow, Moffatt and Dr. Livingstone. The 
 latter crossed South Africa from east to west, explored the 
 Zambezi river and reached the Nyassa lake and the Shire 
 country. Later on he penetrated to the very heart of the 
 continent, south of the equator, visiting mountains, lakes, 
 rivers and people, before unknown in the annals of the 
 civilized world. 
 
 When I had the honor of taking lunch with the Duke of 
 Argyle, in London, at the time the Queen of England heard 
 the Jubilee Singers, His Grace the Duke asked me if I had 
 learned that a great lake system of 700 miles in extent had 
 been discovered near the equator, in Africa. Subsequently. 
 T learned that one lake of this system was the Tanganyika, 
 extending south to the 7th degree of latitude, discovered 
 by Lieut. Burton, and visited by Henry M. Stanley, when 
 on his expedition for the relief of Dr. Livingstone, indeed, 
 he first met the doctor on the shores of this lake. Another 
 lake of this system, was the Victoria Nyanza, discovered by 
 ( 'apt. Speke, and recently explored by Stanley, and found 
 to be an inland sea, equal in area to Lake Huron. The 
 third great tropical lake is the Albert Nyanza, discovered 
 
Dedication of Jubilee Hall. 53 
 
 by Sir Samuel Baker, and about to be explored by Col. 
 Gordon, who, when last heard from, had already taken a 
 steel steamer to a navigable point in the river leading from 
 the vast expanse of this lake. Dr. Schweinfurth, the Ger- 
 man botanist, within a few years, has brought to our know- 
 ledge the characteristics of many tribes farther south-west 
 in northern Africa than any other explorer of recent jreaua 
 — telling of cannibals, pigmies, and half-civilized tribes in 
 equatorial regions, where the people inhabit a country 
 adorned with beauties worthy of paradise itself. 
 
 These travelers, and many others, have advertised Afri- 
 ca until, at the present day, it excites more interest than an y 
 other country in the world. 
 
 IIL The possibilities of African civilization have been 
 largely illustrated by the sacrifices and success of 
 Christian missionaries. 
 
 These have followed closely upon the heels of the ex- 
 plorers, and have often become explorers themselves. 
 
 By their labors they have illuminated almost every shore 
 of that vast continent. You will find them in numbers in 
 Algeria. I have visited them in Egypt, where success at 
 present is easily- won, and where, for most of the year, 
 white people can live and labor in comfort. They were 
 planted more than a century ago in Abyssinia, where the 
 people have a traditional Christianity, dating far back into 
 the ages. 
 
 In eastern Africa, the labors of Dr. Kraff led to the ex- 
 peditions of Burton and Speke, and the discovery of great 
 lakes. It was here that the Methodist missionary, Charles 
 New, on account of the deadly malaria, sought the base <>;' 
 the famous Snow mountain, hoping that an altitude might 
 be found upon it where the air would be salubrious, and 
 permit of missionary labors without risk of life, and near 
 here he died a martyr to his devotion. 
 
 I remember, when in London, listening, with great 
 
.">4 Fisk I'mvkksitv. 
 
 interest, to Sir Bartle Frere, who having just returned 
 from this coast, manifested a deep and hopeful interest in 
 all the missionaries had done. Farther down on the coast 
 is the Zulu land and the Cape regions, where as many as 
 sixteen missionary societies have established their stations. 
 and where the diamond fields are attracting, not only 
 commerce, but missionaries inland. Then just off this coast 
 is Madagascar, which illustrates what God is able to do in 
 these tropics, and what he is willing to do as well. 
 
 But the great work of the missionaries in Africa, when 
 measured by sacrifice or success, has been achieved on the 
 west coast. Here, nearly eighty years ago, the Church 
 Missionary Society broke ground, and here they have 
 prosecuted their work with great energy. The Wesleyans 
 soon followed the Church Society, and to-day are doing 
 more than any other denomination on that continent. The 
 Germans have sustained missions on this coast for neatly 
 fifty years, and by their industrial schools have introduced 
 a neAV era in the history of African missions. The colony 
 of Liberia is here, and the Mendi mission of the American 
 Missionary Association. And another still, not the least in 
 significance, is the mission of the black Bishop Crowther, 
 on the delta of the Niger. Along the western coast there 
 are now estimated to be 150 churches, with 20,000 hopeful 
 converts, 200 schools with 20,000 children under instruc- 
 tion. Twenty-five dialects have been mastered, into which 
 portions of the Scriptures have been translated and printed. 
 Through all these agencies as many as six millions of de- 
 graded heathen have been reached by the truth, which is 
 able to make them free. Wherever the missionaries have 
 long wrought, towns, churches and schools have sprung up. 
 and commerce has gained a healthful impulse. 
 IV. The possibilities of African civilization are seen in the 
 nature and increase of African commerce. 
 
