THE PAGANS PAPISTS PATRIOTS P”°TF STAHTS AND THE PRESENT PROBLEM Division.. Section,. No sc® 7W WITH THE COMPLIMENTS OF THE AUTHOR. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2017 with funding from Princeton Theological Seminary Library https://archive.org/details/latinarnericapaga00brow_0 LATIN AMERICA Procession cf Corpus Christi, Bogota STUDENTS’ LECTURES ON MISSIONS PRINCETON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY MCMI LATIN AMERICA THE PAGANS THE PAPISTS THE PATRIOTS THE PROTESTANTS AND THE PRESENT PROBLEM BY HUBERT W. BROWN, M. A. I L LUSTRA TED New York Chicago Toronto FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY MCMI Copyright 1901 by FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY (May) CONTENTS LECTURE I PAGE THE PAGANS. 11-58 Pagan Beliefs and Practices. Resemblances to Romanism. Pagan Indians and Mixed Race of To-day. LECTURE II THE PAPISTS. 59-121 Missionaries and Their Methods. Wealth and Power of the Church. Corruption and Failure. LECTURE III THE PATRIOTS. 123-174 Causes of Awakening. The Fight for Independence. The Struggle for Religious Liberty. LECTURE IV THE PROTESTANTS. 175-231 Early Efforts and Exploration of the Field. The Bible and Protestant Literature. Education and Modern Evangelization. LECTURE V THE PRESENT PROBLEM. 233-283 Papal and Protestant Conditions Contrasted. Threefold Influence of Protestantism. Prospect for Self-sustaining Protestant Work. BOOKS OF REFERENCE. 285 INDEX. 291 5 List of Illustrations Procession of Corpus Christi, Bogota Frontispiece FACING PAGE Aztec Idol, Teocalli, Mexico City, Found in 1790. The Palemke Cross Church of Guadalupe, Mexico City Selling Images of Judas, to be Exploded Crowned with Thorns Doing Penance on Her Knees The Holy Spirit on a Pole President Benito Juarez Statue of Bolivar Presbyterian Church, San Luis Potosi Members of the Presbyterian Church, Merida, Y ucatan Rev. Arcadio Morales Church of Divine Salvador, Mexico City A Day School in Bahia, Brazil Second General Assembly of Christian Workers, Mexico City Students of the Presbyterian Theological Semi- nary, Mexico McKenzie College, Sao Paulo, Brazil Presbyterian Girls’ Normal School, Mexico City A Class, Presbyterian Normal School, Saltillo. . Presbyterian Church, “ San Augustin,” Zacatecas. f 38 66 106 112 166 182 196 206 214 228 268 PREFACE Under the title “ The Religious Development and Need of Latin America, with a Comparison of Roman Catholic and Protestant Missions ” the following lectures were delivered, in October of 1900, as The Students’ Lectures on Missions at the Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Prince- ton, N. J., and later at Auburn and at Western Theological Seminary. In the present title the term “ papist ” is not used in a disparaging sense. It is meant simply to designate the upholders of the Papacy, against whose doctrines and pretensions the “ protestant ” enters a solemn protest. The purpose of these lectures is to awaken an interest in Mexico, Central and South America as mission fields. Indebtedness to many mission- aries as well as to early writers and historians is gratefully acknowledged. The writer can hardly claim originality even for the method of treat- ment. He has, however, tried to set forth in these pages that conception of the problem which has come to him during sixteen years of service in Mexico as a missionary of the Presbyterian Church. To understand aright the present condition of Latin America it is necessary to know something 7 8 Preface of the religious beliefs and practices of the primi- tive inhabitants of this extensive region. The early missionary monks, such as Sahagun and Motolinia in Mexico, and the Jesuits of Paraguay, have left us many personal narratives of what they themselves saw. Some of the resemblances to certain Roman Catholic observances in the rites and ceremonies of the heathen religions are sug- gestive to the thoughtful reader. The same writers, and historians like Mendieta, tell also the story of the planting of the Roman Catholic church in the New World. We have quoted many of their own criticisms on the work. No protestant student has criticized the defects of Romanism in Latin America more severely than writers of their own faith. The heroism and de- votion of the early Roman Catholic missionaries is gladly recognized. Undoubtedly there are many devout Christians among the Romanists of Brazil and Spanish America ; but the system as a whole, when judged by its results, must be condemned. For the citizens of the Latin American repub- lics the writer has a warm regard which has been deepened and intensified by study of their heroic fight for religious liberty, as told by their own writers and by English and American eye-wit- nesses of the struggle. The same warm glow Is kindled in every writer upon this theme. It thrills in the pages of Butler’s “ Mexico in Transition ” and in Butterworth’s “ South America,” in “ The Neglected Continent,” in “ Darkest South Amer- Preface 9 ica,” and in “Protestant Missions in South Amer- ica,” recently issued by the Student Volunteer Movement. This last book gives a good idea of the extent and nature of the work of our evangelical churches in that great field. It is a pleasure to note the unanimity with which the missionaries who wrote the several chapters call attention to the same great features of our propaganda upon which the present writer lays stress. It is hoped that this portrayal of the different elements which enter into the religious problems of Latin America will make plain the fact, that while progress has been made, there is still great spiritual destitution, and that our help is needed. In the great future upon which this portion of the western hemisphere is now entering, evangeli- cal Christianity should, under God, play a chief part. The past of these historic lands of the New World lures us by its mystery; the heroes who so freely shed their blood for religious liberty win our sympathy ; while the future is so bright with promise that, like the prophet of old, every mis- sionary feels a fire within his bones that will not let him rest until he has cried to his countrymen; Win all America for Christ, ALL America from Alaska to Cape Horn. Lecture I — THE PAGANS "Ye whose hearts are fresh and simple, Who have faith in God and Nature, Who believe that in all ages Every human heart is human, That in even savage bosoms There are longings, yearnings, strivings, For the good they comprehend not, That the feeble hands and helpless. Groping blindly in the darkness, Touch God’s right hand in that darkness And are lifted up and strengthened; Listen to this simple story.” Hiawatha. II Synopsis of Lecture I Introductory. — Need for Protestant missions. — Plan of the work. — Extent of the field. — Struggle of Anglo- Saxon and Latin for supremacy. — Future of America, Roman Catholic, or Protestant ? I. Pagan Beliefs and Practices. — Character of ab- origines. — Mode of life. — Religious beliefs of savage tribes. — Hiawatha an idealized picture. — Darker side. Civilized native races. — Where found. — Attainments.— Origin, various theories. — Place among religions of man- kind. Inca civilization. — Paternal absolutism. — Sun worship. — Festival of Raymi. — Resemblances to festivals of Roman Catholic Indians. Aztec civilization. — Public square and temples of Mexico Tenochtitlan. — War god, Huitzilopochtli, symbolism. — Eating the god. — Fair god Quetzalcoatl, symbolism. — Promised return and advent of white race. Symbolism of the gods of pagan America. — Pantheism. — Gross idolatry. — Symbolism of the pagan cross. Pagan priesthood, powerful caste. — Role in life of peo- ple. — heathen baptism. — Horoscope of child. — Convent schools. — Rites for warriors, merchants, etc. — Sacred feasts. — The sacred year. — Hold on imagination of people. — Value of this study. II. Resemblances to Romanism. — Easy transition from pagan to papal control. — Not overvalue resemblances. — Roman Catholic missionaries attributed resemblances to the devil. — Flood, tower of Babel, baptism, confirmation, Lord’* Supper, etc. Resemblances, in method. — Not of essence of Christian- ity, but peculiarities of Romanism. — Political insight. — Knowledge of human nature. — Transfer of allegiance from one set of priests, images, sacrifices, to another. — Both had penance, confession, processions, fasts, feasts, religious holidays, convent schools. — Triumphs of Romanism where paganism most highly developed. III. Pagan Indians and Mixed Race of To-day. — Mil- lions of pagan Indians. — Of mixed race. — Cruder forms of heathen belief survive in unexplored, inaccessible places. Three million five hundred thousand Indians in Mexico alone. — Sr. Romero’s description. — Distinguished Indians. — “ Changed only their idols.” — Mass of heathenism invite* Protestant worker. Brazil heathen Indians of interior. — Missionary monks paganized Christian ceremonies. — 1,000,000 Indians possess four-fifths of Brazil. — South America a “ Dark Continent.” — 3,000 miles and no Protestant missionary. — 5,000,000 pagan Indians. — Failure of Romanism. Conclusion. — Missionary needs this knowledge to un- derstand Indians and mixed race of whose life religion was and is a large part. 12 LECTURE I The Pagans “ The thoughts of primitive humanity were not only different from our thoughts, but different also from what we think their thoughts ought to have been.” Max Muller. I appear before you as an advocate. I ask you to be the judges in this matter. My desire is to present the religious needs of Latin Amer- ica ; to show cause why the Protestant churches of the United States should continue the gos- pel work which they have so nobly begun in the Spanish and Portuguese countries which lie to the south of us. Evangelical mission work in these lands, where Roman Catholicism has ruled so long without a rival, is criticized in some quarters. The arguments against our work re- duce themselves to these, namely, that the Roman Catholic Church is a Christian Church, capable of caring for the religious and spiritual needs of the people, and better adapted than Protestantism to the character and conditions of the Indo-Latin races of America. In answer to these statements it is only necessary to point out the superstitious practices sanctioned by Romanism, together with the religious destitution of the people ; and, in *3 14 Needs of Latin America contrast, the spiritual work that Protestant mis- sions are doing. Political and social history will be touched upon only when necessary to make plain the force and nature of my statements as to the religious development of the people. We shall begin with a study of the religious be- liefs of the pagan Indians ; then glance at the work done by the Roman Catholic Church ; at the patriotic struggle for religious liberty ; and, lastly, at the work of the Protestants and the problem which to-day confronts our workers. This is the natural historical order of treatment, and will, we trust, make plain a steady advance from lower to higher forms of religious life in the de- velopment of Latin America; and after such a survey, we shall see good reason for encourage- ment in the present outlook. If there has been any lack of interest in the re- generation of Latin America, it has been largely due to a failure to understand the need for such regeneration. The recent study of the religious conditions of Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philip- pines, has emphasized the moral destitution of these lands and awakened enthusiasm for their evangelization. Let this new enthusiasm extend to all Latin America. It is a noble ambition to give to the whole of this Western Hemisphere the same spiritual advantages and advancement which our own highly favored land enjoys. In the struggle against ignorance and superstition, let our watchword be : All America for Christ I «5 The Pagans The greatness of the task we thus set ourselves should appeal to us as Americans by reason of its very magnitude. Great undertakings make an especial appeal to our sympathies and interest. Look then for a moment at the size of our West- ern Hemisphere, in which the United States plays the most prominent role. Our position entails religious as well as political obligations to the rest of our fellow Americans. America is a vast continent, comprising three- tenths of the dry land of the earth’s surface. Its two huge triangles stretch from north to south through nearly every degree of latitude. Its seventeen million square miles will probably be called upon, in the near future, to sustain an enormous population. There is every variety of climate from polar cold to equatorial heat ; from the sultry atmosphere of the low-lying lands within the tropics, to the bracing air of the high plateaus where flourished the most advanced pagan civilizations of this old New World. The backbone of the continent is a mighty mountain range whose loftiest peaks are white with eternal snow even beneath the vertical sun of the tropics. There are wide plains and dense forests, watered by some of the longest rivers on our globe. There is untold mineral wealth. This is the glorious inheritance which has for four hundred years been thrown wide open for occupation by the Christian nations of Europe. Here the Anglo-Saxons and the Latins have 1 6 Needs of Latin America struggled for supremacy, and are to-day in friendly rivalry. Here two religious systems, each calling itself Christian, have been propa- gated : the Roman Catholic and the Protestant. To which, if to either, does the future of America belong? The rivalry of the past, both in politics and religion, has often been both bitter and bloody. At first the Latin had nearly our whole hemisphere under his control, and the Roman Catholic missionary went everywhere. The French Roman Catholics of Canada, and the Spanish Romanists of our own Southwest still remain as a reminder of that heroic age of col- onization. To-day, however, although these alien elements are not yet wholly absorbed by the ever advancing tide of Protestant civilization, the line of demarcation is well defined. North of the Rio Grande the Anglo-Saxon rules supreme; while southward there stretches away the vast domain of Latin America. The English speaking races hold 6,878,024 1 square miles of territory, much of it in the frozen regions of the far north ; the Spanish Republics contain 4,364,754 square miles, and Portuguese Brazil 3,219,000 square miles, making a larger total than that of the Anglo- Saxon possessions. While as yet our population is much greater, the disproportion is not likely to be always so pronounced. Many motives move us, therefore, to take an interest in the religious as well as the political development of this ex- 1 Bishop Walden, Harpers M. M. 1890-91, p. 863. The Pagans 17 tensive region whose future will be so closely united with our own. Our present purpose is to point out the various factors which have played their part in the re- ligious development of Latin America. If we are to begin at the beginning we must first take up the study of the beliefs and practices of the pagan actors in this drama, who were already on the stage when the curtain first rose before the ex- pectant eyes of Europe. There is more than one good reason why we should begin with this early period. The very antiquity of the pagan religions of the New World arouses an interest similar to that awakened by Egypt or ancient Babylon, by China or India ; and we may add that such a study, leading us amid the ruins of a once glorious past, intensifies our interest in the present descendants of the old pagan races who still people the land. Men with Indian blood in their veins still form the bulk of the population ; for in contrast to the annihilation of the native races so extensive in the territory which fell to the United States, the Indians of Latin America were united in the closest relation- ships of life with the Iberian colonists. Many In- dians are also to be found but little if any re- moved from the pagan state of their ancestors of four centuries ago. And lastly, this study will suggest certain close and curious parallels be- tween the most highly developed of the heathen cults and the ceremonies of Roman Catholicism which superseded them ; for the old heathenism 1 8 Needs of Latin America has left its mark upon the papal church of Latin America. For all these reasons it is worth while to look first at the pagan races of the New World. As already said, the history of our native races reaches back into a dim and unknown past. Let us make a rapid survey of the primitive in-* habitants of America as they were four hundred years ago. In the far, frozen north we see the Esquimau clad in furs, giving chase to the seal or polar bear, or, when wearied, crawling into his snow-covered hut. There we shall leave him, for he has nothing to do with the religious prob- lems of Latin America. As our glance travels southward it rests in turn upon innumerable tribes of savage men, with different languages and tra- ditions, yet much alike in color, features, mode of life and range of thought. They dwell in low huts or wigwams, now idle, now active in war or the chase. They support life by hunting, fishing or rude tillage of the soil. In some sections of what is now the United States we are puzzled by the sight of many mound-like structures, of regu- lar or fantastic shapes, and often of great extent ; but the Indian can only tell us vaguely of battles with an earlier race who were defeated and dis- appeared. In South America, along the Amazon and the Plata, the native tribes are of a type inferior to the red men of Cooper and Longfel- low. They are not very susceptible of culture, learn only under compulsion, and then only the simplest elements of knowledge. In the far south 19 The Pagans roam the Patagonians, so named for their big feet, and long reputed to be the tallest of men. In the mountain fastnesses of Chile the warlike Araucanians refuse to be conquered by any force sent against them, and win immortality thereby in a famous Spanish Epic ; while in the cold, inclem- ent region of Cape Horn, in the “ land of fire,” wander the scattered families of the repulsive Fuegians. The wants of these Indian peoples were few and simple. The range of their intellectual vis- ion extended but a short distance beyond that of the senses. They had few or no words to express abstract ideas, though quick to perceive what ap- pealed to the senses, and gifted with a picturesque, oratorical style of expression. They handed down by tradition countless childish stories as to their origin and history. Their code of morals recog- nized many fundamental principles of right and wrong ; and even the wild, degraded tribes of the pampas punished as crimes murder, adultery, theft and witchcraft. The individual was ex- pected always to sacrifice personal interest to the general welfare of his tribe, to be faithful to friends, and to bear privation and pain with stoical fortitude. The women were drudges. The men were cruel in war and under the excitement of strong drink. Cannibalism was practised by many tribes, at least as a religious rite. All be- lieved in a Great Spirit or Master of life, who was beneficent in his activity ; and in one or more 20 Needs of Latin America mischievous, malevolent deities who needed to be propitiated with prayers and gifts. “No people could be more religious than those of this continent, for there was no act of any kind in life, in which they were altogether free from religious direction. The source of this religion is in the myths, and in the explanation concerning them given by wise men — in other words, by sorcerers. . . . Primitive man in America, stood, at every step, face to face with divinity, as he knew or understood it. He could never escape from the presence of those powers which had con- stituted the first world, and which composed all there was in the present one.” 1 A beautiful, though highly idealized picture of the Indian is to be found in “ Hiawatha.” The hero is of superhuman origin, is a benefactor of his tribe, introducing arts and agriculture. He gains his power by fasting, or as the gift of ani- mals and gods. On the arrival of the white man his mission is ended, and he sails away into the sunset, to the land of the Hereafter. What I have seen in the homes of the aborig- ines of Mexico, enables me the better to appre- ciate this simple picture of the joys and sorrows of Indian life. The atmosphere which envelopes the actors is the poet’s own delicate creation ; yet the picture includes every element in the wild, native life. It shows most beautifully, ’ Creation Myths of Primitive America, J. Curtin, Intro, pp. xx, xxxvi. The Pagans ai “ That in even savage bosoms There are longings, yearnings, strivings, For the good they comprehend not, That the feeble hands and helpless, Groping blindly in the darkness, Touch God’s right hand in that darkness, And are lifted up and strengthened.” There is, of course, a darker side to the picture, which it did not suit the poet’s purpose to more than hint at, but