A Girls’ Industrial Cottage has been started on a small scale, in which the girls will have the entire charge of household expenses and management.  The little girls from round about are formed into sewing-bands and make commendable progress.  Their mothers meet with one of the teachers on Saturday afternoons.

Underneath all these departments of training, it is sought to lay the great foundation principles of character.  The Bible is a constantly used text-book in literally every department.  We seek to give a “Thus saith the Lord,” for everything that we inculcate, from order, punctuality and cleanliness, up to honesty, personal and social virtue, temperance, industry and benevolence.

There was a time when some distrust was manifest among the colored people for what they called “book religion.”  They wished to hold fast to “ole time ’ligion,” and that sentiment is not entirely gone.  We had a very zealous little neighbor, more aged than she looked, so bright and spry was she, whose husband was said to be over a hundred.  She was a seer of visions and dreamer of dreams.  What we thought a bad feature of her trances was, that she would sometimes speak in meeting of having seen Tougaloo University marching in a procession down to torment with our devoted matron and president at the head, their open Bibles in their hands.  That was years ago.  Now, when she sees our matron in her visions, it is up among the angels; and I believe the conviction is spreading that book religion, taken into the head, sinking down into the heart, and working out through the hands in deeds of active piety, is an excellent thing.

Besides our regular religious services, including our large and delightful Sabbath-school, we have various reformative and benevolent societies.  Our temperance society carries the triple pledge at the front and saves many from the debasement of profanity, tobacco and ardent spirits in all their forms.

Our societies for social purity are designed to help in the cure of a terrible and terribly prevalent vice.  The young men are taught, that while it would often be simply throwing life, with all its opportunities, away, for them to interpose by word or weapon in defense of weak and tempted womanhood, after all, man best defends woman by himself wearing the “White Cross” of manly virtue.

The girls are taught that woman’s best defense is the “White Shield” of her own determined virtue and genuine modesty.  The Y.M.C.A. and the Y.W.C.A. have interesting meetings conducted by themselves, with many committees for Christian work.  A committee of girls goes out on Saturday to visit sick and aged ones, both giving and receiving good.  Another looks after new scholars who are often confused by their strange surroundings, and homesick for a time.

Our Missionary Society studies both home and foreign fields, and gives freely of its little fund.  Recently a flame of missionary zeal was kindled by letters from missionaries in Africa with whom a number of our students were personally somewhat acquainted, and a large portion of our Sunday-school collections was voted directly to them.