[Sidenote: Women's Auxiliary Conference.]

At the National Conference session of 1878, held at Saratoga, where much enthusiasm had been awakened, it was suggested that the women, who had been hitherto listeners only, should take an active part in, denominational work. At a gathering in the parlor of the United States Hotel, called by Mrs. Charles G. Ames, Mrs. Fielder Israel, Mrs. J.P. Lesley, and one or two others, a plan of action was adopted that led, in 1880, to the formation of the Women's Auxiliary Conference. The aim of this organization was to quicken the religious life of the churches, to stimulate local charitable and missionary undertakings, and to raise money for missionary enterprises; but its work was to be done in connection with the National Conference, and not as an independent organization. The purpose was stated in a circular sent to the churches immediately after the organization was effected.

"Hitherto," it was said, "women have not been specially represented upon the board of the National Conference, and have not fully recognized how helpful they might be in its various undertakings or how much they themselves might gain from a closer relation with it. But the time has now come when our service is called for in the broad field, and also when we feel the need of being at work there; for our faith in the great truths of religion is no less vital than that of our brethren; and since the service we can render, being different from theirs, is needed to supplement it, and because it is peculiarly women's service, we must do it, or it will be left undone. It is one of the glories of such a work as ours that there is need and room in it for the best effort of every individual; indeed, without the faithful service of all it must be incomplete."

In 1890, after ten years of active existence, the conference had about eighty branches, with a membership of between 3,000 and 4,000 women. Much of the success of the conference was due to its president, Abby W. May.

Miss May was well known as a philanthropist and educator, and had occupied many prominent positions before she a.s.sumed the presidency of the auxiliary; but this was her first active work in connection with the denomination.

[Sidenote: The National Alliance.]

Admirable as were the aims, and excellent as was the work of this organization, it was auxiliary to the National Conference, and had no independent life. After the first enthusiasm was past, it failed to gain ground rapidly, the membership remaining nearly stationary during the last few years of its existence. As time went on, therefore, it became evident that a more complete organization was needed in order to arouse enthusiasm and to secure the loyalty of the women of all parts of the country. The New York League of Unitarian Women, including those of New York, Brooklyn, and New Jersey, organized in 1887, showed the advantages of a closer union and a more definite purpose; and the desire to bring into one body all the various local organizations hastened the change. It was seen that, in the multiplication of organizations, there was danger of wasting the energies used, and that one efficient body was greatly to be desired.

In May, 1888, a committee was formed for the purpose of drafting a const.i.tution for a new a.s.sociation, "to which all existing organizations might subscribe." The const.i.tution provided by this committee was adopted October 24, 1890, and the new organization took the name of the National Alliance of Unitarian and Other Liberal Christian Women. The object proposed was "to quicken the life of our Unitarian churches, and to bring the women of the denomination into closer acquaintance, co-operation, and fellowship." In 1891 there were ninety branches, with about 5,000 members.

While the membership, doubled under the impulse of the new organization, the increase in the amount of money raised was fivefold.

The admirable results secured by the Women's Alliance, which has finally drawn all the sectional organizations into co-operation with itself, are in no small measure due to the energy and the organizing skill of the women who have been at the head of its activities. Mrs. Judith W. Andrews, of Boston, was the president during the first year of its existence. From 1891 to 1901 the president was Mrs. B. Ward Dix, of Brooklyn, who was succeeded by Miss Emma C. Low, of the same city. Mrs. Emily A. Fifield, of Boston, has been the recording secretary; Mrs. Mary B. Davis, of New York, the corresponding secretary; and Miss Flora L. Close, of Boston, the treasurer from the first.

[Sidenote: Cheerful Letter and Post-office Missions.]

In 1891 the executive board appointed a committee to organize a Cheerful Letter Exchange, of which Miss Lilian Freeman Clarke was made the chairman.

One of its chief purposes is to cheer the lonely and discouraged, invalids and others, by interchange of letters and by gifts of books and periodicals. To young persons in remote places it affords facilities for securing a better education, with the aid of correspondence cla.s.ses. By means of a little monthly magazine, The Cheerful Letter, religious teaching is brought to many persons, who in this find a subst.i.tute for church attendance where that is not possible. Through the same channel, as well as by correspondence, these workers help young mothers in the right training of their children. Libraries have been started in communities dest.i.tute of books, and struggling libraries have been aided with gifts. Forty travelling libraries are kept in circulation.