which the missionary, even at this late day, must face in all its naked reality. While true, as Paul wrote, that “ the invisible things of God, since the creation of the world, are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made ” ; it is also true that, here as else- where, the heathen, in spite of their belief in the Great Spirit, the Master of Life, “ exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator.” There were, however, at the time of the con- quest, tribes which had reached a higher degree of culture. Covering the high table-lands of Mexico, reaching out into Yucatan and Central America, flowing across the Isthmus, and flood- ing the narrow, yet lofty valleys of the Andes, we find the so-called civilized pagan races of Amer- ica. They attributed their civilization to mythical culture heroes, fabled to have entered the land from East and West, and these heroes were deified by their grateful descendants as founders 22 Needs of Latin America of the nations and introducers of the arts and sciences. Centuries before the advent of European con- querors, they had subjugated many of the less cultured tribes. Men were used in masses as slaves and beasts of burden. What numbers, rude implements, hard toil and a rudimentary art could do, they accomplished. Huge blocks of stone were moved by the united strength of great bodies of men. Countless slaves reared great pyramids, crowned by massive structures of earth and stone ; some of which still remain in spite of the destructive violence of man and of tropical nature. Whole cities were already in ruin, and half hidden by the forest when the white man first landed on these shores; and none could tell the story of their downfall. Other cities yet stood in all their glory, such as Mexico-Tenochtit- lan ; while south of the Isthmus could be traced, for more than two thousand miles along the high valleys of the Andes, the mighty roadway over which the Inca hurried his troops to the remotest corner of his long extended empire. We shall not discuss the many theories as to the origin of primitive American civilization. We know not what impressions, if any, Norse and Welsh discoverers left on the religious belief of the Indians. Atlantis may once have risen above the waves of the ocean ; and Egypt may have played a part in the Maya cultus. Probably Chinese, Japanese, and Malays did cross the The Pagans 23 Pacific on adventurous voyages or borne, against their will, by the fateful currents of the ocean to the shores of America. This fascinating specula- tion takes us to Egypt and to Greece, to India, China and Japan, to the islands of the Pacific, even to Druidical Europe, to far off Iceland, to Norway and to Wales. We are asked to follow the ten tribes in their wanderings until America is reached ; to listen to St. Thomas as he preaches the gospel in the New World ; to see with the eyes of acute, yet credulous, priests, in nearly every pagan rite, the blended traces of Judaism and Christianity. Cholula, a pigmy at the base of giant Popocatepetl, is gravely pointed out by some writers as the tower of Babel. Eden is located in Yucatan, where flourished, we are told, the rival cities of Cain and Abel. After every absurd speculation has been set aside enough remains to show that the isolation of America was by no means absolute. Neverthe- less so slight and infrequent was the intercourse between the Old and the New Worlds, that we can rightly claim for our primitive races a unique place in the religious history of mankind. Here, over a vast continent, nine thousand miles in length, by more than three thousand in width at its two broadest points, men wrestled, unaided by our divine revelation, with the great problems of human destiny; and we are curious to know the nature and value of their religious beliefs, and ceremonies. 24 Needs of Latin America A similar curiosity was felt by some of the eye- witnesses of native rites and forms of worship. It is customary to lament the wanton destruction, by the iconoclastic founders of Roman Catholi- cism, of many old documents, idols and archi- tectural monuments. The best of the heathen civilization found on this continent was wiped out by a furious cyclone of religious zeal. The ancient god of tempests, Hurukan, could not have done the work more thoroughly had he fallen in anger upon his children. Priests and friars saw everywhere the handiwork and footprints of the devil, and were not slow to mar his hated visage as depicted in the hideous idols of the heathen. A few foreigners such as Bernal Diaz and Cortes, the scholarly, laborious Sahagun and Sarmiento, and natives like Ixtlilxochitl, the Tex- cocan, and the Inca Garcilasso, wrote down the old histories and traditions. Some ancient picture rolls, sculptured signs, idols and ruined cities still remain to repay the study of the archaeologist. Commentators on these original sources of infor- mation are constantly multiplying. A thorough study of the vast mass of material thus accumu- lated might easily occupy a lifetime. In spite of many contradictions in the various testimonies, and the warping influence of the medium — con- verted Indians and Roman Catholic ecclesiastics, — the more scientific student of to-day can gain a fairly clear idea of the religious beliefs of the The Pagans 25 natives. This is especially true of the Aztecs and the Incas. Whatever hope there was for pagan America in its primitive religions can justly be looked for in Tenochtitlan, capital of the Aztecs, and in Cuzco, capital of the Incas of Peru. Both re- ligions were in vigorous life at the time of their overthrow by Pizarro and Cortes ; and in both we detect resemblances to Romanism which must surely have made easier the transition from the old to the new faith ; and it is on these marked resemblances that I would have you fix your at- tention in what I shall further have to say about these primitive religions. Romanism, like paganism, has everywhere its sacred shrines to which the devout make frequent pilgrimages, especially at the time of the great annual feasts. Papal America is full of just such shrines to-day; Guadalupe, Copocobana, Ameca- meca, and many others. In the same way, the Holy City, the Mecca of pagan South America, was Cuzco, capital of the great Inca empire which stretched through thirty-seven degrees of lati- tude. The government was theocratic, paternal, socialistic. It enjoyed a kind and degree of suc- cess which ought to claim the attention of modern reformers of the same school. Then, as to-day, the Indians dwelt in huts of sundried bricks or reeds, the king and his gods in palaces of stone. The Inca emperors and nobles, were of heavenly 26 Needs of Latin America origin, the literal children of the sun. With true missionary zeal, wherever their successful arms won entrance, they introduced the worship of their supreme deity with a more nicely adjusted use of force and persuasion than was shown by the followers of Mahomet, or the Spanish con- querors of the New World. They were not, how- ever, strictly speaking, monotheists ; for the national gods of conquered tribes were given a place in their pantheon. In addition to the Sun there was also a supreme, invisible, mysterious god, worshipped in a shrine apart. It is not, however, my purpose to describe in detail the religious beliefs of the Incas, but simply to point out the features which resemble Romanism. These can best be studied at some great festal gathering. Then, as to-day in all that region, the mildness and monotony of pater- nal absolutism was broken by frequent religious festivals. The worship of the sun was the most characteristic feature of their religious system. Gold, — “ the tears wept by the sun,” — was sacred to the Lord of day ; silver, by reason of its whiter lustre, was consecrated to the moon, which rules the night with paler radiance. The entire amount of the precious metals drawn from the mines was the property of the Incas, to be divided in a fixed proportion between themselves and their gods. This law gave the sacred caste an enormous amount of gold and silver with which to decorate their palaces and temples. 27 The Pagans Shrines of varying size and splendor existed in all parts of the empire. The oldest and most sacred was located on an island in Lake Titicaca; but the most magnificent was in Cuzco, at the heart of the empire. The descriptions of its splen- dors read like fairy tales. They are not, how- ever, incredible in view of the richness of the mines and the limited use of the precious metals for any other purpose. No temple could well have been more gorgeous than was Coricancha, “ the place of gold.” Around the outside, a cornice of gold crowned the solid stone structure ; within, the walls and ceiling were encrusted with plates of the yellow metal. On the western wall was an immense disc, representing a human face, set in rays of light and thickly studded with precious stones. The first rays of the rising sun falling upon this bright visage, were dispersed in all directions, caught and reflected by walls and ceiling, until the shrine glowed with a dazzling and unearthly splendor. The utensils used in the service of the god, the very flowers and animals seen in the temple gardens, were all of gold and silver. The Incas used their Midas touch to dazzle and be- wilder savage imaginations. So also the Roman Catholic clergy. Many gorgeous descriptions are still extant of the leading churches of Latin America as they were in the days prior to the struggle for religious liberty in which they were stripped of their wealth ; and should be care- 28 Needs of Latin America fully read by all who would grasp the full signifi- cance of the resemblances between the pagan and papal temples. A well organized army of priests was scattered over the empire. The sovereign, as became a theocracy, was head of the priesthood; and, on certain occasions exercised priestly functions. The priests owed their power to the popular be- lief in their divine origin as children of the sun. Every month was honored with one or more feasts. Many such holidays are still observed, although the names are now changed. The four greatest of the ancient feasts were in honor of the sun. The grandest was Raymi, held in June, the time of their winter solstice. Crowds filled the capital from all parts of the empire. For three days no fire was allowed in any dwelling. All fasted while the old sun was dying. At dawn of the last day of the feast nobles and people in gala costume, crowded the great public square and greeted the new sun with wild music, shouts and songs of victory. The day ended with much eat- ing and drinking, with dancing and wild revels. The liquor drunk and maize cakes eaten at this festival seemed to the devout Spaniard a dia- bolical imitation of the eucharist; and no one who has been present at a modern Indian festival in honor of some patron saint, can fail to see a remarkable resemblance of another kind. Turning now to Mexico, we are face to face 29 The Pagans with a civilization differing in many respects from that of the Peruvians. The warlike spirit is very strong. Tribal wars and rivalries are striking features. No one tribe succeeded in subjugating the whole country. Michoacan was independent of Mexico; and Yucatan and Central America were distinct from both. There were rivalries and revolutions not unlike the restless changes so well known in the history of the subsequent Latin- American republics. Even the so-called Aztec empire was ruled by three independent, allied chiefs, those of Tlacopan, Texcoco and Tenoch- titlan. At best the Aztec ruler was only first among his equals. Four causeways, along which tramcars run to-day, connected the ancient city of Tenochtitlan with the mainland. We shall enter from the south, and hurry through the outlying wards of the city, past the huts of the poor, the residences of wealthy merchants and the palaces of the chief and his nobles, to the southern entrance to the great temple enclosure, which formed the heart of the city. The present plaza de armas occupies almost exactly the same site, and is still the politi- cal and ecclesiastical centre of Mexican life. Four gateways pierced the high, enclosing wall. As we enter the southern gate our startled eyes first rest upon a hideous Tzompantli, or “ flag of skulls,” made of upright poles with cross bars on which the grinning skulls of men sacrificed to the idols were affixed. From this ghastly, giant 30 Needs of Latin America abacus little Aztec boys could learn to count and to harden their hearts in cruelty. We cross the open square in which eight thousand of the faith- ful together could dance the sacred dances, and where distinguished captives fought for life on the gladiatorial stone. We are now face to face with the great teocalli. The smooth, stuccoed surface of the pyramid rises to a height of ninety Mexican feet. Both in front and rear the top is reached by flights of one hundred and twenty steps of hewn stone. On the north side of the ample summit are two one story shrines ; that on the East, which is a little the taller, is sacred to Huitzilopochtli the Aztec war-god; that on the West is the sanctuary of Tlaloc, the god of rain. The south- ern sides of the temples are enclosed by rich embroidered curtains, behind which the images of the gods are seated above a kind of altar. Much of the gaudy, barbaric decoration of the images and shrines had a symbolical significance. In front of the temple were braziers which held the sacred fire; receptacles into which were thrown the palpitating hearts of the victims sacrificed ; and, near by, stood the flat or upright sacrificial stones. In other parts of the sacred square, each on its own pyramid, were temples erected to the mysteri- ous Tezcatlipoca, the moon-god, or god of death and the underworld; to Cihuacoatl, the mother of the gods, or earth goddess, known also by many other names. Her temple was a veritable 3 1 The Pagans pantheon, in which were ranged the images of all the gods worshipped by the Aztecs. In the sanc- tuary sacred to Totec the skins of flayed human victims were kept. There was also a temple in which the “ eagle ” and “ tiger ” warriors per- formed their sacred rites in honor of the sun ; and the round sanctuary of Quetzalcoatl, so widely known to-day as “ the fair god.” Around the northern side of the enclosure were built the residences of the priests, together with the schools and convents where the youth of both sexes were educated by the religious orders. The great courtyard was practically an armed citadel. The priests and their servitors made an army of several thousand fighting men. Every city and town of any size had a similar central square ; and lesser sanctuaries were everywhere to be found, as numerous and conspicuous as the Roman Catholic churches and chapels of our day. One of the images of Huitzilopochtli, is thus described. “ The god is seated on a blue bench, from each corner of which there issues a great snake. A crest, shaped like the beak of a bird, adorns his head ; around his neck is a collar made of ten figures of the human heart. In his right hand he grasps a large blue twisted club ; while on his left arm hangs a shield set with five balls of feathers in the form of a cross. From the shield rises a golden flag with four arrows, sup- posed to have fallen from heaven. The body of the idol is adorned with animal figures made of 3 2 Needs of Latin America gold and precious stones, and begirt by a large, golden snake .” 1 Before many similar symbolical figures of saints and madonnas the devout In- dian to-day prostrates himself in benighted papal America, some of them almost equally hideous. Both religions delight the faithful with curious stories of their images. Listen at the shrine of Huitzilopochtli while the priest tells you how a devout woman, Coatlicue (serpent skirt) was one day in the temple of Coatepec (serpent hill) when she saw a ball of beautiful feathers floating to- ward her out of heaven. She stuck the ball in her girdle, it disappeared and she found herself with child. Her sons and only daughter, to avoid the shame of their mother’s supposed dis- honor, determined to kill her. Then a voice from her womb cried out : “ Fear not, oh my mother, for this danger will I turn to our great honor and glory.” At the word, like Athene, full armed from the head of Zeus, Huitzilopochtli leapt forth and stood with glittering spear and shield before the would-be murderers of his mother. On his head and left leg were green feathers ; while, his face and arms and thighs were painted with blue stripes. With a war-shout he rushed upon and slew his miserable brethren, and earned his name, “ The Terrible.” Much of the symbolism in this description iden- tifies Huitzilopochtli with the life-giving forces H. H. Bancroft, Native Races. 33 The Pagans of nature. Three annual feasts were celebrated in his honor, and special festivals were held in every fourth, thirteenth and fifty-second year. In May, an image of the god was made of edible plants and honey, before which young men and maidens prayed for rain and fertile fields. Virgins adorned with dried leaves, and carrying split reeds, sym- bols of drouth, danced before this image. The priests who took part, carried staves ornamented with plumes and feather-flowers, and smeared their faces with honey, to symbolize quickened nature. In December, the god, identified with natural forces then dormant, was thought of as dying. This calls to mind the commemoration of the birth of Mithras, the unconquerable sun. A life- size image of the god was made of various seeds and grains mixed with the blood of sacrificed children. It was placed in the temple and conse- crated. The faithful stuck costly offerings into the soft substance. Then followed a procession in which a huge snake was borne and human sac- rifices were offered. The next day the image was pierced with a dart by a priest of Ouetzal- coatl. The heart was torn out and given to the king ; and the men of the city ate the body. This was the famous “ eating of the god ” so sugges- tive to the Romish priests of the holy communion. Images of the rain god Tlaloc were also eaten at his festival held at the same season of the year. 34 Needs of Latin America Seeds and grains are food, and the source of life for new harvests. The faithful, by eating them in this manner, signified their desire to par- ticipate in the life of the god and to see nature awake from its winter sleep. The snake was a symbol of healing and productive power. There was also a mythical tribal culture hero called Huitziton with whom the god was identi- fied. In time his attributes as nature deity were swallowed up in his character as tribal war god, the fiercest and most sanguinary of all the Ameri- can gods, the terrible shedder of blood in war and sacrifice. Even greater interest attaches for us to the legends which tell of Quetzalcoatl ; now so widely known through Lew Wallace’s book, “ The Fair God.” The name is compounded of two words, quetzal, a beautiful bird, and coatl, snake. It is variously translated Bird-Snake, Feathered Ser- pent, or Beautiful Serpent. Kukulkan and Gucu- matz are similar names for a similar deity among the Mayas of Yucatan and the Quiches of Central America. Quetzalcoatl also had a miraculous birth. His mother, Chimalma, one day found a green stone or chalchihuite by which, to her surprise, she be- came pregnant, and in time gave birth to the god. The legends describe him as a strong man, of broad forehead and expressive eyes, long black hair and a fair complexion. His image is a man 35 The Pagans with a bird’s head. He first ruled in Tollan, whence he was driven to Cholula. His worship also extended into Yucatan. He led an ascetic life, taught the arts and agriculture, and worked the mines. Wherever he went he introduced a reign of peace, prosperity and plenty. He had great wealth and splendid palaces, and was al- ways attended by song birds. The god Tezcatlipoca, was his bitter enemy. This deity assumed, from time to time, strange disguises ; mingled among the people and alienated them from their benefactor. To Quetzalcoatl himself he gave a drink which unhinged his mind and filled him with insane unrest. Under its in- fluence he destroyed his palaces and began his pilgrimage. Attended by the song birds he wandered East and South. He wrought many marvels. The stones he hurled at a tree remained embedded in the wood ; the rock on which he sat bore ever afterwards the impress of his hands and body ; the mountain smitten by him was cleft in twain. At last he reached the seashore, and sailed away to Tlapallan on a raft of entwined snakes, promising to return and renew his benign sway. The enmity of Tezcatlipoca is said to signify the opposition of that more sanguinary cult. As the priests of the god were also called Ouetzal- coatl, and some of them were probably reformers, a real historical element is also supposed to lie 36 Needs of Latin America at the base of some of the stories. There is also an identification with Huemac, the mythical cul- ture hero of the Toltecs; but, back of all this, we have the deification of natural forces. Quetzalcoatl, for one thing, is the evening star, born at twilight, of the warm embrace of earth and sun. According to this interpretation the conflict with Tezcatlipoca is a reference, in highly poetical imagery, to the struggles between the evening star and the moon, in which the stronger light of the latter conquers . 