 From the remotest ages, Africa has been pouring her 
 
Dedication of Jubilee Ha 
 
 i.i. 
 
 wealth among the nations, and what is a little singular, she 
 has received but small returns for it. Abraham went down 
 to Egypt for corn, but the Syrians did not cany corn to 
 Egypt, The Israelites went to the granaries of Joseph, 
 hut when they came out of the country, they borrowed the 
 jewels of the Egyptians, and took them to the promised 
 land. We find ivory from Africa in almost every household. 
 but the products of America are not plenty in the Soudan. 
 We buy palm oil from the Gold Coast, and give the natives 
 New England Rum for it. We have become enriched by 
 the productions of the slaves, but they have not been en- 
 riched by us. And so we see all through the history of 
 Africa. 
 
 She has given to us, but we have given very little indeed 
 to her. It may be worth while, however, in considering our 
 subject to notice what commerce has been developed in 
 Africa during the past 50 years. I was recently informed 
 that the best of leather is now manufactured from hides 
 brought from Africa. All manner of spices and gums come 
 from this land. Indigo grows there spontaneously, and is 
 shipped from thence to the markets of the world. The 
 diamonds from its south-land sparkle upon a thousand 
 bosoms, and the gold from the Ashantee land and eastern 
 Africa fills many a rich treasury. Cotton from Ethiopia 
 finds its way down to the Red Sea, one planter alone ship- 
 ping as many as 25,000 bales. 
 
 The cotton of Egypt yields a revenue almost sufficient 
 for the support of the government. No other country to 
 my knowledge produces such variety of precious woods ; 
 dye woods — ebony and other kinds which admit of a 
 beautiful finish. 
 
 Zoological gardens are recruited from Africa, where more 
 than an hundred kinds of animals are found, not known to 
 other climes. 
 
 So many are the varieties of vegetable, mineral and other 
 
56 FlSK rMVKHSITV. 
 
 productions that it wore fruitless to attempt to mention 
 them all — suffice it to say that on a strip of country on the 
 west coast of Africa the British have increased their com- 
 merce till it equals $15,000,000 per year. The palm oil 
 trade in the delta of the Niger, has grown from a business 
 that produced 200 tons per year, not very long ago, to one 
 of 50,000 tons per year. An idea of the American trade 
 may be gained by the inventory of a single cargo shipped 
 from the west coast to New York. This cargo contained 
 100,000 pounds of ginger, 100,000 pounds of sugar, 90 
 tons of dye stuffs, 54,000 pounds of coffee, 10,000 gallons 
 of palm oil and 500 pounds of ivory. 
 
 Commerce in all these things is rapidly increasing, and 
 with these increased facilities, commerce acts as a most effi- 
 cient agency for the advancement of civilization. Already 
 lias the Khedive of Egypt opened up the Suez canal. He 
 has also built 1,100 miles of railway in northeastern Africa, 
 and is constructing a railway across the desert to Khar- 
 toom at the junction of the Blue and White Nile, in ancient 
 Ethiopia, with a prospect of a commerce of $100,000,000 
 per year, not long after this steam communication shall be 
 opened. Then another road is planned on the west coast 
 near the Niger, and still another by the French, from 
 Morocco to Timbuctoo across the desert, obtaining a water- 
 supply by boring artesian wells. And as the wind blows 
 in one direction many months, it will not be strange if we 
 hear of some enterprising aeronaut, who will send balloons 
 on aerial voyages across the sea of sand to the fertile 
 grounds of the great lakes. However this may be, it is 
 sure that commerce is fast revolutionizing the condition of 
 things in many portions of this wonderful continent, 
 
 Y. The possibilities of African civilization are seen in* the 
 developments under the Khedive of Egypt. 
 He seems to have been chosen to revolutionize Africa 
 from the Mediterranean to the great Equatorial lakes. He 
 