Although much had been done to circulate Unitarian tracts and the other publications of the American Unitarian a.s.sociation, by means of colporteurs, by the aid of the post-office, as well as by direct gift of friend to friend, it remained for Miss Sallie Ellis, of Cincinnati, in 1881, to systematize this kind of missionary effort, and to make it one of the most valuable of all agents for the dissemination of liberal religious ideas. Miss Ellis was aided by the Cincinnati branch of the Women's Auxiliary, but she was from the first the heart and soul of this mission.

"If there had been no Miss Ellis," says one who knew her work intimately, "there would have been no Post-office Mission. Many helped about it in various ways, but she was the mission."

Miss Ellis was a frail little woman, hopelessly deaf and suffering from an incurable disease. Notwithstanding her physical limitations, she longed to be of service to the faith she cherished; and the missionary spirit burned strong within her. "I want," she said often, "to do something for Unitarianism before I die"; but the usual avenues of opportunity seemed firmly closed to her. At last, in the winter of 1877-78, Rev. Charles W.

Wendte, then her pastor, anxious to find something for her to do, proposed that she should send the a.s.sociation's tracts and copies of the Pamphlet Mission to persons in the west who were interested in the liberal faith.

She took up this work gladly, and during that winter distributed 1,846 tracts and 211 copies of the Pamphlet Mission in twenty-six States.

A tract table in the vestibule of the church was started by Miss Ellis; and she not only distributed sermons freely in this way, but she also sold Unitarian books. It was in 1881 that she was made the secretary of the newly organized Women's Auxiliary in Cincinnati, and that her work really began systematically. At the suggestion of Mrs. Mary P. Wells Smith, advertis.e.m.e.nts were inserted in the daily papers, and offers made to send Unitarian publications, when requested. Many doubted the advisability of such an enterprise, but the letters received soon indicated that an important method of mission work had been discovered. Rev. William C.

Gannett christened this work the Post-office Mission, and that name it has since retained.

Only four and one-half years were permitted to Miss Ellis in which to accomplish her work,--a work dear to her heart, and one for which her many losses and sufferings had prepared her. During this period she wrote 2,500 letters, sent out 22,000 tracts and papers, sold 286 books, and loaned 258.

The real value of such work cannot be rightly estimated in figures. Through her influence, several young men entered the ministry who are to-day doing effective work. She saved several persons from doubt and despair, gave strength to the weak, and comfort to those who mourned. At her death, in 1885, the letters received from many of her correspondents showed how strong and deep had been her influence.[3]

The movement initiated by Miss Ellis grew rapidly, and has become one of the most valuable of all agents for the dissemination of liberal religious ideas. In the year 1900 the number of correspondents was about 5,000, and the number of tracts, sermons, periodicals, and books distributed was about 200,000. The extent of this mission is also seen in the fact that in that year about 8,000 letters were written by the workers, and about 6,000 were received.

By means of the Post-office Mission the literature of the denomination, the tracts of the Unitarian a.s.sociation, copies of The Christian Register, and other periodicals have been scattered all over the world. Thousands of sermons are distributed also from tables in church vestibules. Several branches publish and exchange sermons, and a loan library has been established to supplement this work.[4]

From the distribution of tracts and sermons has grown the formation of "Sunday Circles" and "Groups" of Unitarians, carefully planned circuit preaching, the employment of missionaries, and the building of chapels or small churches. Two of these are already built; and the Alliance has insured the support of their ministers for five years, and two others are in the process of erection.

[Sidenote: a.s.sociate Alliances.]

The women on the Pacific coast have been compelled in a large measure to organize their own work and to adopt their own methods, the distance being too great for immediate co-operation with the other organizations. In this work they have not only displayed energy and perseverance, but, says one who knows intimately of their efforts, "they have shown executive ability and power as organizers that have furnished an example to many non-sectarian organizations of women, and have made the Unitarian women conspicuous in all charitable and social activities."

The oldest society of Unitarian women on the Pacific coast was connected with the First Church in San Francisco. In 1873 it was reorganized as the Society for Christian Work. Its work has been mainly social and philanthropic, contributing reading matter to penal inst.i.tutions, money for the care of the poor of the city, and aiding every new Unitarian church in the State. The Channing Auxiliary combines the activities of the churches in the vicinity of San Francisco with those in the city. Its objects are "moral and religious culture, practical literary work, and co-operation with the denominational and missionary agencies of the Unitarian faith."