1 Muller, on the other hand, interprets this constantly renewed struggle, as a reference to the conflict of the seasons, of cold and heat. Tezcatlipoca, the god of the gloomy underworld, of darkness, drouth and death, in the disguise of winter, drives the warm zephyrs and all the benign influences of the at- mosphere southward. The song birds accompany the banished Quetzalcoatl, who, however, will re- turn in due season. When it is said that he sweeps the road before Tlaloc, the rain god, it is meant that the spring winds bring rain and thus awaken nature to new life. The crosses on Quetzalcoatl’s white robe were symbols of the four movements of the evening star, or of rain. How much the ordinary worshipper knew and understood of all this symbolism, I have failed to discover. It is a curious fact that, in the six- 1 Alfredo Chavero in vol. i of “ Mexico atraves de los Siglos.” 37 \ The Pagans teenth century, the legend of the god’s return had taken an historical form, and this fact explains, in part, the favor with which the white invaders were received. It was as nearly a prophecy as any such coincidence could well be ; and herein resides for us the mystery and charm of the fair god Quetzalcoatl. Without entering further into details, we can generalize by saying that, of the countless gods of pagan America, some had close affinity with ani- mals and plants, were regarded as the progenitors of the tribe, or gifted with superhuman powers. Some were identified with the forces which pro- duce the changing seasons of the year, heat and cold, moisture and productivity. Special groups of deities cluster about the four heavenly bodies : sun, moon, evening star and earth ; and about the four elements — earth, air, fire and water. Fire was identified with creative power. The New, like the Old World had its sun worshippers, while earth was the all-mother. Back of all was a deity, often identified with the sun, or Tezcatli- poca, or some other local god, spoken of as “ He through whom we live,” “ The Lord of our flesh,” “ He who is all things through himself.” Perhaps this means that some thoughtful priests were pantheists ; although the people at large were gross idolaters. The presence of the cross in the symbolism of the aborigines of America has occasioned much discussion. Its significance is, however, radically 3 » Needs of Latin America different from that of the Christian cross. The famous cross of Cozumel, which, by the way, is a crucifix, placed side by side with genuine New World crosses, is at once seen to belong to a radi- cally different cla^s. Its origin is explained in a Catholic report against idol worshippers, written by Dr. Pedro Sanchez de Aguilar, of Merida, and published in Madrid in 1639. The report states that Cortes, on his way to Mexico, found Jerome of Aguilar on the island of Cozumel, and that he planted a cross there and commanded the natives to worship it. In 1604 Gov. Diego Fernandez de Velasco removed this cross. A pagan priest, Chilan Cambal, inspired by the sight of it, composed after the event a “ prophetic ” poem, in the native language, making reference to the advent of the conqueror. Some ten years later the adelantado Monti jo, who conquered the peninsula, found the cross and the poem, and took it for granted that the former was an Indian relic and that the poem was a prophecy. This explanation throws light on many other stories which contain elements interwoven after the arrival of the Spaniards. The New World cross had its own well de- fined meaning. In fact it had various uses, which in time came to be blended. The line which con- nects the equinoxes will intersect that which joins the solsticial points and thus form a cross or Nahai Ollin, “ four movements.” Similar crosses represent the movements of the moon and even- Aztec Idol, Teocalli, Mexico City „ The Palemkk Cross Found in 1790 39 The Pagans ing star. The cross was a symbol of all these heavenly bodies and of the changing seasons so intimately connected with the movements of the sun. It also stood for the sun considered as the cause of life; and was used to represent long chronological periods. Phallic worship was also practised by the Mayas and Quiches. This was represented by a cruci- form tree of life which signified generative power. This figure is pictured in both the Vatican and Vienna codices. The two ideas were combined in the famous cross of Palemke. There are two human figures, one on the right, the other on the left, of the cross ; one is offering a child, probably for sacrifice. The arms of the cross are formed of four chronographic signs. The whole is said to represent a period of 8,000 years, and was “ sacred to the sun as the great creative power, to the year as the producer of the rains, and to the maximum period of time. 1 The most striking features in the religious life of the people can best be brought out by a study of the pagan priesthood. This will suggest a new set of comparisons between the ancient practices and those of Romanism. The wild tribes, as already stated, had their sorcerers and medicine men. The Inca religion had its priestly caste. In Mexico and Central 1 W. W. Blake. The Cross, Ancient and Modern, p. 39. Also Chavero, vol. i, Mex. At. de los Siglos. 40 Needs of Latin America America the priests formed a numerous and pow- erful class. Often warriors as well as priests, they ruled by force of might as well as by divine right; and in this there is a remote suggestion of the soldier bishops of medieval Europe. The priest, dressed in short black mantle or long black robe ; with uncut, unkempt hair, was as con- spicuous a figure as the Roman Catholic monk or priest of a generation ago in Mexico, or to-day in Ecuador. The learning and religious lore of the nation was the almost exclusive possession of the priests, as were the arts of divining and popular education. The priests had two means of sup- port ; their share of the tribute paid by conquered tribes, and the gifts of the faithful. The common people worked without remuneration when neces- sary, on the temple buildings. The heathen priest of the ancient civilized races played an important part in every event in the lives of the people, from the cradle to the grave. Mr. Chavero lays great and repeated stress on this fact. It is a logical conclusion from every description of their office which I have read. Just as the power of the keys, baptismal regenera- tion, the confessional, penance and purgatory, the mass, extreme unction, and indulgences, give the Romish clergy a sure hold on the will of the faithful ; so also, though in a less degree, the peculiar rites of paganism put the people in the power of their priests. The birth of a child of noble or wealthy 4 * The Pagans parents was an occasion for feasting, speech- making, purifying washings, prayers and sundry symbolical rites in which the midwife was a chief actor. Sahagun tells us that the midwife thus addressed the newborn child : “ Thou wast created in that house which is the abode of the supreme gods that are above the nine heavens. Thou art a gift from our son Quetzalcoatl, the omnipresent, be joined to thy mother Chalchi- huitlicue (the goddess of water.) ” Touching the child’s lips with moistened fingers, she added : “ Take this, for upon it thou hast to live, to wax strong and flourish ; by it we obtain all necessary things, take it.” Touching the breast she con- tinued : “ Take this holy and pure water that thy heart may be cleansed.” Pouring water on the infant’s head she exclaimed : “ Receive, oh my son, the water of the lord of the world, which is our life ; with which we wash and are clean. May this celestial, light-blue water enter into thy body and there remain. May it destroy and remove from thee all evil and adverse things that were given thee before the beginning of the world. Behold, all of us are in the hands of Chalchi’huit- licue, our mother.” 1 In the same strain she con- tinued until the elaborate washing was ended. The priestly augurs were also called in to cast the horoscope of the child in accordance with signs dependent on the day and hour of his birth. 1 H. H. Bancroft’s translation. 42 Needs of Latin America If the signs were unlucky, they alone knew how to avert the threatened disaster. As human na- ture is the same everywhere, and fear makes men liberal, those on whom the fate of the child was supposed to depend were of course liberally re- warded. Boys and girls of the middle and upper classes were educated by the priests in convent schools. The laboring class, then, as until quite recent days, were left in ignorance, as not worth in- structing. The school was a house of penance and of prayer. The students rose at midnight to pray and prick their flesh with sharp thorns. Fasts were frequent. All this was endured partly to win divine favor, and partly to acquire that stoicism under suffering on which the American Indian justly prides himself. Instruction was given in sacred rites, music and dancing, in de- portment, hieroglyphic writing, and the arts of war. The native race is still very ceremonious and is even more given to speech-making than the Yankee. Future preferment for the boys, or an advantageous marriage for the girls, would often depend on the favor of their priestly instructors. Rich presents were given when the pupil entered and when he left the school; and policy often made men devout when no higher motive would move them. On leaving school the young men and women were married. The whole ceremony was tedious. There were endless banquets, gifts and speeches. The Pagans 43 Marriage was held in high honor, but, side by side with it, concubinage and worse forms of vice were more than tolerated. The priestly augur could as a rule prevent any marriage not to the advantage of his order, by an unfavorable inter- pretation of the combined birth signs of the man and woman. The diviners were also expected to indicate an auspicious day for the marriage. The knot was very literally tied by tying the man’s mantle to the woman’s dress. Four days were next passed in prayer and penance before the mar- riage was actually consummated. Then, at last, the priest conducted the weary pair to the nuptial chamber, and on the following day they made a present of all its rich furnishings to the temple. It still costs money to be suitably married by the church in Latin America; and with apparently the same result now as then, that the ceremony is frequently dispensed with as too troublesome and expensive. At every step in the business of life, the mer- chant and the warrior, the two mainstays of the state, were called upon to celebrate religious feasts, often of a very expensive character, and to propitiate the gods by their gifts. After death the soul could be helped along its terrible journey by certain religious acts on the part of the living; just as devout Romanists still try to shorten the stay of deceased relatives in purgatory. The religious feasts probably gave the priests their greatest hold on this pleasure-loving people. 44 Needs of Latin America The year was divided into eighteen months of twenty days each, followed by five useless or un- lucky days. The month contained four weeks of five days, and every fifth day was a market day. Ozumba, only forty-five miles from Mexico City, is one of the points in which this ancient custom is still observed. Every month had one or more religious holidays. There was also a sacred year of 260 days, divided into twenty months of thirteen days each ; and this arrangement added other movable feasts to the religious calendar. The religious holidays of the Roman Catholic Church have but served to perpetuate the primitive tend- ency to undue idleness and dissipation, under a cloak of religious observance. It must have been hard for a truly devout man to find time for steady work under either system. In all the festivals the same elements recur, namely, the preliminary fast, the festal ban- quet, self-torture, the sacrifice of animal and hu- man victims, the eating of human flesh as a re- ligious rite, sacred dances and processions, the use of flowers, feathers and other gay or sombre trappings, and set prayers and speeches, learned by rote. Among the human victims there was one who was selected days, months, or even a year before the feast. He was trained and dressed to repre- sent the god in whose honor the celebration was held, treated with divine honors, and given every- thing that could minister to his enjoyment. These 45 The Pagans victims were slaves or captives taken in war. Men, women and even little children were sacri- ficed. Some were flayed and the priests dressed in the cast-off skin. Some were thrown into blazing fires. As a rule the heart was extracted and offered to the god. The body was then taken away and eaten. A maiden was sacrificed to the cruel mother goddess ; and children were killed at the springs of water. While human sacrifices were more or less common in all America, they reached a frightful number, if report is to be credited, during the last days of Aztec domina- tion. The devout worshipper relied upon self-torture to ward off the ills of life; and upon a kind of confession which also freed him from criminal prosecution, and which suggests the medieval rite of asylum. It was a faith in penance, good works and priestly absolution, very similar to the spirit- ual attitude of the average Roman Catholic in all that region to-day. The laws recognized the ordinary crimes against the individual and the state. Many dis- tinctions between right and wrong were clearly perceived. A sense of sin was quite pronounced if we may trust the translation of the ancient prayers which have been handed down to our day. The advice given to rulers on their induc- tion into office was good. The exhortations of a father to his sons, which have been preserved, while lacking in that spiritual element which 46 Needs of Latin America characterizes true Christianity, are full of whole- some counsel. The father begins by lamenting the worthlessness of his sons, expresses his fears that they will not maintain the honor of the family, nor follow his own worthy example. He urges them to learn some trade or profession, to be diligent in business and faithful in the religi- ous observances, such as prayer, fasting, sacred music, songs and dances, and by all the means in their power to win the favor of the gods. He ends as follows : “ A few more words only will I add that have been handed down to us from our forefathers. Firstly, I counsel you to propitiate the gods who are invisible and impalpable, giving them your whole soul and body. Look to it that you are not puffed up with pride, that you are neither obstinate, nor of a weak, vacillating mind, but take heed to be meek and humble and to put your trust in the gods, lest they visit your trans- gressions upon you ; for from them nothing can be hidden, they punish how and when they please. “ Secondly, my sons, endeavor to live at peace with your fellow-men. Treat all with deference and respect ; if any speak ill of you, answer them not again ; be kind and affable to all, yet converse not too freely with any ; slander no man ; be pa- tient, returning good for evil ; and the gods will amply avenge your wrongs. “ Lastly, my children, be not wasteful of your goods, nor of your time, for both are precious; at all seasons pray to the gods and take counsel 47 The Pagans with them ; be diligent about those things that are useful. I have spoken enough, my duty is done. Peradventure you will forget or take no heed to my words. As you will. I have done my duty, let him profit by my discourse who chooses.” 1 The whole system is full of unexpected con- tradictions. We find a legal code with many ex- cellent laws, many expressions of a sense of sin in the recorded prayers, much politeness in social intercourse, and a child-like love of diversion, elegant speeches, costly banquets, great skill in hieroglyphic writing and chronological calcula- tions ; but all marred by a gross and cruel idola- try. See the so-called Aztec emperor and his guests at the dedication of the great Mexican teocalli, cutting out human hearts until too tired to cut any longer. See the springs of water annually dyed red with the blood of tender babes. Look in on priest and people at their cannibalistic or- gies, the succulent upper joint sent to the chief. Viewed thus, paganism stands forth repulsive in its naked reality. From this point of view it pre- sents only contrasts with Romanism, by whose missionaries these cruelties were denounced in no measured terms. The people probably did not look at it from this standpoint. Their sensibilities were blunted. 1 Sahagun, quoted in Nat. Races, vol. iii, pp. 249, 250. 4 8 Needs of Latin America They enjoyed, as do their descendants to-day, the flowers and feasting. The gaudy temples, painted idols, solemn processions, sacred chants, the doleful beat of the temple drums — as noisy perhaps as the constant clanging of bells in Catholic America, — the stately, sensuous dances for which priest and people carefully trained, the choruses of white-robed virgins moving mysteri- ously about the temple precincts, the awe-inspir- ing penitential life of the priests who took care to exhibit on the temple walls the bloody instru- ments of their self-torture, their dress, now se- vere, now showy ; all made it impossible to long forget the priesthood while it served to strengthen their hold upon the people. If this study has aroused your interest in the present descendants of the ancient races, then are we ready to draw our practical lessons in refer- ence to the problem which to-day confronts the missionary in Latin America. Bear in mind the distinction made between the less advanced tribes and the civilized races in the descriptions given of their religious systems. The study of the more highly developed systems, such as that of the Incas in Peru, and the Aztecs of Mexico, makes plain one reason at least for the easy transition from pagan to papal control. We have no desire to give undue weight to the resemblances between the heathen system and its Roman Catholic successor; yet we cannot fail to The Pagans 49 see that resemblances did exist, and the Roman Catholic missionaries were the first to discover them, so that the devout Romanist can hardly blame us for following in their footsteps. 1 do not, however, lay stress upon the kind of resem- blances which most attracted the attention of the early priests and monks, at which they wondered, and which they generally attributed to the mali- cious astuteness of the devil. Ouetzalcoatl was not St. Thomas, nor is there any proof that this apos- tle preached in America. The hieroglyphics which were supposed to refer to Noah and his flood are simply a part of the picture history of Aztec wanderings. The pyramid of Cholula was not the tower of Babel. The supposed references to the sun of Joshua and the darkness at the time of the crucifixion are based on wild chronological guesses. The resemblances to Christian baptism and Jewish circumcision, to the Lord’s Supper, to Romish confirmation, penance and confession in certain heathen rites, while curious and in- structive, were only partial, and at the most, only show that the human conscience, when groping in the darkness, tries to express its sense of sin and weakness, its longing for pardon, purification and divine support, in some outward rite. Such parallels can be found in other heathen religions, and they do but show the naturalness of a sym- bolism which has been so universally employed. The resemblances on which special emphasis should be laid are not in creed, but in method. 