Dedication of Jtbilee Hall. 57 
 
 is the foremost man that has appeared in the East for many 
 generations. Educated in Europe, he seeks to Americanize 
 Egypt. He possesses capacities for endurance equal to the 
 first Napoleon. His sagacity is said to be matchless, and 
 his dispatch almost electric. The Suez canal was com- 
 menced in the days of the Ptolemies, but no man 
 proved himself competent to complete it till this man came. 
 Six years ago he ordered a survey between Kennah on 
 the Nile and Cosseir on the Red sea. When the report 
 was made, he reflected a moment : " Build a telegraph 
 from Kennah to the Red sea in six weeks ; report to me at 
 the end of that time ;" and the wires were in working order 
 according to his command. Mr. South worth, of New York, 
 on his return to Egypt from Ethiopia, secured an audience 
 with the Khedive, and conversed with him freely in regard 
 to his contemplated railway across the desert, saying withal, 
 that it would cost four or five millions of pounds. To 
 which the Khedive replied : "What is that ; what are six 
 or eight millions if you obtain results. I shall build the 
 road, and the nations you have seen in savagery and pov- 
 erty will, I trust, in ten years become a thrifty and united 
 people. The Mohammedans call the Khedive an infidel — 
 and perhaps he is — for he believes the steamboat and steam 
 engine are the best missionaries at present for Africa. Was 
 it not Isaiah who said, " Make straight in the desert a high 
 way for our God ! Even by the springs of water shall he 
 guide them " ? In view of these things, what person is 
 there in Christendom who would not cry out, " Cast up, 
 cast up the highway ; say ye to the daughters " of Ethiopia, 
 •'behold thy salvation cometh" ? It is well known that within 
 a few years the Khedive has brought vast portions of the 
 Soudan into the area of his dominions, and that he now 
 governs a portion of Africa extending to regions south of 
 the Equator. These lands to which he has penetrated ex- 
 tend 4,500 miles from east to west, and are said to be un- 
 
")S KlSK I : XIYKRSITV. 
 
 surpassed in richness. The Consul-General of Soudan said 
 to a traveler, " Tell the Americans I have discovered a new 
 A in erica in Africa." 
 
 In Ethiopia there are one hundred and forty million acres 
 of the best land in the world, on which, without the use of 
 the plough, three crops of cotton can he managed by one 
 man in a single year. This land can be had two acres for 
 a dollar, and when the railroad to Shendy is completed, the 
 crop can be taken to Liverpool in less time than is required 
 for transportation from the American cotton fields. To 
 this it may be added that a cotton growing mania is rapidly 
 extending over this portion of Africa, while cotton cloth 
 is the money in the equatorial regions. Mr. Stanley was 
 obliged to take one hundred men and load them with cloth 
 in order to make his way through African villages. All 
 travelers and slave merchants are obliged to load great 
 caravans with cloth, while pursuing their vocation in that 
 land. Give the people of these latitudes protection, and a 
 market that shall afford them a fair return for their labor, 
 and there is abundant evidence that millions of beings will 
 spring with alacrity to avail themselves of the possibilities 
 that would in this way be open before them. 
 
 The Khedive of Egypt promises these advantages to 
 eastern Africa, and the British Protectorate to the tribes 
 on the west coast. The limit of African civilization is only 
 bounded by the capacity of its people. 
 
 YI. This leads me to observe in the sixth place that the 
 
 possibilities of African civilization may be predicated 
 
 among other things from the capacity of the negro. 
 
 Prefatory to statements under this head, it is fitting to 
 
 observe that civilization can never be developed in tropical 
 
 Africa by white men. 
 
 When Mungo Park took forty white soldiers to visit the 
 Niger, thirty of them died before they reached the banks 
 of that river. When Lieut. Gordon with eleven men at- 
 
Dedication of Jubilee Hall. 88 
 
 tempted to defend a fort in Liberia, eight of the eleven died 
 in four weeks. Out of seventeen missionaries sent by the 
 Germans to the Gold Coast, ten died in a single year. Of 
 the four ministers who established the University Mission 
 in the Shire country, three died the first year. The two 
 white men who started with Stanley died before his return 
 to the coast. During the Niger expedition a fifth of the 
 white men perished, while out of the one hundred and eight 
 black men, not one of them suffered from the fevers. 
 
 The negro's capacity for endurance and development, 
 however, in tropical Africa is without question. It is of 
 his mental and physical capacities we propose to speak. 
 Dr. Livingstone tells us that the African is by no means the 
 lowest of the human family. He is nearly as strong physi- 
 cally as the European, and superior to the Australian, the 
 South Sea Islander and the American Indian. He is not 
 of a different breed or species from the most civilized. In 
 fulness of form, shape of head and vigor he is far superior 
 to the Tartar and Chinese races. Indeed, the Joloffs, the 
 Mandingoes, the Bari and Kaffirs are among the finest 
 specimens of the animal man. Nine-tenths of the people 
 in Africa are not negroes, in the sense often given to that 
 word. 
 