From 1890 to 1899 this society spent over $6,000 in aid of denominational enterprises, and it appropriates annually a large sum for Post-office Mission work. While these two organizations represent San Francisco and its neighborhood, the women up and down the coast have also been earnest workers. In 1890 they felt the need of a closer bond of union, and organized the Women's Unitarian Conference of the Pacific Coast. In 1894 this conference became a branch of the National Alliance, and has co-operated cordially with it since that time.

The New York League of Unitarian Women has been active in forming Alliance branches and new churches, as well as in affording aid to Meadville students. The Chicago a.s.sociate Alliance, the Southern a.s.sociate Alliance, and the Connecticut Valley a.s.sociate Alliance were organized in 1890. The Worcester League of Unitarian Women began its existence in 1889, and was reorganized in connection with the National Alliance in 1892.

[Sidenote: Alliance Methods.]

In thus coming into closer relations with each other and forming a national organization, each local branch continues free in its own action, chooses its own methods of carrying on its work, but keeps close knowledge of what the Alliance as a whole is doing, that all interference with others and overlapping of a.s.sistance may be avoided, and the greatest mutual benefit may be secured. This method gives the utmost independence to the branches, while preserving the element of personal interest in all financial disburs.e.m.e.nts, and creates a strong bond of sympathy between those who give and those who receive.

The first duty of each branch is to strengthen the church to which its members belong; and the value of such an organized group of women, meeting to exchange ideas and experiences on the most vital topics of human interest, has been everywhere recognized. Each branch is expected to engage in some form of religious study, not only for the improvement of the members themselves, but to enable them to gain, and to give others, a comprehensive knowledge of Unitarian beliefs. A study cla.s.s committee provides programmes for the use of the branches, arranges for the lending and exchange of papers, and a.s.sists those who do not have access to books of reference or are remote from the centres of Unitarian thought and activity.

With this preparation the Alliance undertakes the higher service of joining in the missionary activities of the denomination, supplementing as far as possible the work of the American Unitarian a.s.sociation. This includes sending missionaries into new fields, aiding small and struggling churches, helping to found new ones, supporting ministers at important points, and and distributing religious literature among those who need light on religious problems.

[1] Memorial History of Boston, IV. 353.

[2] See later chapters for account of admission of women to National Conference, Unitarian a.s.sociation, the ministry, Boston school board, and various other lines of activity.

[3] Mary P.W. Smith, Miss Ellis's Mission.

[4] This library is in the Unitarian Building, 25 Beacon Street, Boston.

XIII.

MISSIONS TO INDIA AND j.a.pAN.

Foreign missions have never commanded a general interest on the part of Unitarians. Their dislike of the proselyting spirit, their intense love of liberty for others as well as for themselves, and the absence of sectarian feeling have combined to make them, as a body, indifferent to the propagation of their faith in other countries. They have done something, however, to express their sympathy with those of kindred faith in foreign lands.

In 1829 the younger Henry Ware visited England and Ireland as the foreign secretary of the Unitarian a.s.sociation; and at the annual meeting of 1831 he reported the results of his inquiries.[1] This was the beginning of many interchanges of good fellowship with the Unitarians of Great Britain, and also with those of Hungary, Transylvania, France, Germany, and other European countries. During the first decade or two of the existence of the Unitarian a.s.sociation much interest was taken in the liberal movements in Geneva; and the third annual report gave account of what was being done in that city and in Calcutta, as well as in Transylvania and Great Britain.

Some years later, aid was promised to the Unitarians of Hungary in a time of persecution; but they were dispossessed of their schools before help reached them. In 1868 the a.s.sociation founded Channing and Priestley professorships in the theological school at Kolozsvar, and Mrs. Anna Richmond furnished money for a permanent professorship in the same inst.i.tution. Soon after the renewed activity of 1865 an unsuccessful attempt was made to establish an American Unitarian church in Paris; and aid was given to the founding of an English liberal church in that city.

These are indications of the many interchanges of fellowship and helpfulness between the Unitarians of this country and those of Europe.

[Sidenote: Society respecting the State of Religion in India.]

As early as 1824 began a movement to aid the native Unitarians of India, partly the result of a lively interest in Rammohun Roy and the republication in this country of his writings. On June 7, 1822, The Christian Register gave an account of the adoption of Unitarianism by that remarkable Hindoo leader; and it often recurred to the subject in later years. In February of the next year it described the formation of a Unitarian society in Calcutta, and the conversion to Unitarianism of a Baptist missionary, Rev. William Adam, as a result of his attempt to convert Rammohun Roy. There followed frequent reports of this movement, and after a few months a letter from Mr. Adam was published. Even before this there had appeared accounts of William Roberts, of Madras, a native Tamil, who had been educated in England, and had there become a Unitarian. On his return to his own country he had established small congregations in the suburbs of Madras.