50 Needs of Latin America They have nothing to do with what is of the es- sence of Christianity, but with those additions made by Romanism which have served to increase the wealth and power of the church, and give well nigh absolute control to the priesthood over the heart and conscience of the people. Both systems reveal keen political insight and a deep under- standing of human nature. In the transition from the old to the new eccles- iastical control there were, of course, many real conversions. For the majority of the Indians, however, it was simply a transfer of allegiance from one set of priests to another. Once force of arms had proved the Catholic saints and soldiers to be the stronger, the Indian, except when he wor- shipped his old idols in secret, simply abandoned them for the God and saints of Romanism ; the bloody sacrifice of the old worship for the blood- less sacrifice of the mass. He still bowed before images, only now of Christ, the Virgin Mother and the saints. He still had penance and confes- sion, processions, fasts and feasts, convent schools and religious holidays. In what I shall have to say of Roman Catholic missions, these points, together with the bodily transfer of heathen ele- ments into Romish feasts, will be taken up again. Ponder, however, this fact, that it was where paganism had reached its highest ceremonial de- velopment that Romanism won its largest ac- quisitions. Has this fact no significance? The second reason for attaching value to this The Pagans 5i study, is the fact that, in Latin America, pagan Indians are still to be numbered by hundreds of thousands, even by millions. The best elements of the pagan civilization were destroyed or adapted to Romish uses ; the cruder forms still survive in unexplored and inaccessible regions, or even side by side with Romanism, in places which, after four centuries, are still untouched, or only slightly influenced, by Christianity even in its Ro- man Catholic form. Take Mexico as our first example. According to the census of 1875, there were three and a half millions of Indians in that republic, aside from millions more of mixed race. These Indians live in some degree of isolation from the rest of the people, even when mingling with them in the mar- ket place and on the street. Many inhabit the most remote and inaccessible mountain regions. A Mexican statesman, the Hon. Matias Romero, so long Mexico’s minister to the United States, says : “ The Mexican Indians are on the whole a hard- working, sober, moral and enduring race, and, when educated, they produce very distinguished men. Some of our most prominent public men in Mexico, like Jaurez as a statesman, and Morelos as a soldier, were pure-blooded Indians ; and for- tunately there is no prejudice against their race in Mexico, and so, when they are educated, they are accepted in marriage amongst the highest fami- lies of pure Spanish blood.” And he might have added that Altamirano, known in Mexican literary 52 Needs of Latin America circles as the Master, was an Indian from Tixtla, Guerrero. Mr. Romero also describes the life of the In- dians. He says : “ I have been a great deal among them, and my knowledge of their characteristics only increases my sympathy and admiration for them. In the state of Oaxaca, for instance, where I spent the early years of my life, I have seen Indians from the mountain districts, who, when they had to go to the capital, especially to carry money, would form parties of eight or ten to make a ten days’ round trip, carrying with them their food, which consists of roasted ground corn, which they take three times a day, stopping at a brook to mix it with water and sleeping on the bare ground, preferring always the open air ; get- ting up before daylight and starting on their jour- ney at daybreak, immediately after their early meal, speaking no Spanish and travelling about forty miles a day. When they reached the city of Oaxaca they would remain there one or two days, and go back to their homes without taking part in any dissipation. They prefer to live in the high, cool localities, and they have their patch of ground to raise corn and a few vegetables in the hot lowlands, sometimes thirty miles away from their homes, and carry their crops on their backs for all that distance. They make very good soldiers, and military leaders have used them to. great advantage during our revolutions .” 1 1 Mexico and the United States, p. 75. 53 The Pagans My own experience in the Indian villages where we have work agrees with these statements, ex- cept that on feast days, I have seen the Indians make too free use of intoxicants and exhibit too great a love for gambling. The religious destitution of these millions of aborigines is admitted by Mr. Romero. He says : “ It is true that a great many Mexicans, namely, the Indians, do not know much about religion and keep to their old idolatry, having changed only their idols, that is, replaced their old deities with the images of the saints of the Catholic Church, but it would be difficult for the Protestant mis- sionaries to reach them. The Spaniards labored zealously to make the natives adopt the Catholic religion, and although they succeeded wonder- fully, it was a task too difficult to be fully accom- plished in the three centuries of the Spanish domi- nation in Mexico.” And we may add that, under the Republic, the priests have done even less. Thus, among the Indians of Mexico, there is a mass of heathenism, in fact, if not in name, which invites the labors of the Protestant teacher and preacher ; and the same is true in Central America. If now we turn to Brazil and Spanish South America we find the heathenism and destitution of the Indians to be even more appalling. In Brazil the milder Indian races which inhabited the warm, low-lying coast belt were either de- stroyed, enslaved, absorbed by marriage into the mixed race, or driven back into the interior where 54 Needs of Latin America the native races are still to be found in a savage state, roaming over vast plains, or through the forests, or steering their canoes along the many miles of waterway. Especially is this true in the Amazonian region, not unlike a lake set thick with islands, which was until recent years prac- tically inaccessible to the Portuguese owners of the soil. The Indians of the interior are known to the Portuguese as gentios, or heathen. Reports con- cerning them are not very encouraging. One writer says : “ The savages south of the equator have all been found to be exceedingly deficient in any religious idea. None of them, when first visited, seemed to have the faintest conception of the Great Spirit.” It is added : “ Attempts to civilize them have proved abortive, except when they are held in a state of pupilage, as they were by the Jesuits, or under the rigid discipline of the Brazilian army.” Half a century ago a minister of the empire reported but nineteen thousand Christian, that is, Roman Catholic, Indians. In 1898 Mr. W. A. Cooke was sent to the Cherentes of Goyaz by the Christian Alliance. He found that “ the In- dians had taken over all of the vices, but few of the virtues of the white man. The monks,” he says, “ have had nominal charge of them for many years, but instead of Christianizing the poor pagans, they have only succeeded in paganizing a few Christian ceremonies.” The Pagans 55 The historical Sketch of Presbyterian Mis- sions has this significant statement : “ Over against the bright picture of work successfully done through God’s blessing, there still stands the dark picture of the many states in which no representative of our church holds up the standard of the Cross, and darker still, the view of that vast territory occupied by the Indians where no Christian denomination has ever en- tered with the Word of Life. The Indians have undisputed possession of four-fifths of Bra- zil, and their number is variously estimated from 600,000 to 2,000,000. Dr. Couto Magalhaes, an accepted authority, believes them to number about one million. That they are accessible to missionary workers is evidenced by the fact that one chief travelled a thousand miles to Sao Paulo to beg of the missionaries that some one be sent to teach his people. Here we have, lying at our door, a pagan territory equal in size to the whole of Europe, with one million souls ignorant of Christ’s love and salvation, neglected and appar- ently forgotten by God’s people, and their cry for help unheeded by the church.” 1 To Brazil must be added the interior regions of Spanish South America; of Venezuela, Col- ombia, Ecuador and Peru, the plains of Argen- tina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Patagonia; the mountains of Chile and the colder regions in the 1 1897, p. 322. 56 Needs of Latin America far south ; making a total pagan population esti- mated at from four to five million. Not to refer to older works which make similar statements, let me cite the testimony of two little books of recent date. One is called “ South America, the Neglected Continent ; ” the other, “ South America — The Dark Continent.” The former contains a map of South America which paints the whole interior black, with no ray of light from any missionary station in the heart of the continent. The latter contains some recent articles and addresses of Rev. Emilio Olsson, for seventeen years an evangelist in South America. He says: “ The interior of South America is not known to the civilized world. Truly Central Africa is better known to Christian nations than Central South America.” “ My travels,” he says, “ have covered over fifty thousand miles, 3,000 of which I have made on muleback and horseback, and much of it on foot, always carrying my Bi- bles. To forty-two different nationalities arid tribes I have presented the Word of God, and I have reached, with the gospel, over one million souls. Six times have I crossed the great Andes ; have visited many places where hardly a white man had ever been before, and encountered nu- merous tribes unknown to the civilized world; and altogether my journeyings from Patagonia to the Amazon, and along its tributaries, might be compared to those of Stanley and Livingstone in Darkest Africa. Truly Darkest Africa is better 57 The Pagans known to-day than darkest South America, our sister continent. I have journeyed 3,000 miles through the interior without meeting a single Protestant missionary.” Mr. Olsson also de- scribes the paganism of many tribes of that vast interior. Friends, the pagan Indians of Latin America make their appeal to the Protestant missionary churches of our more favored land. What Romish missions failed to do, shall we be able to perform ? In the third place, this glance at pagan beliefs is of value because it involves a study of Indian character, and thus enables us to understand better the masses of mixed race who still form the bulk of the population, — the typical Latin American race of to-day. They are proud of their Indian blood, and magnify the greatness of their ancient civilizations. We can but hint at the many aspects of the question. We find still, for example, the same general attitude toward life, the same heroic fortitude, the same love of diversions, the same willingness to make incredible sacrifices for some splendid display that shall be remembered with a thrill of pride to the end of life, the same sensitive pride and generous hospitality, the same import- ance attached to the endless formalities of social intercourse, the same tendency to be satisfied with formalism in religion. In all these respects the Latin American of mixed race receives a similar inheritance from his Indian and his Iberian an- cestors. 58 Needs of Latin America Our study of this problem suggests still another important truth, often of vital importance. The American missionary, in his full hearted enthu- siasm, does not always take time to understand the people whose good will he desires to win. Only good can result from a study of native char- acter and traditions similar to that herein sug- gested. The Anglo-Saxon, when he crosses to the south of the Rio Grande, is introduced into a new atmosphere, is brought face to face with cus- toms and habits against which he at first is in- clined to rebel. The social code is somewhat dif- ferent, and the mental attitude is different. The missionary, if a student of human nature, soon begins to recognize differences in many subtle but significant details. To succeed among the sensitive, ceremoniously polite descendants of the Latin and the Indian peoples, we must distin- guish between our Americanism and Christianity, and try to adapt ourselves to our surroundings in that good sense in which Paul became “ all things to all men, if by any means he might win some.” In the last place, I hope that our present study has also made plain the encouraging fact that re- ligion was a large part of the primitive Ameri- can’s life. He was devout as a pagan ; he is de- vout to-day as a Roman Catholic ; he will be, and in many instances already is, equally devout as a Protestant, evangelical Christian. Lecture II — THE PAPISTS “ Peace be with you and your people, Peace of prayer and peace of pardon, Peace of Christ and joy of Mary. Then the Black-Robe Chief, the prophet, Told his message to the people. Told the purport of his mission, Told them of the Virgin Mary, And her blessed Son, the Saviour. And the chiefs made answer, saying : ‘ We have listened to your message, We have heard your words of wisdom, We will think on what you tell us, It is well for us, O brothers, That you came so far to save us.’ ” — Hiawatha. 59 Synopsis of Lecture II Introductory. — Glorious age for Spain and Portugal. — Rapid conquest and colonization of New World. — Three factors aided missionaries. — First, the conquerors and colonists. — Lust for gold. — Crusaders in a holy war. — Banner of Cortes. — Second factor, the mixed race. — Roman Catholic by inheritance. — Third factor, acceptance of Romanism by conquered Indians. — Reasons. Dominicans as defenders of the Indians. — Las Casas. — Bull of Paul III. 1. Missionaries and Their Methods. — Arrival and spread. — Heroism of monks and priests. — Franciscans, Dominicans, Jesuits most prominent. Their method. i. Destruction. — Cozumel. — Tabasco. — ■ Prescott’s comment. — Las Casas on idols in Cuzco. — Man- cera in New Granada. — Children as iconoclasts. — The Omar of New Spain. 2. Construction. — Roman Catholic temples and convents. — Franciscan church and convent, Mexico City. — Cathedral and monastery in Cuzco. — Cathedral, Mexico City. — Ex- travagance of religious orders. — Relays of Indian work- men. — Churches often fortresses. — Power of missionaries over Indians. 3.. Instruction. — Kind and degree. — Letter of Pedro Gante, 1529. — Of Bishop Zumarraga, 1531. — Children taught to read, write and sing. — Compulsory attendance on services. — System of mnemonics. — Text-books and printing presses. — Defects of system. — Indians remained ignorant. — Still practised old idolatries. Jesuit missions. — Reductions in Paraguay. — Failure among fierce tribes of pampas. — Success with milder Guara- nies. — Rudimentary education. — Jesuits the Manco Capacs of Paraguay. — Fear of their political power cause of de- struction. — Indians return to savage life. II. Wealth and Power of the Church. — Union of Church and State. — Some conspicuous features. 1. The religious feasts. — Unworthy features. — Imitators of Demetrius. — Good Friday in Rio de Janeiro. — Passion Play in Mexico. — Copocobana, Bolivia. — Guadalupe, Mexico. 2. The Inquisition. — Not used against Indians. — Number of processes in Mexico. — Description of auto-de-fe by eye- witness. — Patriot Morelos last victim in Mexico, 1815. 3. The Saints. — Popular biographies. — Santa Rosa of Lima. — Jose de Anchieta and Almeida, Brazil. — What ideals ! III. Corruption and Failure. — Immorality, especially of clergy. — Romanism in Brazil. — Blackford’s testimony. — The condition of Ecuador typical. Conclusion. — Romanism has failed thus far as a guide and educator. — Pure gospel needed. 60 LECTURE II. The Papists Dogma has not succeeded dogma, but only ceremony to ceremony. — Humboldt. Christianity instead of fulfilling its mission of en- lightening, converting and sanctifying the natives, was itself converted. Paganism was baptized, Christianity was paganized. — Abbott. We are now to consider the attempt of Roman Catholicism to conquer paganism. It is the sec- ond act in the drama of Latin America’s religious development. Across the broad surface of the Atlantic the white winged ships of Spain and Portugal fly to the shores of the New World. The apparently inexhaustible supplies of mineral wealth, and the unknown vastness of the new possessions have fired the imagination and given birth to most extravagant conjecture. The peo- ple and their civilization have been reported as something never seen before ; and it is asserted that at every turn the unexpected bursts upon the excited vision. A fever of exploration and conquest seized with special force upon the people of Spain and Portu- gal whose daring navigators were nearest to the new scene of action. It was a glorious age for 61 62 Needs of Latin America the nations of the Spanish peninsula. Greeks and Phoenicians had once been the sea-faring pioneers and discoverers, but now that the wide Atlantic is to be traversed, the mantle of enterprise and discovery falls upon men of Iberian descent and they are endowed with a double portion of the restless spirit of adventure. “ The eagerness to explore the wonderful secrets of the new hemi- sphere became so active that the principal cities of Spain were, in a manner depopulated, as emi- grants thronged in large numbers to take their chance upon the deep.” It seemed as though the chief cities would be left “ almost to the women ” and the children, as was said of Seville, in 1525. 1 Following hard on the heels of Columbus, new adventurers landed on the islands and mainland of North and South America, from Florida to the straits of Magellan. Within little more than a generation this long line of coast was dotted with settlements and bands of adventurous ex- plorers had penetrated far into the interior of the 1 “ The Venetian ambassador, Andrea Navagiero, who travelled through Spain in 1525, near the period of the commencement of our narrative, notices the gen- eral fever of emigration. Seville, in particular, the great port of embarkation, was so stripped of its in- habitants, he says, ‘ that the city was left almost to the women ’ Viagge fatto in Spagna (Vinegia, 1563, fol. 15) ” Prescott’s “ Conquest of Peru,” p. 189, Lippincott and Co., i860. 63 The Papists continent, following the course of the rivers wherever possible, or toiling on foot through the long grass of the pampas and savannahs, or the tangled undergrowth of interminable forests ; up the steep sides of elevated table-lands and amid the snows and rocky fastnesses of the loftiest mountain ranges. They suffered from every form of danger and privation; from hunger, heat and cold and deadly fevers, together with the fierce hostility of the tribes whose territory they in- vaded and whose vengeance they themselves aroused by repeated acts of cruelty. The rapidity with which date follows date in a tabulated statement of discoveries, is proof of the feverish haste with which the work of con- quest and colonization was accomplished. In 1492 Columbus planted the cross and the standard of Spain on a small island in the West Indies. In 1495 Hispaniola, or Haiti, was made the centre of Spanish authority in the New World. In 1500 Brazil was discovered. The Rio de la Plata was entered in 1508, Cuba was subjugated in 1511. Two years later Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Darien and took dramatic possession of the Pa- cific for the Spanish crown. By 1521 Cortes had conquered Mexico. Ten years later Pizarro over- turned the Peruvian empire and' stripped the Incas of their fabulous wealth. Four years more rolled by, and the first disastrous Attempt was made to build the city now known as Buenos 6 4 Needs of Latin America Ayres; and in 1547 Santiago de Chile was founded. Into this vast territory with its millions of pa- gan Indians the Roman Catholic monks and priests entered, side by side with the conquering colonists. Missionaries were required to accom- pany the later expeditions sent to the New World for conquest or discovery; and in 1516, Cardinal Cisneros commanded all vessels bound for Amer- ica to carry at least one monk or priest. In 1526 the Spanish monarch passed a decree to the same effect; and it is still the boast of the Franciscan, Dominican and Hieronomite monks, that they looked with favor on the plans of Columbus and helped him obtain the support of Ferdinand and Isabella. As early as 1493, Bernardo Boil, first apostolic vicar to the New World, landed in Haiti as su- perior of a band of twelve missionaries, one of whom was Marchena, the friend of Columbus. Marchena built, in the town of Isabella, a rude church, the first in the New World. By 1505 the Franciscans of Haiti, Cuba and Jamaica had so increased in numbers that they united to form the province of Santa Cruz. The name commemo- rates a miraculous interposition of the Virgin Mary to save the cross from destruction by a mob of natives who were thus converted. Tales of the marvelous are numerous in the narratives of Ro- man Catholic missionaries. Their lives were an epic struggle in a hand to hand conflict with the The Papists 65 devil and his emissaries and they were only saved from death by miraculous divine interpositions. Of the many idols sent to Spain, Cardinal Jimenez gave a quantity to the University of Al- cala, as trophies of victories over the devil. In 1510, Las Casas, the heroic protector of the Indi- ans, was ordained ; the first presbyter consecrated in America. In the same year the bishoprics of Santo Domingo, Concepcion and San Juan de Puerto Rico were founded. The tithe and first fruits of all except gold, silver and precious stones, were set apart for the erection of churches and hospitals, and for the support of the clergy. This was the humble beginning of what after- wards became a source of wealth and corruption. In 1514, the bishopric of Darien, the first on the mainland was erected ; and that same year Las Casas baptized a thousand children on a trip through Cuba. Cordoba and Montesinos had al- ready reached the mainland of South America and started a successful mission on the coast of Venezuela, but the injustice and cruelty of the Spanish pearl-fishers, in their treatment of the natives, led to the massacre of the missionaries, and this was but one of many such retaliatory acts of violence in which the monks suffered for the sins of their countrymen. Later on, a missionary who, after the conquest of Peru, attempted the conversion of a fugitive Inca, was himself cruelly murdered and his bones, made into flutes, were sent throughout the tribe. 