 Dr. Livingstone tells also that the interior tribes are not 
 lazy, but a people with finer shaped heads on the average 
 than the European — living in neat villages, cultivating the 
 soil, braiding mats, working as smiths, and exhibiting 
 capacities that only await the touch of Christian civilization 
 to become all our hearts could wish. Dr. Schweinfurth, 
 who traveled far south-west of the Great Desert came upon 
 a people the color of half-burnt coffee, living in neat cot- 
 tages well enclosed. Here he saw a magnificent hall 150 
 feet long 50 feet high, surrounded by stools upon which 
 people rested themselves during their convocations. 
 
 The love of trading is universal among all these tribes. 
 
<)0 FlSK UNIVERSITY. 
 
 while the shrewdness, judgment and general honesty of the 
 native traders are remarkable. When a bloody revolt oc- 
 curred in a province of Ethiopia a few years ago the Turk- 
 ish officials tried in vain to control the soldiers and restore 
 order and quiet to the country. A negro Bey, who, when 
 a boy, had been sold as a slave into Egypt, arrived, and by 
 his masterly shrewdness and ability quelled the insurrection, 
 and His Highness, the Khedive, made him Commander -in- 
 chief of the troops of the Soudan. 
 
 The negroes have exhibited as much inventive genius as 
 was displayed by savages in Europe and America until the 
 people of these climes came in contact with the civilization 
 of the east. One of them on the west coast invented an 
 alphabet and another has become, doubtless, the most 
 learned man on the continent, either native or foreign. 
 Another still, Rev. Barnabas Root, of the A. M. A., gradu- 
 ated among the highest in a Western College, and the Chi- 
 cago Theological Seminary. 
 
 The implements of war and agriculture, the walled towns, 
 the organized armies, the courts of justice and the fearless 
 enterprise of some of these people attest their ability for 
 great things; to which they will attain when instead of a 
 slave power they shall have a protectorate maintained by 
 civilized nations, and instead of the caravan and slave gang, 
 the missionary steam-engine accompanied by the missionary 
 teacher, shall go thundering through the wilderness of this 
 negro land. 
 
 But some one will ask, What of his religious capacities? 
 I shall not delay to argue that the gospel is adapted to the 
 poor and illiterate, and that for long ages the vast throng, of 
 the redeemed who have gone up to God have not always 
 been possessed of the grandest faculties and the highest cul- 
 ture. I shall not pause to illustrate that the success of 
 religion is possible on account of a spiritual discernment 
 common to all, rather than because of reasoning faculties or 
 intellectual strength. 
 
Dedication of Jubilee Hall. 61 
 
 I would rather ask if the negro does not possess this spir- 
 itual discernment in a remarkable degree. When the proph- 
 et Jeremiah lay in his dungeon there were many holy men in 
 Israel, but it was an Ethiopian who was moved with divine 
 compassion and plead with the king until he effected his 
 release. Many charioteers journeyed -over the Syrian plains, 
 and doubtless studied as they rode, but it was an Ethiopian 
 whose love of God's word impelled him to read it and to 
 seek of Philip how to understand. And when they led Him 
 up to be crucified, the Evangelist tells us that a man from 
 Gyrene bore His cross. 
 
 Among the ancients the idea of spirit in worship came 
 up from Ethiopia. The poets tell us a negro woman, at 
 the shrine of Apollo, taught the priest an ethical religion, 
 while the Olympian divinities repaired to Africa " to learn 
 purity of morals from the blameless Ethiopians." But we 
 have seen the negro ourselves, and I ask who has mani- 
 fested the greatest love for the Scriptures of all within our 
 shores? Who lias exhibited the greatest faith in prayer? 
 
 " We pray the Lord, he give us signs 
 
 That some day we be free; 
 The north winds tell it to the pines. 
 
 The wild duck to the sea; 
 And now He's opened every door. 
 
 And thrown away the key." 
 
 This represents the black man's faith and rejoicing. Who 
 of all people is surrounded by an atmosphere of affection 
 you instinctively feel ? Who has the most forgiving spirit 
 of all men that bear the Almighty's image ? 
 
 Where do we find voices so full of richness and sweetness, 
 and souls full of melody, and alight heartedness which out- 
 rides the troubles that would annihilate any other people ? 
 Who composed those prayer-songs that have gone echoing 
 over the world since emancipation ? What people compose 
 only religious sonars? 
 
1)2 Fisk University. 
 
 It has been my privilege, perhaps, to listen to as many 
 slave songs as most men, and I bear this testimony that I 
 never heard a song eomposed by a negro that was not a 
 religions song. It is 
 
 M Steal away, steal away, steal away to .Jesus. 1 ' 
 *' Brother, don't stay away, don't stay a why." 
 " Nobody knows the trouble I see." 
 11 Keep inching along, keep inching along, 
 Jesus will come by and by." 
 