In 1823 a letter from Rev. William Adam was received in Boston, addressed to Dr. Channing. It was put into the hands of the younger Henry Ware, who wrote to Mr. Adam and Rammohun Roy, propounding to them a number of questions in regard to the religious situation in India. In 1824 were published in a volume the letter of Ware and the series of questions sent by him to India, together with the replies of Rammohun Roy and William Adam.[2] This book was one of much interest, and furnished the first systematic account that had been given to the public of the reformatory religious interest awakened at that time in India. In February, 1825, was organized the Society for obtaining Information respecting the State of Religion in India, "with a view to obtain and diffuse information and to devise and recommend means for the promotion of Christianity in that part of the world." The younger Henry Ware was made the president, and Dr.

Tuckerman the secretary. Already a fund had been collected to aid the British Indian Unitarian a.s.sociation of Calcutta in its missionary efforts, especially in building a church and maintaining a minister.

During the year 1825 there was published at the office of The Christian Register a pamphlet of sixty-three pages, written by a member of the Information Society, being An Appeal to Liberal Christians for the Cause of Christianity in India. In 1826 Dr. Tuckerman addressed A Letter on the Principles of the Missionary Enterprise to the executive committee of the Unitarian a.s.sociation, in which he gave a n.o.ble exposition of the work of foreign missions, especially with reference to the Indian field. This letter and other writings of Tuckerman served to arouse much interest. The Appeal urged what many Unitarians had large faith in,--the promulgation of "just and rational views of our religion" "upon enlarged and liberal principles, from which we may hope for the speedy establishment and the wider extension there of the uncorrupted truth as it is in Jesus."

In 1826 the sum of $7,000 was secured for this work; and in the spring of 1827 a pledge was made to send yearly to Calcutta the sum of $600 for ten years. These pledges were in connection with like efforts made by the British and Foreign Unitarian a.s.sociation. In 1839 Mr. Adam visited the United States, and spoke at the annual meeting of the Unitarian a.s.sociation. Following this, he was for a few years professor of Oriental literature in Harvard University.

[Sidenote: Dall's Work in India.]

In 1853 Rev. Charles T. Brooks, who was for many years the minister of the church in Newport, visited India in search of health; and he was commissioned by the Unitarian a.s.sociation to make inquiries as to the prospects for missionary labors in that country. In Madras he met William Roberts, the younger son of the former Unitarian preacher there and visited the several missions carried on by him. In Calcutta he found Unitarians, but the work of Mr. Adam had left almost no results. The report of Mr.

Brooks was such that an effort was at once made to secure a missionary for India.[3] In 1855 Rev. Charles H.A. Dall undertook this mission. He had been a minister at large in St. Louis, Baltimore, and Portsmouth, and settled over parishes in Needham and Toronto. Mr. Ball was given the widest liberty of action in conducting his mission, as his instructions indicate: "There you are to enter upon the work of a missionary; and whether by preaching, in English or through an interpreter, or by school-teaching or by writing for the press, or by visiting from house to house, or by translating tracts, or by circulation of books, you are instructed, what we know your heart will prompt you to do, to give yourself to a life of usefulness as a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ."

On his arrival at Calcutta, Mr. Ball was in a prostrate condition, and had to be carried ash.o.r.e. After a time he rallied and began his work. He gathered a small congregation about him, then began teaching; and his work grew until he had four large and flourishing schools under his charge. In these he gave special attention, to moral and religious training, and to the industrial arts. In his school work he had the efficient aid of Miss Chamberlain, and after her death of Mrs. Helen Tompkins. One of the native teachers, Dwarkanath Singha, was of great service in securing the interest of the natives, being at the head, for many years, of all the schools under Mr. Dall's control. Mr. Dall founded the Calcutta School of Industrial Art, the Useful Arts' School, Hindoo Girls' School, as well as a school for the waifs of the streets. In these schools were 8,000 pupils, mostly Hindoos, who were taught a practical religion,--the simple principles of the gospel.

In education Mr. Dall accomplished large results, not only by his schools, but by talking and lecturing on the subject. His influence was especially felt in the education of girls and in industrial training, in both of which directions he was a pioneer. Only one of his schools is now in existence, simply because the government took up the work he began, and gave it a larger support than was possible on the part of any individual or any society.