66 Needs of Latin America Undaunted by native defiance and deeds of cruelty, the missionaries, entering in ever increas- ing numbers, spread over what is now Venezuela and Colombia. They entered Mexico, after its conquest by Cortes ; and Peru in the footsteps of Pizarro ; and soon spread over the land. Valencia and his companions, known as the twelve apostles of Mexico, toiled barefoot all the way from Vera Cruz to Mexico City, where they were received by Cortes and his captains with a great show of reverence. The conquerors came out to meet the missionaries, and on bended knee bade them welcome to their field of labor, promis- ing them all due homage, and help in their arduous task. The scene is supposed to have impressed the natives with a proper idea of the sanctity and self-sacrifice, the poverty and power, of these humble representatives of the Church, before whom the haughty conquerors bowed in meek subjection. The Jesuits went everywhere, but spe- cial praise has been given to their work among the Indians in Paraguay, Brazil and Northern Mexico, reaching into California and other por- tions of our own Southwest. In the earlier days, Franciscans and Domini- cans, not to mention monks of many other orders, and secular priests, were even more prominent. There was a keen rivalry between the secular and the regtdar clergy. We have not time to follow in detail the labors of any one missionary, although Church or Guadalupe, Mexico City The Papists 67 the lives of many are of thrilling interest. From the towns built by their compatriots, they went forth in groups, by twos, or even singly; and scattered themselves over the entire country. They were undeterred by any obstacle and undaunted by any danger. They endured the severest priva- tions, and many lost their lives from the fatigues of toil, the ravages of disease, or the violence of hostile savages. They counted it all joy to thus win the martyr’s crown. A tone of intense de- votion and religious fervor characterizes the per- sonal memoirs of these heroic pioneers. Few Protestant missionaries have been called upon to endure greater hardships than they. There are, however, in America to-day, mission fields whose successful occupancy calls for equal heroism. Are there not men who are ready to go? Will not our churches send them? In their work for the conversion of the na- tives, the missionaries had to reckon with the presence of three other active agencies or factors in the problem, which both helped and hindered them in their work ; namely, the conquerors and colonists who were Roman Catholic by inheri- tance ; the mixed race which rapidly grew up and also inherited Romish beliefs from their fathers; and the subjugated Indians, among whom the missionaries chiefly labored and won their most permanent victories. Let us begin our study by attempting to catch the spirit which animated the 68 Needs of Latin America Spanish and Portuguese conquerors and their fol- lowers. The relentless invaders were animated by two supreme motives. One of these has been char- acterized as “ the cursed lust for gold.” The other was the zeal of a crusader engaged in a “ holy war ” against the infidel. The first was the same insatiable passion which, in more recent years, has drawn men to California and the Klondike. Cortes bluntly told the messengers of Montezuma that he and his companions suffered from “ a disease of the heart ” which could be cured only with gold. He and all his imitators took heroic doses of the “ gold cure ” ; but the mad lust was never deadened. This passion added to the difficulties of the missionaries. Clavijero makes the terrible charge that, in one year of merciless massacre, more victims were sacrificed to avarice and ambition than had ever been of- fered by the Indians to their gods. This charge, in one form or another, is repeated by all who study the question and has never been successfully refuted. As early as 1499, Columbus introduced the system of encomiendas, so fruitful in evil for the Indians of all Spanish America. It was well meant, as a means to develop the resources of the country ; and at the same time educate the na- tives and abolish idolatry ; but it did not reckon with the weakness and wickedness of human na- ture. Every Spaniard of rank was given control The Papists 69 of a certain number of natives who were to work for him a part of the time ; while, in return, he was to care for their general and religious in- struction. All attempts to modify or regulate the system were futile. In the mines, and on the large estates, the Indians were virtually the slaves of foreign masters, and often treated with cruelty. Ercilla in his Epic, the Araucana, which celebrates the heroic resistance of the Araucanians of Chile, who were never subdued, thus accuses his coun- trymen. It is the statement of a Spaniard who knew the facts at the time : “ The seas of blood in these new countries spilt, If that my judgment be in aught of worth. Have hopes o’erthrown on conquest that were built, Drowning the harvests of this golden earth. For Spanish inhumanity and guilt, Transgressing all the laws of war, gave birth To such atrocities as ne’er before Deluged a conquered land with native gore.” 1 This cruel oppression of the Indians was justi- fied in some quarters by a denial that they pos- sessed immortal souls. Vetancourt tells us that some of the foreign masters maintained that “ the Indians were not rational,” and could therefore be used like any other beast of burden. The Domini- cans stand out as their chief defenders, of whom Las Casas, towering above all the rest, has won undying fame. 1 For. Brit. Quat. Aug. 1829, quoted in Temple’s Trav- els. yo Needs of Latin America We cannot follow the history of this most extra- ordinary debate, which Paul III settled, in 1 537> by issuing a bull in which he declared that “ the said Indians and all other peoples who hereafter shall be brought to the notice of the Catholics, al- though they may be without the faith of Jesus Christ, in nowise are they to be deprived of their liberty and of the control of their goods, in nowise are they to be made slaves. ... We also de- termine and declare that the said Indians and other similar peoples are to be called to the faith of Jesus Christ by preaching and by the example of a good and holy life.” The Roman Catholic church should have full credit for its stand on this question. Many in- dividual missionaries also deserve high praise, al- though it is also true that they themselves, as a class, used the natives for their own purposes, and were jealous about admitting them to all the privileges of the priestly orders. Even among the missionaries, theory was better than practice, while the owners of Indian slaves knew how to evade the law, or set it openly at defiance. The matter is mentioned here because of the influence of this cruelty on the missionary enterprise. The second motive named, the zeal of a crusa- der in a holy war, seems incompatible with the greed of the conquerors until we remember that superstitious human nature is full of just such contradictions. Prescott says that “ the Castilian, too proud for 7 * The Papists hypocrisy, committed more cruelties in the name of religion than were ever practised by the pa- gan idolater or the fanatical Moslem.” The New World crusader fought to extend the domain of the Pope as well as that of the Emperor. This was the obligation incurred by Spain and Portu- gal when they accepted the gift of Alexander VI of the new world. On receiving the promise of the Spanish monarchs to use all diligence in the conversion and enlightenment of the Indians, this Pope, on May 3, 1493, signed the famous bull called Linea Alexandrina by which he gave their Spanish majesties absolute sovereignty over all the lands they might discover beyond a line drawn one hundred leagues (later 310 leagues) west of the Azores. The rest was to belong to Portugal, the other beneficiary in this gift of the pagan world. The bull enjoins the sending out of missionaries apt to teach and of virtuous life, who shall con- vert the natives in all the lands to be discovered. Margat adds that it is but just to record the pious zeal of Ferdinand and Isabella, who were more anxious to extend Christ’s kingdom than their own. They took many wise measures to this end and were profuse in instructions to the lead- ers of expeditions, that they should not use force and violence in the conversion of the natives, but only the mild agencies authorized by holy church. Columbus, after every voyage, in his interviews with the queen, was asked to describe 7 1 Needs of Latin America minutely what had been done for the conversion of the Indians. Columbus had already named the first land San Salvador in gratitude to God for their safety, and a Te Deum had been chanted. Shortly after the planting of the royal standard, a rude cross had been set up. The seven natives whom he took back to Spain were baptized with the Span- ish monarchs as sponsors. This was, in a sense, the first fruit of the extensive harvests which Rome was to reap in the New World. Pizarro, on his voyage to Peru, was required to take priests or monks in every vessel. This, as already stated, became the fixed rule for all expeditions to America. Velasquez wrote to Cortes to remember that the chief purpose of his expedition was the conversion of the natives. “ He was to take the most careful care to omit nothing which might redound to the service of God.” The principal standard of Cortes was of “ black velvet, embroidered with gold, and em- blazoned with a red cross amidst flames of blue and white, with this motto in Latin beneath : ‘ Friends, let us follow the cross, and under this sign, if we have faith, we shall conquer.’ ” 1 Cortes himself exhorted his troops to rely on God, who had never deserted the Spaniard in his fight with the heathen. Mass was said and the expedition sailed under the joint protection of St. 1 Conq. Mex., Prescott, vol. i, p. 256. 73 The Papists Peter and St. James. This was the spirit of the conquerors. They might lead very immoral lives ; they might be guilty of avarice and untold deeds of cruelty and bloodshed ; but they were devout Catholics, upheld by a strong, if superstitious, faith in the righteousness of their cause. They were soldiers of the Cross, fighting in a holy war ; and their careers form the last chapter of medie- val chivalry. The second element in the problem was the mixed race ; the typical race to-day in Latin America. It began to appear very soon after the conquest and multiplied rapidly. The children inherited the religion of their Spanish and Portu- guese fathers, and as they were anxious to enjoy all the privileges that their connection with the conquerors and colonists gave them, they became Roman Catholics from choice as well as by in- heritance. They formed a conspicuous element in the cities, in which were the centres of power and influence in the colony. They, together with the colonists of European descent, created a strong public sentiment in favor of Romanism, which exercised a powerful influence on the Indians, and thus helped the missionaries in their work of evangelization. This brings us to the third factor in the prob- lem, the Indians. The natives soon understood the nature of the two motives which animated their conquerors ; avarice and religious zeal. They understood that defeat for themselves meant de- 74 Needs of Latin America feat for their gods as well; and that they were engaged in a war to the death, so far as their old pagan cults were concerned. A Mexican historian, General Vicente Riva Palacio, says that “ the people conquered by the Spaniards in the Indies did not have even a re- mote idea of Christian doctrine or Catholic worship ; but they looked upon their conversion to that doctrine and worship as a necessary con- sequence of their defeat in battle, as an indis- pensable requisite which affirmed their vassallage and slavery to the Spanish monarch ; since, as this was the principal motive which the con- querors assigned for the invasion, they, however rude we may suppose them to have been, knew that on the outcome of the campaign depended the religion which they were to have in the fu- ture, since they would have to adopt that of the Christians as soon as these were victorious. Thus is to be explained the violent conversion of Cuauhtemoc, whose indomitable energy was shown in the siege of Mexico and the martyrdom to which he was subjected.” 1 This recognition of the God and saints of the Romish conquerors as real gods, could easily be made, and that too, without losing faith in their own gods ; for it is no unusual thing for heathen tribes to do homage to the gods of their 1 Mex. at. de los Siglos, vol. ii, p. 296. 75 The Papists conquerors, and even to try to propitiate them. Polytheism is flexible and ever ready to receive an unknown god into its pantheon. The Indians had another, even stronger motive for prompt acceptance of the new faith. They soon discovered that such acceptance would serve as a partial protection against the oppression of their conquerors. They were desperate, and will- ing to do anything which would win some meas- ure of respect for their persons and their prop- erty. The Mexican writer just quoted says that “ the conquered Americans, who feared every- thing, and rightly, from the hardness of the con- querors, came to the conclusion that conversion and baptism were the most powerful shield behind which to protect themselves from further cruel- ties. They, therefore, entered the towns en masse asking the missionary to baptize them ; and in search of the precious guaranties of liberty and life.” 1 This pressure was brought to bear upon the Indians even in little things. For example, long hair was a much prized ornament, while to have the head shorn was a mark of dishonor. Philip II made use of this prejudice when he decreed that only Christian Indians might wear the hair un- cut. It was a more serious matter when the de- cree went forth that only Christian children could Idem, p. 296. 76 Needs of Latin America inherit the property of their parents. Some In- dian chiefs not only had their children baptized, but as a further protection asked prominent Span- iards to act as their godparents, and often them- selves took the surname of the godfather. The chief might also insist on the conversion of his tribesmen, who thus came to occupy toward the Spaniards a position not altogether unlike that of clients toward the patricians in ancient Rome. Conversions were often only nominal and a mere matter of policy. That this is not a prejudiced statement made by a Protestant is shown by the following quotation taken from the Roman Catholic historian, Men- dieta. He says that although the missionaries “ were well content to see how readily the people gave heed to their preaching and teaching ; on the other hand it appeared to them that the con- course of the Indians to the church was more an act of outward conformity at the command of their principals, in order to deceive these, than a voluntary movement on the part of the people stirred to seek the remedy needed by their souls, and to renounce the adoration and worship of idols.” 1 If we now understand the spirit of the Spanish soldier and colonist, and of the Indians anxious to save what they could from the ruins of the past, 1 Hist. Ec. Ind. L. iii, C. xx. 77 The Papists we are ready to study a little in detail the Roman Catholic missionary and his method of work. Re- call also what was said of the resemblances be- tween the old worship and the rites and cere- monies of Romanism, which made the change less radical than it would be to our Protestant form of service. As I have read the history of that early period it has seemed to me that the instrumentalities em- ployed can be classified into three groups, desig- nated by the words Destruction, Construction, Instruction. Destruction, or the use of force to obliterate all traces of the old heathenism, is the characteris- tic which first attracts the attention of all who study the method of the Roman Catholic mis- sionaries during and immediately after the Con- quest. Violent measures were employed in every case, just as soon as possible, to stamp out and utterly destroy every trace of the old idolatrous practices. This was honestly meant, and un- doubtedly did help to wean the Indians from their idols ; but the success was not always in proportion to the energy put forth. In the earlier stages of colonization the con- querors and civil authorities either assisted the missionaries in this work, or practically did it for them. Later on, the officers of the crown were so taken up with the discharge of their own duties that they left the missionaries to fight their own battles. For example, the Franciscans were thus 78 Needs of Latin America helped in Southern Mexico; while the Jesuits, with almost no assistance, performed a more difficult task among the distant, warlike and sav- age tribes of the North. Three instances in the march of Cortes, men- tioned by Prescott in his “ Conquest of Mexico,” are accessible to all, and will be given here since they serve to illustrate the method as well as any others. When, at Cozumel, the appeals of the priests who accompanied Cortes, failed to induce the Indians to renounce idolatry, the intrepid Spaniard resorted to more summary measures which were not to be misunderstood. The images were hurled from the pagan temple, the shrine was quickly purified, and an image of the Virgin and Infant Redeemer was soon placed above the newly consecrated altar, and mass was said by Olmedo. How far the hurried teaching of Chris- tian doctrine, transmitted through the uncertain medium of an Indian interpreter, enlightened the darkened minds of the pagan hearers, I leave you to determine. But violence won at least an out- ward adherence to Christianity. After the victory in Tabasco, won, it was said, with the help of St. James on his white horse, the grateful victors resolved to complete the good work by converting the vanquished while they were still in a submissive mood. After a sermon by the priest, the same procedure was repeated. Soldiers bore palm branches and swelled the The Papists 79 sacred chant ; and the Indians quietly ac- quiesced. Before a similar scene, in Cempoalla, Prescott gives utterance to the thought of many, when he says : “ The Protestant missionary seeks to en- lighten the understanding of his convert by the pale light of reason. But the bolder Catholic, kindling the spirit by the splendor of the specta- cle, and by the glowing portrait of an agonized Redeemer, sweeps along his hearers in a tempest of passion that drowns everything like reflection. He has secured his convert, however, by the hold on the affections, — an easier and more powerful hold, with the untutored savage, than reason.” 1 But what about the Indian mistresses baptized at Cempoalla, only to be debauched ? How high is that type of “ Christianity ” which is prudently blind to such deeds, and which, by a mere change of idols, is begotten in a day? The missionaries used the same summary method even when there was no army at their back. The discovery that idols were still worshipped in secret, even in places where out- ward conformity had been secured, intensified their zeal. Las Casas, in 1560, wrote indignantly of Cuzco, that “ more than 500 guacas, or idols, were found in that city and its suburbs, which were adored by the inhabitants, notwithstanding 1 Conq. Mex. vol. i, p. 354. 