 This is the heart-song of the black man evermore when 
 he has tasted the love of Jesus. There can be no question 
 as to the negro's capacity for religions things. 
 
 It only remains for me to inquire : What have we to do 
 about it? To my brethren of the American Missionary Asso- 
 ciation who are here from New York, it seems pertinent to 
 urge, that we make immediate efforts to improve and extend 
 the work we are now carrying on in tropical Africa, north 
 of the Equator, and also that we increase our devotion, in 
 raising up missionaries among the Freedmen, not only for 
 the South but for the vast domains of Xegroland. And what 
 shall Fisk University do — this Institution born out of 
 slavery and heralded the world around by the slave songs 
 her children have sung ? 
 
 When I journeyed in Switzerland 1 had the pleasure of 
 visiting one of the grandest of missionary institutions — the 
 Evangelical Missionary College on the banks of the Rhine. 
 Already has it sent forth 99 missionaries to the Gold Coast 
 of Africa, while it numbers its converts by thousands. 
 
 So let Fisk University be the grand missionary college of 
 the South for the promotion of African evangelization. And 
 so shall every prayer, and every tear, and every effort of 
 every worker for its prosperity, be glorified; and so, me- 
 thinks, its great providential destiny shall be the more 
 speedily ushered in. 
 
 And now with a few words to my colored friends I am 
 done. Tropical Africa has been preserved for the black 
 
Dedication of Jubilee Hall. <>.'> 
 
 man. God made the country for him and him for the coun- 
 try. Its riches are for him. Its future civilization must be 
 developed by him. And if commerce or religion ever enters 
 and makes blessed this tropical inheritance it must be borne 
 thither by the sons and daughters of those people who have 
 been taken by the ruthless hands of the slave merchant and 
 sold in the civilized centers of the world. India is said to 
 be the source of thought, The Phoenicians first taught men 
 to trust their frail barks to the deep. The Greeks gave aes- 
 thetic culture and the Romans law,but in the kingdom of God 
 on earth no people as yet have welded the golden chain of 
 love that shall bind the hearts .of men together. What 
 people shall do that ? It shall be the great distinction. The 
 glory of it may cost the price of blood, but who has been 
 paying this price for three thousand years ? He, who was 
 despised and rejected, has an African kindred who have 
 learned to suffer, and now they must learn to reign. I care 
 not that you seek a social equality or political preferment ; 
 it were better by industry, economy and religion to make 
 yourselves superiors ; it were better to apprehend the 
 mighty destinies of the African race ; it were better to take 
 your place as one of the colors in God's rainbow that prom- 
 ises the millennium. An hundred million black people await 
 such labors as you can perform. As Israel in bondage 
 learned the wisdom of the Egyptians, as they carried it back 
 to their fatherland, so may you pour the best of culture, the 
 richest piety and the sweetest songs into the lap of Africa ; 
 so may you weld, in the land of the earliest civilizations, the 
 golden chain that shall clasp the world, till not only Africa 
 shall rise and shine, its light being come, and the glory of 
 God risen upon it, but the church of Christ receive to its 
 treasury such wealth of affection and faith as shall complete 
 her adornment for the millennial day. 
 
<>4 Fisk [Tnivebsity. 
 
 After the lecture. Rev. Dr. Dashiell, Secretary of the Mis- 
 sionary Society of the M. E. Church, North, and others, 
 added some instructive and encouraging remarks. 
 
 PRAYER AND CONFERENCE. 
 
 On Sunday evening a meeting for prayer and conference 
 was held, which partook largely of the missionary spirit 
 which had been roused in all hearts by the afternoon lee- 
 ture. The aims of this Institution were spoken of — shall it 
 indeed be a missionary school, from which shall go forth 
 young men and women, to carry the Gospel to darkened 
 lands ? 
 
 THE OPENING OF THE SCHOOL. 
 
 January 3, 1876. 
 
 On Monday morning the school assembled for the iirst 
 time in the new building. Prof. Spence opened it in 
 the usual manner, by prayer and the reading of the Scrip- 
 tures. This was followed by brief addresses from some of 
 the students, and by earnest and encouraging addresses 
 from Rev. H. S. Bennett, Rev. W. S. Alexander and Gen. 
 Fisk. These exercises were among the most interesting 
 in the whole series of services, and were felt to be aus- 
 picious of a bright future for the spiritual as well as the 
 educational work of the University. 
 
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