8o Needs of Latin America the presence in the city of a bishop, a cathedral church, four convents of monks and a great num- ber of priests and lay Christians since 1531.” In 1590, in the province of Tunja, New Gra- nada, Diego Mancera, found a cave where the Indians worshipped their gods at night, and offered human sacrifices. Many such instances might be cited. The monks themselves tell us how they carried on the work of demolition. The Franciscan Motolinia, a celebrated missionary, writing of Mexico, says that “ on the first day of the year 1525, which was Sunday, from ten o’clock at night until dawn, three monks fright- ened and drove away all the devils that were in the places of worship.” Mendieta explains that, with the help of converted Indian children, they tore down the heathen temples and burned the idols and ornaments until nothing was left. Children like that sort of work. They are iconoclasts by nature. It was fine fun that turning over of a new leaf on New Year’s Day, 1525. Sahagun shows us that this was not an uncom- mon recreation for the children. “ We took the children of the caciques,” he writes, “ into our schools ; where we taught them to read, and write and to chant. The children of the poorer natives were brought together in the courtyard and were there instructed in the Christian faith. After our teaching, one or two brethren took the pupils to some neighboring teocalli, and by working at it for a few days, they levelled it to the 8i The Papists ground. In this way they demolished, in a short time, all the Aztec temples, great and small, so that not a vestige of them remained.” 1 This ex- plains why so few ancient architectural remains are to be found in some sections of country. The following account of a more murderous kind of violence is translated from Mendi- eta’s “ Ecclesiastical History of the Indians,” because it gives a naive picture of the struggles of that transition period. The chief actors were the children of the Mission School and a heathen priest. The place was Tlascala, a capital city, the rival of Mexico. In hope of winning the people back to their old allegiance the priest “ dressed himself in the insignia of one of their gods called Ometochtli, said to be the god of wine [pulque] (like another Bacchus) and went into the market place, very fierce and frightful in appearance. To make his ferocity more apparent, he held in his mouth several knives made of a kind of black stone much used for this purpose. He gnashed upon them as he moved about and ran through the market place with a crowd of people at his back, attracted by the novel spectacle ; for the priests seldom left the temples dressed in that way, and when they did go out, they were held in such re- spect and reverence that the people hardly dared to lift up their eyes and look them in the face. 1 His. Neuva Espana, lib. iii, p. 77. Conq. of Mex. vol. iii, p. 254. 8a Needs of Latin America “ While this was taking place, the children who were taught at the Monastery, began to return from the river whither they had gone to bathe. They had to pass through the market place, and as they saw such a crowd of people behind the demon, or his embodiment, they asked what it all meant. Some replied : ‘ It is our god Ome- tochtli.’ The children retorted : ‘ It is not God, but the devil who deceives you with his lies.’ “ In the market place there was a cross to which the children now approached and did it reverence as they had been taught. There they waited a mo- ment till all had gathered ; for they were many and had become scattered. Then the man who had the insignia went toward them and began to act as though he was very angry, and to upbraid them, saying that they would soon die, and that they had angered him by leaving their own house and going to the new God and to St. Mary (this then was and still is the name of the principal church of Tlascala). At once some of the larger boys spoke up with daring courage and said that they were not afraid of him ; that he was a liar ; and they would not die at once as he said ; and that there was only one God, Lord of heaven and earth and of all things ; and that, as for him, he was not God, but the image of the devil. “ The minister of the devil still declaring that he was a god, and trying to frighten the children, pretended to be angrier than ever against them. By this time a crowd had gathered to see how The Papists 83 the fight would end. The man dared to maintain that he was a god, and the children, that he was the devil ; until, finally, one of them stooped down for a stone and said to the others : ‘ Let us cast out hence this devil, for God will help us.’ As he said the words he threw the stone and the rest followed suit. At first the devil faced them, but when all began to throw, he turned and ran away, and they after him, throwing stones. He came very near to getting away, but God granted them, what the man’s sins deserved, that he should stumble. Hardly had he fallen when they killed him and covered him with stones. The children were greatly lifted up, as though they had done a great deed, and they said : ‘ Now the people of Tlascala will see that this man was not a god, but a wicked liar, and that God and St. Mary are good, for they helped us kill the devil.’ And in truth, after that struggle and the death of the unfortunate madman, it seemed as though not a mere man, but the devil himself had been killed ; and as, in battle, the victorious soldiers rejoice, while the vanquished lie fallen and disheartened, thus was it with those who served and believed in the idols, while the victors were happy.” 1 Fray Juan de Zumarraga, the first bishop of Mexico, has been called the Omar of New Spain, because he destroyed not only temples and idols, and even executed an Indian, the only native vic- 1 Lib. iii, cap. xxiv. 8 4 Needs of Latin America tim of the Inquisition in Mexico ; but because he also made away with old Aztec hieroglyphic writ- ings. The loss was hardly as great as that of the library at Alexandria, even though he did make, as we are told, immense bonfires of all the old manuscripts and picture rolls on which he could lay his hands. In his eyes they were evi- dently the work of Satan. Mr. Riva Palacio, whom I have already quoted, commenting on this loss, over which the historian will forever grieve, says, with commendable im- partiality, that we must not judge the zealous bishop by the standards of our day, as though he were the scholarly member of some modern scien- tific society. He was simply a rather fanatical representative of the religious ideas of his epoch and nation. He and his companions had a huge task to perform, and, animated by the relentless spirit of that age, they set about it with character- istic vigor and thoroughness. Their great object was to wipe out every trace of the old idolatry, and remove every temptation to a relapse on the part of the Indians. What were the interests of the antiquary and the archaeologist, if they hin- dered the attainment of this end ? Fortunately there were a few men, like Sahagun, who saved what they could from the general destruction. The work of demolition was followed by one of construction. As fast as the old temples were torn down, new and grander ones were erected in their The Papists places. The new buildings by their size and mas- siveness, impressed the natives with the fact that the foreign religion had come to stay. This fact still impresses every thoughtful observer who visits Latin America. The most conspicuous of all landmarks are the churches which crown the hilltops, or tower above the huts of the Indian villages or adorn the central squares of the cities. One of the most extensive and magnificent of all the stately piles erected by the indefatigable monks, was the church and convent of San Fran- cisco, in Mexico City. From a humble beginning it grew, in the lapse of three centuries, into a splendid group of buildings covering an extensive area in what is now the heart of the modem city. We are told that “ the silver tabernacle of the high altar alone cost $24,000,” and that the result of all the lavish outlay “ was a richness and splendor unsurpassed in Mexico.” Now the old grounds are cut up into business squares. A block of business houses closes the entrance to the main church on San Juan de Letran street. The old courtyard has been roofed over and forms the Methodist Chapel ; while the Garden Hotel has been remodelled out of another part of the old structure. The refectory was for a time turned into a livery stable ; and Independence street gives free passage to the modern trolley car through the ancient enclosure. How this and other changes were wrought be- 86 Needs of Latin America longs to another epoch in the religious history of Mexico. At present our concern is with the size and massiveness of the ancient structure, as it still stands dismantled, a mute but eloquent wit- ness to the power of the papacy in her new world heritage. After Pizarro’s triumphal entry into Cuzco Fa- ther Valverde was nominated bishop, and at once began the erection of a cathedral facing the prin- cipal square. A Romish monastery replaced the temple of the Sun. “ Its walls,” Prescott tells us, “ were constructed of the ancient stones ; the altar was raised on the spot where shone the bright image of the Peruvian deity ; and the cloisters of the Indian temple were trodden by the friars of St. Dominic. To make the metamorphosis more complete, the house of the Virgins of the Sun was replaced by a Roman Catholic nunnery.” The present cathedral of Mexico City occupies very nearly the site of the Aztec teocalli, and broken fragments of the ancient structure and its idols have been built into the walls. The same sudden and surprising transformation was ef- fected everywhere. The ancient shrines were either purified and turned into Roman Catholic temples, at least temporarily, or they were torn down and the material used in the construction of churches and monasteries. It is surprising to see how much money the monks and priests soon had at their disposal for the construction of new buildings. It is curious 87 The Papists also to note the use made of the Indians in their erection. Take one example from many. For a short time after their arrival in New Spain, the Franciscans and Dominicans supported them- selves with alms gathered in the streets and public markets of Mexico City. Soon, however, they began to build costly churches and convents. In 1531, the Queen felt obliged to write to the Do- minicans to moderate their expenditures. In 1556, Archbishop Montufar asked the Council of the Indies to put a stop to the “ great costs and expenditures for personal service and for sumptu- ous and superfluous works which the monks make in the towns of the Indians, and at the expense of these latter. They think nothing,” he says, “ of undertaking a new work which may cost from ten to twelve thousand ducats. To say and to do are the same thing. In the work they employ Indians in relays of five hundred or a thousand men, and without wages or even a mouthful of bread to eat, the men being rounded up for the work from a distance of four, six, or twelve leagues. Others prepare the lime and other materials for what they actually cost.” Similar methods were employed by all the re- ligious orders and in all parts of America. As a rule, however, the churches built for the use of the Indians were not as large and strong as those erected in the Spanish settlements. These latter, together with the monasteries, were veritable for- tresses, and were often surrounded by high and 88 Needs of Latin America thick walls which also enclosed the cemetery, thus affording an ample space for refuge in case of attack by hostile Indians. In carrying out their work of destruction and of construction ; as well as in their labors to in- struct the natives ; the Roman Catholic mission- aries had a degree of authority which their Prot- estant successors have never possessed. They could use the Indians in forced labor and had the right to inflict corporal punishment. Montufar says of the Franciscans that the “ Indians had them in such great fear, by reason of the great punishments which they inflicted, that some of them dare not speak or complain.” Another tells of a beating administered by monks, in which the rods were broken on the Indian’s back. Mendieta says that the friars complained bitterly when Philip II withdrew his authority, on the ground that “ this people is so debased that unless one has over them all authority he has none, and if they are not held way under and subjected, they cannot be held in subjection at all.” In some cases the law required Indians to travel as far as twelve leagues to attend serv- ices at the monasteries. This was very hard for the sick and for women with little children to care for or carry. At times the monks in the exercise of their pre- rogatives came into contact with the civil authori- ties, and with the secular clergy. The Francis- cans, for example, did not like to turn over any The Papists 89 part of their extensive field to the priests, al- though themselves unable to minister to the needs of all the people. Mendieta tells us that, in some cases, two monks would have the care of a hun- dred thousand Indians. Some of the native vil- lages were visited only once or twice a year, others even less frequently. The visits, when made, were of the briefest, only long enough to say mass, baptize and marry converts, and then on to the next point in their extensive circuit. Similar complaints are made to-day against the parish priests of isolated districts. Often the ap- parent neglect was due solely to the limitations of finite human nature. It was hard, heroic toil ; and before we criticize, let us be sure that we are willing to endure as much as they gladly suf- fered in behalf of the Indians. Mr. Riva Palacio, in his excellent treatment of this subject, to which I am largely indebted, gives as his final verdict that “ the severe and impartial historian must declare that, during the first years of Spanish rule in Mexico, the services to humanity, civilization and the progress of the colony rendered by the religious orders were so eminent that actions which otherwise might be presented as serious faults can be readily con- doned.” 1 It is now time to say something about the meth- 1 Mex. at. Siglos, vol. ii, caps, xxx and xxxi. 9 ° Needs of Latin America ods of instruction employed to indoctrinate and christianize the Indians. While many monks were iconoclasts of the type of Zumarraga, others were studious, scholarly men, to whom we are indebted for much of our knowledge of the beliefs and customs of the Indians. In their explanations of the facts which they relate, they reflect the credulity and ignorance of their day ; but for their patient accumulation of material they deserve high praise. Sahagun was perhaps the most painstaking and praiseworthy of these historians. As we have occasion to quote him frequently, it may be well to say a few words about his work as a student. He was a Franciscan monk who came to Mexico in 1529, and lived to an advanced age. He was zealous as a missionary, and at the same time in- defatigable in collecting material for his “ Uni- versal History of New Spain.” He spared no pains to make the work an accurate record of native beliefs. He made his first inquiries of a body of intelligent natives, who knew no Spanish, and were thus free from that bias. After due deliberation they wrote their answers in hiero- glyphics. These were next written out in the In- dian language by his own pupils at Santa Cruz, and their version was critically examined and passed upon by a third body of natives in an- other part of the country. The prejudices of those in authority delayed for thirty years the translation of this valu- 9 1 The Papists able work into Spanish. Then the manuscript was sent to Spain where it lay hidden in the library of the Tolosa convent until 1829 when Bustamante in Mexico, and Kingsborough in England, published the work. Its value can hardly be overestimated. It is only fair to call attention to facts such as these, if we would make an impartial study of the work of the missionary monks. Evangelistic preaching was common as a means of winning the natives to Christianity. The na- tive converts showed the same facility as orators then as now. Mendieta gives us a chapter from his own personal experience, he says, “ I, who write this, arrived at a time when there were not enough friars who could preach in the language of the Indians. We preached through interpret- ers ; and among others, it happened to me to have one who helped me in a certain barbarous lan- guage. After I had preached to the Mexicans in their language (which is the most general) he entered, dressed in his roquete or surplice, and preached to the barbarians in their language, re- peating what I had said to the others, and with so much authority, energy, exclamation and spirit that I was filled with envy of the grace of God which had been communicated to him. Such was the help that these interpreters gave that they car- ried the voice and sound of the Word of God, not only into the provinces where there are mon- asteries and to the lands visited by preachers from 92 Needs of Latin America these but to all the confines of New Spain which is conquered and pacified, and to all the other places reached by the native merchants who pene- trate far into the interior.” 1 Teaching the people en masse, and the children in schools, were also employed. A letter of Pedro Gante, one of the best of the missionaries, who wrote from Mexico, June 27, 1529, gives some interesting facts on this, and other points as well. He says : “ The Indians are docile and of good disposition and inclined to receive our faith, but force and interest determine them to it more than sweetness and affection. ... By the grace of God we have secured many conversions. There have been days in which my companion and I bap- tized more than a thousand Indians, and more than 200,000 have accepted Jesus Christ. In most of the provinces we have well-served houses and parochial churches. . . . My occupation during the day is reduced to teaching how to read, write and sing; and at night I catechize and preach. As this country is so populous, and there are barely enough laborers to instruct so many peo- ple, we have gathered into seminaries the sons of the principal families to instruct them in religion, in order that afterwards they may teach their parents. “ In the Seminary under my charge, there are Hist. Ec. Ind. L. iii, Cap. xx. 93 The Papists already six hundred pupils who know how to read, write, sing and help in the divine office. Among them I have chosen fifty who seem to have the best disposition. I have these learn a sermon each week, and then they go out on Sunday to preach it in the neighboring towns, which is of great utility, for it inclines the people to receive bap- tism. They always go with us when we set out to destroy the idols and set up in their places our churches in honor of the true God. Thus it is we employ our time, passing day and night in work for the conversion of this poor people.” Bishop Zumarraga wrote, June 12, 1531, to Matias Veysen, commissary general of missions: “ My reverend father, we labor with assiduity in the conversion of the Indians, and the grace of God has crowned our efforts. Up to the present time we have baptized more than a million of these pagans, demolished more than five hun- dred of their temples, and burned and destroyed more than twenty thousand idols. Many churches and chapels have been built. . . . Many of [the children] know how to read, write and sing better than the adults. They confess frequently, receive the holy communion with the greatest fervor, and explain to their parents, with the greatest ac- curacy, what they have been taught. At mid- night they rise to recite the office of the Virgin, to whom they have a special devotion. They are the ones who search everywhere for hidden idols 94 Needs of Latin America and take them to the monks. Some have already gained the martyr’s crown by this act of zeal, for their own parents have put them to death in a cruel manner.” Martin de Valencia, another celebrated mis- sionary, wrote at the same time : “ We have estab- lished twenty convents, and increase their number daily ; for the Indians themselves help us and con- tribute for their construction with the greatest fervor.” The missionary Mateo, who resided in Caja- marca, Colombia, is another example of active work. He had a circuit of fifty towns and vil- lages which he visited in order, accompanied by children whom he had taught Christian doctrine. He wrote out his teachings in versified form, and had the children commit them to memory. On reaching an Indian village, the monk would enter first, carrying a cross, and the children followed in procession, chanting what they had learned. While teaching and exhorting, this worthy man liked to hold a skull in his hand to impress his hearers with an idea of the brevity of life and the torments of hell. He also liked to preach stand- ing near the graves of the pagan dead, and warn the living heathen to flee from a similar fate. Mateo was very abstemious, and, as if the ordi- nary hardships were not enough, he often beat himself until the blood flowed. The fact is, the chronicler is more inclined to praise all these mis- sionaries for their unnecessary acts of self- The Papists 95 torture than for their heroic endurance of un- avoidable hardships. The monks seem to have had as much difficulty in gathering the people for religious services, as the modern missionary encounters in some of the remote mountain districts, where clocks are almost unknown, and where time is not money. But the monks had authority and were not slow to use it. When the attendance of all was especially desired, as on some high feast day, certain officials were sent to remind the natives of the approaching fes- tival, and bid them go to bed early and get up betimes. Then about two or three o’clock in the morning the rounds were again made and all were awakened. — I was once aroused in a similar way in Ozumba, just before Holy Week. — The Indians were formed into two columns, one of men, the other of women. A special standard, generally red and stamped with an image of their patron saint, was carried in the procession ; and all chanted Christian doctrines while on the march. After entering the cemetery which was enclosed by a high wall, and adjoined the church, the roll was called. Absentees were sent for and given as punishment six lashes across the shoul- ders. The Indians resented this, so tradition has it that the monks persuaded Cortes to stay away on one occasion and then take his whipping like a man in presence of the assembled congregation. A picture was of course painted to commemorate this notable act of humility. It was kept in the 96 Needs of Latin America chapel of the Talabarteros, Mexico City, till that was destroyed, and then removed to the church of Santa Cruz Acatlan. 1 After roll call a teacher recited the lesson for the day twice in a loud voice and the natives re- peated it after him ; but if they remembered no more than did the children taught in the same noisy way in the public schools of the old regime, they remembered very little. The service in the church which followed was of the usual char- acter. Mendieta describes a system of object lessons sometimes employed, which calls to mind our modern illustrated Sunday school charts, which are of great use in our mission schools. There is nothing new under the sun. Some priests, who found it hard to make themselves understood in the Indian dialects, adopted a system similar to the Indian hieroglyphics, and had painted, on a strip of cloth, symbolical representations of the articles of the creed, the sacraments, the com- mandments, and scenes from the biblical narra- tive. “ And,” says our historian, “ when the preacher wished to preach on the commandments the cloth with the commandments was hung near him, on one side, so that with a rod, such as the constables carry, he could point out the part he wished. Thus he taught the commandments, and 1 Mex. at. Sig., vol. ii, p. 307. 97 The Papists he did the same when he wished to speak of the articles, hanging up the cloth on which they were painted. And thus he expounded clearly and dis- tinctly the whole Christian doctrine.” That the practise was not universal is shown by his sug- gestion that “ it would not be unfruitful if, in all the schools for boys, paintings of this kind should be used in order that (the truth) might be printed on their memories at a tender age, and there would be less ignorance than is often the case for lack of this.” 1 The Indians also had several systems of mne- monics of their own invention which Mendieta also describes. The simplest method consisted in representing very word or phrase by a stone or kernel of maize. By touching these in order the learner noted any omissions which might occur. For example, Pater noster, stone number one; qui es en coelis , the second ; sanctificetur, the third ; and so on to the end of the prayer. Another contrivance was much more ingenious and showed no little wit. The Latin or Spanish word was associated with an Indian word of similar sound, and the hieroglyphics of the Indian terms were painted on a strip of paper. For ex- ample, the word for twenty is pantli, and is rep- resented by a banner. Pantli suggests pater. Noster is suggested by Nochtli, a tuna or prickly 1 His. Ec. Ind. L. iii, Cap. xxx. 9 8 Needs of Latin America pear. This is, as complicated as any modern memory system. 1 The Lord’s Prayer was also written out in an equally curious sign language, using symbols which were a direct suggestion of the thought. For example, a priest or padre stood for “ our Father.” At an early date catechisms and other simple text-books were prepared to be used by those who could read. Reading was then and still is, how- ever, a rare and laborious art among the Indians of Latin America. In 1532, Sebastian Ramirez, bishop of Santo Domingo, had two catechisms of Roman Catholic doctrines translated into Mexi- can or Nahuatl. He asked the king to print them “ in order that the Indians may be,” as he says, “ better indoctrinated, and that those who know how to read may be fitted to teach others.” He modestly asks for only two or three thousand copies. In 1539, Zumarraga and Antonio de Mendoza set up a printing press in Mexico City and printed their own catechisms, in Spanish and Mexican. But there was no printing press in Brazil till the beginning of the nineteenth century; and only one for Argentina owned by the Jesuits of Cor- doba. Imperfect knowledge of native languages, in- accuracy of interpreters, and the lack of Indian 1 Idem, Lib. iii, Cap. xxix. 99 The Papists words to express Christian thought; together with the superficial character of much of the in- struction given, often in Latin, lessened the value of the finished product. We do not need to add anything to their own adverse criticisms on one another. Motolinia tells us that the In- dians when they called on Mary, “ thought they were naming God. And to all the images which they saw,” he adds, “ they gave the name of St. Mary.” This shows indirectly how unduly they exalted Mary instead of holding up only the crucified Son of God. Others prayed to St. James on his white horse, since he so powerfully helped the Spaniards, and must therefore be a god of note. You see they did not distinguish between latria and dulia; reverence and worship were all one to them ; and polytheism, which had made them familiar with many gods and with saint worship, only gave a new set of names to the lesser deities. The Virgin of the Remedies, is still invoked at the old shrine of Chalchihuitlicue, near Mexico City, as the goddess of rain. The Indians often put Romish crucifixes and images side by side with their own idols. This shows the jumble their minds are in. Mendieta says of the instruction given by the native teachers, whom the monks had tried to educate, that it “ was not very fruit- ful, for the Indians did not know what they were saying in Latin, nor did they abandon their idolatries.” Bishop Montufar admitted that many IOO Needs of Latin America “ learn the creed like parrots, without understand- ing it.” Yet the letter of requirement had been met ; and, as stated in some of our quotations, the ignorant natives were baptized in great crowds which were sprinkled en masse, with no indi- vidual examination, the same name being some- times given to all the members of a group. This reckless administration of the sacrament called out the severe criticism of stricter Roman- ists who forestalled our own Protestant animad- versions. They declared the rite invalid as ad- ministered. There was a hot discussion until the Pope called a halt, forgave the past, and told the missionaries to be more careful in future. It will not do to close this part of our dis- cussion without at least a brief reference to the various missions of the Jesuits. Their missions in California are perhaps best known to the Amer- ican people ; especially after their transfer to the Franciscans. In Brazil, the Jesuits gathered the Indians into villages, which prospered as long as the missionaries were in control. The so-called “ Reductions ” of Paraguay are perhaps, the most famous. The system which was rejected with scorn by the fierce tribes of the pampas, was suited to the milder temper of the Guaranies. The In- dians were gathered into settlements under the direction of Jesuit fathers, who gave their dusky children a rudimentary education, taught them the forms of Romish worship, and kept them busy in the tillage of the soil, the simpler trades and IOI The Papists mechanical arts; not altogether unlike a modern industrial school, only on a larger scale. Their patriarchal form of government has been likened to the socialistic paternalism of the Peru- vian Incas, and these Jesuits have been called the Manco Capacs of Paraguay. A fear that their power would grow unduly and prove a menace to the civil government of the colony, — a fear which some have laughed at, — together with the rival- ries of the Spanish and Portuguese colonists, led to the forcible suppression of this work, and the Indians soon drifted back into their old nomadic life. In 1767, the year in which the Jesuits were expelled, there were said to be 100,000 natives in 30 towns; in 1825 there were only 1,000 Indians living amid the ruins of their settlements. Sir Woodbine Parish says of the Jesuits that in “ about a century and a half, upwards of a mil- lion of Indians were converted to Christianity by them.” 1 Yet after this whole century and a half the Indians had failed to become independent in thought and action, and were still children. Was this result due to Indian character alone, or in part, at least, to the excessive paternalism of the system, and the nature of the doctrines taught ? For three centuries nothing occurred to inter- 1 History of Buenos Ayres, p. 256. 102 Needs of Latin America fere with the spread of the Roman Catholic Church in Latin America. The field was entirely her own. There grew up Iberian cities of con- siderable size whose wealthy inhabitants were noted for their lavish display. Here dwelt the foreign masters, the political rulers, landowners and merchant princes ; men of immense wealth, leading selfish, self-indulgent, often sensual lives. Even in the first century, so gross had become the corruption in Peru, that the missionary monk, Francisco de Solano, rushed into the streets of Lima, and tragically proclaimed its destruction ; winning, like Jonah at Nineveh, a sudden, but transitory, repentance. The people of foreign ancestry and of mixed race were very devout in their way. By their sympathy, their influence and their gifts, they strengthened the religious orders and the ecclesi- astical hierarchy. They loved the showy cere- monies of the church, but had little or no spirit- uality of thought or life. The Indians, toiling in the cities, on the extensive estates, or in the mines, were apparently devoted to the new faith. Multitudes flocked annually to the sacred shrines, once pagan, now Romanist. On high feast days the streets of the cities were bright with splendid religious processions. Massive churches and con- vents were everywhere to be seen; the cross crowned every hill top; the clangor of bells was constant. When the host was carried by in haste to the bedside of the dying, all fell upon their io3 The Papists knees, and ill-fared the luckless alien who, from ignorance or conviction, stood erect and covered. He was fortunate if he escaped with his life. It was no place for Protestants who were regarded as atheists or emissaries of the devil. In the old Spanish Viceroyalties, and in mon- archical Brazil, the church festivals were an op- portunity for the display of wealth, the enjoyment of profane amusements, and the making of love. Of Mexico, it is said, and the case is typical, that “ The canonization of a saint, the dedication of a church, the concession of a privilege to some re- ligious community, the appointment of a bishop, were observed as feasts with bull-fights, mas- querades and comedies, which were attended not only by the viceroy, but also by the archbishop and principal ecclesiastical dignitaries.” A writer from Brazil, of half a century ago, tells us that the pride of the celebrant was in the showy display at the feast and the quality of those who attended. This was evident even in the notices published in the papers. The faithful were urged “ to add to the splendor of the feast in honor of the most Holy Mother of Grief ” and assured of due reward if they did so. Another announcement stated that the Te Deum would be given “ with the greatest possible pomp,” and that “ there would be a beautiful display of fire- works.” The attractions at the feast of the Holy Ghost were even greater : Holy communion, pro- cession, Te Deum, sermon, and, on the next day, 104 Needs of Latin America the feast of the patron of San Gonzalo with “ brilliant horse-racing ” and “ magnificent fire- works.” 1 * Pagan Demetrius and his craftsmen, who made silver shrines of Diana, have their imitators in all Latin America. Here is Mr. Fletcher’s trans- lation of an advertisement which was published in a Brazilian paper: “ Notice to the Illustrious Preparers of the Festival of the Holy Spirit. “ In the Rua dos Ourives, No. 78, may be found a beautiful assortment of Holy Ghosts in gold, with glories, at eighty cents each, smaller sizes without glories, forty cents ; silver Holy Ghosts, with glories, at six dollars and a half per hun- dred; ditto, without glories, three dollars and a half ; Holy Ghosts of tin, resembling silver, sev- enty-five cents per hundred.” 21 The feasts all remind one of a Fourth of July celebration with its firecrackers, to which the clangor of bells must be added, except in a part of Passion Week, when noisy rattles take their place. Many candles are also burned. On Good Friday, in Brazil, little girls are dressed as gaudy angels, and men in robes carry torches. One angel “ carries the nails, another the hammer, a third the sponge, a fourth the spear, a fifth the ladder, and a sixth the cock that gave the warning 1 Fletcher and Kidder, Braz. and Braz., p. 147. * Idem. 1°S The Papists to Peter. Never are the balconies more crowded than on this occasion There is no pro- cession more beautiful or imposing than this. As I gazed,” Mr. Fletcher continues, “ at the long line of gown-clad men, bearing in one hand an immense torch, and leading by the other hand a brightly decked anjinho ; [angel] — as from time to time I saw the images of those who were active or silent spectators of that sad scene which was presented on Calvary, eighteen hundred years ago, — as I beheld the soldiers, helmet in hand and their arms reversed, marching with slow and measured tread, — as I heard the solemn chant issuing from the voice of childhood, or as the majestic minor strains of the marc he funebre wailed upon the night air — the aesthetic feelings were powerfully moved. But when a halt oc- curred, and I witnessed the levity and utter in- difference of the actors, the effect on myself van- ished, and I could at once see that the intended effect upon the multitudes in the street, and in the neighboring balconies, was entirely lost.” On one such occasion they forgot to supply the Indian who impersonated our Saviour on the cross with plenty of gall, that is, rum, according to contract — and he amused the spectators by shouting out : “ O, Mr. Jew, Mr. Jew, a little more gall ! ” Hallelujah Saturday, which follows Good Fri- day, is better known as Judas Day. The traitor represented by fantastic images is dragged 106 Needs of Latin America through the streets, hanged, beaten, quartered and ignominiously burned. In Mexico fireworks are attached to these effigies and they are hung across the streets and exploded as soon as the bells begin to ring again at ten o’clock Saturday morning. I have seen the Passion Play, — different from that of Brazil, — performed by Indians at Tlalpam and at Coyoacan. The Indians were fantastically dressed to represent Jews and Roman soldiers. Judas and the devil made fun for the crowd. Pilate washed his hands in a modern basin, and after sentence had been pronounced, an image of the Saviour, with flexible joints, was nailed to the cross, on a miniature calvary. The scene was very picturesque, but behind the hill the tired actors were cooling their heated throats with copious libations of pulque ; while in front, before a kneel- ing crowd, a priest addressed words of blasphe- mous adoration to a statue of the Virgin whom he called our co-redeemer and intercessor. The Son on the cross was forgotten, that his mother might be exalted. From the host of festal celebrations described by travellers in all the countries of Latin America, it is hard to tell which to select. The Lord of the Earthquakes has a pleasant name. It is curious to see an image of St. Peter fishing in the waters of the Pacific. Copocobana, high up in the Andes, on the shore of Lake Titicaca, has special claims on our attention ; for we are told that “ upon the Selling Images of Judas, to he Exploded io7 The Papists ruins of the pagan temples which existed there; and with the same materials, the astute missionary monks erected ... a magnificent edifice, one of the most beautiful on the continent. They seated upon the throne of the oracle an image of the Mother of Christ which is more renowned than any other effigy in America ; and they made her shrine the scene of annual festivals which called together the inhabitants of the entire Andean region.” Then we are told a pretty little story about the making of the image ; how it got to the spot and refused to be taken away ; also, of its miraculous powers. The worshippers approach with lighted candles. The priest takes the candles, spreads a robe of the image over their bowed heads, mumbles a few words and the ceremony is at an end. Outside, the fair, with its barter, gambling, and drinking is in full blast. How much better is this than the heathenism of the Incas ? Is this the Christianity of Christ ? And yet an American spectator, presumably a Protestant, made this comment on what he saw : “ The diplomacy and wisdom of the early Catholic missionaries is no- where more strikingly illustrated than by the skill with which they won to their church the reverence of the aborigines. In following a con- trary policy the Protestants have made a great mistake. The Catholics did not resist or attempt to obliterate the native customs of the Indians; but, with exceeding skill, turned them into new 108 Needs of Latin America channels, and finally amalgamated the most im- portant of them with the authorized festivals of their own church.” The shrine of Guadalupe, the most celebrated in Mexico, is the only other we shall mention. To win the devotion of the Indians, the story was circulated that, north of Mexico City, on a spot once sacred to Tonantzin, a heathen mother of the gods, the “ Mother of God,” in the guise of an Indian maiden appeared in chill December to a poor Indian, Juan Diego. At the sacred pressure of her feet a fountain of medicinal water bubbled up. Roses were plucked upon the barren hillside where nothing had ever grown before; and they imprinted their own living colors, in an image of the Virgin, upon the blanket of the astonished Juan, while he carried them in his arms to the bishop. A shrine was of course erected ; and the miracu- lous image hung in a conspicuous place. Mary had shown her love for the Indians; and they, in gratitude, flocked to her new sanctuary from all parts of the country; often going for miles upon their knees, and suffering other self-inflicted torture; and trying to wash out their sins in their own blood rather than in that of Christ. In the war for independence the Indians fought beneath the banner of Guadalupe. Viceroys, and a long line of Presidents and Dictators have done homage at her shrine. In 1895, with the sanction of the Pope and the presence of an American 109 The Papists Archbishop from the United States, a costly crown was placed above the image, and new popu- larity was given to the worship. Often have the Indians, dressed in native costume, danced their old sacred dances before the altar within the temple. Without, the town was crowded with Indians, and at the many booths some were drink- ing, others gambling, while under cover of the darkness worse vices were practised. So great has been the scandal, on several occasions, that one caustic Mexican said that the Trinity there worshipped were Venus, Bacchus and Birjan. Waddy Thompson, United States minister to Mexico about half a century ago, wrote that an indignant observer of the feast translated the motto about the image: Non fecit taliter omni natione, “ She never made such fools of any other nation.” Even at the present time, ladies in black silk and men in broadcloth, who are intelligent enough to know better, kneel at this shrine in the beauti- fully renovated chapel. Yet the story is but a cunningly devised fable. The historian Icazbal- ceta, himself a Roman Catholic, reported to Arch- bishop Labastida that the story had not an historic leg to stand on. There never was such an ap- parition ; nor any Juan Diego ; the image was painted by some man and used with intent to deceive. What good can come of all this idolatrous de- votion? Do not intelligent bishops and arch- no Needs of Latin America bishops blush as they think of the scandal of these feasts? It would seem not, for the railroads are to-day used to bring pilgrims by thousands. There is money in it both for the railroads and for the church. It will take more than the ridicule of many Zolas to shake Rome, or Lourdes, or Copo- cobana, or Guadalupe. The locomotive which now runs over the ancient causeway to Guada- lupe, and whistles irreverently before the pic- turesque old stations of the cross, will carry many thousands more before the hoary superstition falls in the dust. Only the quiet yet persistent teach- ing of the simple gospel of Jesus will lead the women of Mexico to take the medallions of Guadalupe from their necks and quench the candles which now burn before so many of her images in the inner sanctuaries of their homes. Then, and only then, will the shrine be left in silence and desolation. Another instrumentality used in the New World was the Inquisition. While this agency could not be employed against the Indians, its awful pro- cessions made their due impression on his imag- ination as well as upon the mind and heart of the foreign colonists who were the objects of solici- tude on the part of the Holy Office. In 1574, “twenty-one pestilent Lutherans” were executed. From 1575 to 1600 there were 879 processes in Mexico alone ; and 1402 in the following century. Torture was used to make Ill The Papists the victim confess or incriminate others; while the confiscated goods of the condemned were a source of revenue to the government and to the Holy Office. An eye-witness has left us a description of a most sumptuous auto de fe held in Mexico City at the beginning of the seventeenth century. This account is condensed from the original given in “ Mexico atraves de los Siglos.” Monks attended from all parts of New Spain, and took part in the long, sombre procession which wound, with lighted tapers, through the principal streets of the city, lavishly decorated for the occasion. The condemned also marched, es- corted by a strong guard. Crowds packed the sidewalks and the windows of the houses. Plat- forms were erected at great cost in the public square ; and the viceroy attended in person. On a pyramidal platform were placed the 124 penitents, three heretics condemned to the stake, and nineteen effigies of those whose bodies had eluded the grasp of the inquisitors. Just beneath the cross which crowned the summit, was seated a rebellious Calvinist, at the post of honor. Be- neath him were Judaizers and those guilty of witchcraft and blasphemy. The nineteen effigies were placed at the corners where their inscriptions could be read. The eye-witness said that it made a fine sight. The German Calvinist was a man of nerve and sturdy wit. All day he wore an irritating smile, and even joked with his guards, iia Needs of Latin America telling them not to get tired and yawn too much. He was gagged when tied to the stake, for fear of what he might say. The effigies, when burned, made a fine blaze. During four succeeding days the 124 penitents were whipped through the streets of the city, and some were afterwards sent to the galleys, others to perpetual imprisonment and their money to the coffers of the Holy Office. To show all the world their joy at this vindication of their most holy faith, the viceroy, with his high officials and the chief men of the city, went for a public drive. “ May it please God,” says the devout eye-witness, “ that all be to his glory ; the confusion of his enemies, and the praise of Jesus Christ, the blessed Virgin and all the heavenly court ; and may God prosper this holy and necessary office to the extirpation of all heresies. Amen.” In 1820 the Inquisition was suppressed forever in Mexico. Janvier says that “ there is a certain poetic fitness to be found in the fact that the last years of the Inquisition in Mexico were spent in combating strenuously the spread of Liberal- ism; that the last notable auto de fe (November 26, 1815) was that at which the accused was the patriot Morelos. The finding against him was a foregone conclusion. ‘ The Presbitero Jose Maria Morelos,’ declared the inquisitors, ‘ is an uncon- fessed heretic (hereje formal negativo), an abet- tor of heretics, and a disturber of the ecclesiastical Crowned with Thorns, Doing Penance The Holy Spirit on a Pole on Her Knees ”3 The Papists hierarchy ; a profaner of the holy sacraments ; a traitor to God, to the King and to the Pope.’ ” 1 Condemned and turned over to the secular arm of the law, Morelos “ was shot December 22, 1815. But it was the Inquisition that died.” It cannot be doubted that the bitter hatred aroused against the Dominicans on account of the In- quisition, helped in the downfall of the religious orders, at least in Mexico, and in Lima, Peru. Our picture of the olden days in papal Amer- ica will not be complete unless we add a few words about certain popular biographies of some of the missionary saints. Note well the standard of moral excellence which they hold up for popu- lar admiration. In the history of the papal church in Peru, three saints of Lima stand out conspicuously, namely, San Toribio, San Francisco de Solano, and Santa Rosa de Santa Maria. All three be- long to the first century of the church in South America, and the first two were self-sacrificing missionaries. We select Santa Rosa for our sketch. Her biography, which enjoys papal sanction, contains the story of much useless self-denial. The child was beautiful and pious. At the tender age of five years she set aside childish toys and began 1 Guide, p. 205. 1 14 Needs of Latin America her life of prayer, self-torture and penance, even registering a vow of perpetual virginity. When a fond mother tried to win her to a love of fine clothes, she concealed next to her skin instru- ments of torture. Within a wreath of flowers she hid pins to prick her delicate flesh. We are gravely told that a thousand such “ pleasing in- ventions ” could be named by which the little saint tried her own endurance — and that of her mother. Three days in the week the child fasted, taking only bread and water. She liked to mix bitter herbs or gall with her food. On special fasts she ate only five bitter orange seeds, and thought on the gall given Christ to drink. She only grew plumper and more beautiful on this diet, so that she had to rub her skin with red peppers to pre- vent the sinful glances of her youthful admirers. She hung herself on a cross while saying her prayers, and then lay down to sleep on thorns and stones scattered over her bed. She required but little sleep, and rose early to renew her de- votions. Thus the story continues. If the Pope ever read that biography, though I suppose he did not, how he must have laughed, nay rather, blushed with shame. What ideal was this to hold up, with papal sanction, before the women of Peru ! Looked at from that point of view it ceases to be amusing, and becomes unspeakably sad. Brazil rejoices in two notable saints. Of Jose de Anchieta it is well said that “ his self-denial The Papists !I 5 as a missionary, his labor in methodizing a bar- barous language, and his services to the state were sufficient to secure him an honest fame, and a precious memory.” In 1582 he founded the famous Misericordia hospital. His biographer was Simon de Vascon- cellos, Provincial of Brazil ; and Southey’s com- ment on the tale he tells is that for mendacity of this kind, the Jesuits of Brazil bear off the palm. It reads like American humor. Anchieta is called the New World Adam, whom men and beasts obey, who never sinned as did the first Adam. The pagan dead rose at his command and were baptized. Flocks of birds shielded him on his journeys from the hot rays of the sun. His garments healed diseases ; and after his death, water which £iad been poured once over his bones would effect a thousand cures. Some of his miracles are said to have been in better taste than those of the Bible ! This biography was sanc- tioned by the press censors of Lisbon. John of Almeida was Anchieta’s successor. His life shows what a man can do when he sets to work to keep his body under, and to save him- self by penance and good works. But what knowledge of Christ do men get from the perusal of such lives? Is it any wonder that some laugh, while others turn away in repugnance. Almeida had a fine assortment of hair and chain shirts. “ He had cilices,” says Fletcher, “ for his arms, thighs and legs ; one of which was 1 1 6 Needs of Latin America fastened around the body with seven chains ; and another, which he called his good sack, was an under vest of roughest horse-hair, having on the inside seven crosses made of iron, and covered with sharp points, like a coarse rasp or nutmeg grater. Such was the whole armor of righteous- ness in which this soldier of Christ clad himself for his battles with the infernal enemy.” He gave the devil all the odds, for he never disturbed the fleas and other vermin which drew what susten- ance they could from his emaciated body. His fasts were of the hardest kind. When, in old age, his instruments of torture were taken from him, he pitifully exclaimed: “What means have I now wherewith to appease the Lord? What shall I do to be saved? ” This was the model of sanctity whom rich and poor alike delighted to honor. His rags, the blood from his wounds, or any object that had touched his person, was pre- served as a sacred miracle-working relic. What a contrast to the life of our Saviour ! These lives of the saints, and others like them, show the perversion of the accepted moral and spiritual standards ; and gross ignorance of the plan of salvation. But what shall we say of the lives of priests and monks ? They were corrupted by the acquisition of wealth and power. They ceased to be missionaries, and, shut up in their monasteries, led idle, luxurious and often immoral lives. The religious orders, helpful in the first century, became, by the third, a positive hindrance The Papists ll 7 to progress ; while the priests carried “ their love for the family to paternity ” as one foreign eccle- siastic caustically remarked. Dr. A. L. Blackford, after sixteen years resi- dence in Brazil, wrote in 1876, that the moral results of Romanism “ have been graphically described by the Apostle Paul in the last twelve verses of the first chapter of the Epistle to the Romans. Not pne word of that tremendous in- dictment need be changed in reference to Brazil ; and doubtless the same is true in relation to all the countries where Romanism prevails. It is amazing to hear men who have access to the Word of God and the facts of history, and of the actual state of the world, attempt to apologize for, or even defend, Romanism. Romanism is not Christianity There is not an essential truth of the Christian religion which is not dis- torted, covered up, neutralized, poisoned and completely nullified by the doctrines and practises of the Romish system.” 1 There is corruption in morals that will not bear recital, gross ignorance, superstition and practi- cal idolatry. The intelligent reject the system, and become infidel, or at least indifferent to all religion. “ Twelve millions of souls in Brazil are in as urgent need of the gospel as are the pagans of China, India or Africa; and, as we shall presently see, are in an extraordinary degree pre- 1 Sketch of Missions, pp. 4, 5. 1 1 8 Needs of Latin America pared to receive it; yea, more, are urgently be- seeching that it be sent to them.” The united voices of all the Protestant workers in Latin America echo these statements and urge this ap- peal. To realize the condition of Latin America prior to the great awakening at the commencement of this century, we must go to such a country as Ecuador, and witness its poverty and degrada- tion ; for in the nations which, like Mexico, have begun to advance, you can no longer see much that Humboldt, and Waddy Thompson and Madame Calderon de la Barca so graphically describe. The testimony of all who have visited Ecuador corroborates what W. E. Curtis wrote as an eye-witness, in 1888. “ Bolivar,” he says, “ freed Ecuador from the Spanish yoke . . . but the priests had such a hold upon the people that liberty could not live in an atmosphere which they polluted, and the country lapsed into a state of anarchy which has continued ever since It is the only country in America in which the Romish church survives as the Spaniards left it. . . . One fourth of all the property in Ecuador belongs to the bishop. There is a Catholic church for every one hundred and fifty inhabitants. Of the popu- lation of the country ten per cent, are priests, monks or nuns ; and two hundred and seventy- two of the three hundred and sixty-five days of The Papists 119 the year are observed as feasts or fast days. The priests control the government in all its branches, dictate its laws and govern their enforcement, and rule as absolutely as if the Pope were its king. As a result seventy-five per cent, of the children born are illegitimate. . . . The peo- ple know nothing, but what the priests tell them ; they have no amusements but cock-fights and bull-fights ; and no literature. ... If one-tenth of the money that has been expended in building monasteries had been devoted to the construction of cartroads, Ecuador, which is naturally rich, would be one of the most wealthy nations, in proportion to its area, on the globe.” “ Although Ecuador is set down in the geogra- phies as a republic, it is simply a popish colony, and the power of the Vatican is nowhere felt so completely as here. The return of a priest from a visit to Rome is as great an event as the declara- tion of independence; and so subordinated is the State to the Church that the latter elects the Presi- dent, the Congress and the judges. “ As recently as 1883 a law was in force pro- hibiting the importation of any books, periodicals, or newspapers without the sanction of the Jesuits. A crucifix stands in the audience chamber of the President, and another on the desk of the presid- ing officer of Congress. All the schools are con- trolled by the church, and the children know more about the lives of the saints than about the 120 Needs of Latin America geography of their own country. There is not even a good map of Ecuador.” 1 This statement was published thirteen years ago, but it can still be quoted as the testimony of an eye-witness to what might have been seen in all Latin America before the struggle for religious liberty ; and it is still true, in varying degree, of many priest-ridden portions of the land. The ad- vances made in Mexico, and wherever religious liberty has been won, furnish positive evidence that on a corrupt church rests, in large measure, the responsibility for the undeveloped state of all the Roman Catholic countries which lie south of the United States. The mass of evidence is overwhelming for those who have lived face to face with this debased form of Romanism. No accumulation of isolated incidents can make on the mind and heart an im- pression equal to that which grows upon the Christian worker who has resided for any con- siderable time in Brazil, Colombia, Chile or even in Mexico. A thousand little incidents, innumer- able side-lights, constant petty tendencies, all make up a mass of proof that no one studying the question from the outside can be expected to fully understand. The traveller will give his chance impressions ; the resident foreigner engaged in business, when in a communicative mood, will cite many confirmatory facts; but, as a rule, re- 1 Capitals of Spanish America, pp. 306, 334. 1 2 I The Papists ligion is not the chief concern of either of these witnesses. The missionary is, after all, the best witness in this matter ; for he has given much time to its study. He talks on religious subjects with many different people; he sees the moral condition of the community. It is the universal testimony of all such that the Romanism of Latin America has failed as a religious guide and edu- cator. There is need for a reformation similar to that which awakened Europe in the days of the great religious reformers. It is both our duty and our privilege, to oppose truth to error, and win the victory for the pure gospel against Rom- ish idolatry. Lecture III-THE PATRIOTS He that endures for what his conscience knows Not to be ill, doth from a patience high Look only on the suffering cause, whereto he owes Those sufferings — not on his miseries, The more he endures, the more his glory grows, Which never grows from imbecility, Only the best composed and worthiest hearts God sets to act the hardest, constant parts. S. Samuel 123 Synopsis of Lecture III Introductory. — Nature of patriot’s task. I. Causes of Awakening. — Reorganization of colonies, Aranda. — Spain’s recognition of United States. — French Revolution. — Napoleon’s interference in Spain. — Spanish “ Juntas.” — The colonies rise. II. The Fight for Independence. — Four centres. 1. Brazil. — Neglected by Portugal. — Early attempts at independence. — Colony raised to co-ordinate rank with Portugal. — Independence. — Republic. — Religious liberty. 2. The Spanish colonies. — How organized and governed. — Restrictions and disabilities. — Encomiendas and reparti- mientos. (i.) Buenos Ayres and San Martin. — Spain alienates loyal colonies. — San Martin raises army at Mendoza. — Crosses the Andes into Chile. — Victory of Maypo. — Enters Lima. — Interview with Bolivar. — Resigns. (2.) Venezuela and Simon Bolivar. — Bolivar’s oath. — Sketch of his life. — Military career. — Passage of the Andes. — Victory of Carabobo. — Victory of Ayacucho. — End of struggle. — Bolivar’s character. (3.) Mexico and Miguel Hidalgo. — Part played by priests. — Hidalgo’s “ grito ” and march nearly to Mexico City. — Retreat, final capture and execution. — Ten years of warfare. — Union of Guerrero and Iturbide. — Final victory. III. The Struggle for Religious Liberty. — Prepara- tion necessary. — Bolivar’s belief, no creed be prescribed. — Liberal and clerical party. — Two questions, political and religious. — Roman Catholic the State church. — Other wor- ship illegal. Struggle in Mexico. — Unity of Mexican history. — Five periods : 1. Period of conquest. — See previous lecture. — Power and influence of monks. 2. Viceregal period. — Growth of State church in wealth and power. — Class distinctions. — Struggles between vice- roys and archbishops of Mexico City. — Unavailing attempts to curtail power of church. — Expulsion of Jesuits. 3. Period of war for independence. — Priests among patriots. — Higher clergy favored Spain. — Excommunicated patriots. — Clergy fearing Spanish constitution, changed front. 4. Period of Republic. — Ephemeral empire of Iturbide. — No party opposed to church, fight begins over Patronato, or appointing power to Episcopal sees. — Accusations against the church. — Three-cornered game, Liberals, Clericals and ambitious men after personal advancement. — Relative ad- vantages of the two parties.-— Clerical platform. — Liberal platform. — French intervention. — Plans of the Pope and the French Emperor.— Failure of Maximilian. — Juarez’ victory. Struggle in other countries.— In Guatemala. — Honduras. — Colombia. — Chile. — V enezuela. Conclusion. — Thus the door opened for entrance of Protestantism. 124 LECTURE III The Patriots Legislators, I shall make mention of an article which in my conscience I ought to have omitted. No religious creed or profession should be prescribed in a political constitution. Simon Bolivar. We have generous co-laborers within and without the republic, who with their pens, their influence and their money are aiding us, and they offer up earnest prayers for the salvation of our country. Redouble then your efforts. Benito Juarez. We are now to witness the third act in the re- ligious drama of Latin America ; the struggle for political and religious liberty. This is the work of a noble band of patriots. Before Protestants could enter and do their work these countries had to pass through a transition period of fratri- cidal warfare. At the time of the conquest the foreign invader was victor. He conquered the primitive inhabitants, reduced them to slavery, and proclaimed their conversion to Christianity. The mixed race and even the American born descendants of European parents were made to feel the yoke of inferiority, weighed down under vexations, exactions and humiliating disabilities. Then came the second great struggle. Every- where the people rose in indignant majesty. In- 135 126 Needs of Latin America dians, mestizos and men of Spanish or Portu- guese descent united to throw off the yoke of foreign domination, and but for the attitude of the United States would have done what they could to have helped Cuba and Puerto Rico do the same at that time. The power of the political oppressor was broken after ten years of fighting, but the ecclesiastical tyranny remained as op- pressive as before. This too had to be abolished. The little leaven of liberty must leaven the whole lump. The citizens of the new republics soon began to grow restive under the absolutism of political popery. Then began the struggle for religious liberty, the most magnificent and tragic act in all the drama. Of one portion of this struggle Daniel Webster said : “ We have a sister republic on our southern border, almost in mortal agony, and no one amongst us seems willing to lend it a helping hand.” 1 That struggle is still being waged in many parts of Latin America, such as Colombia. Ecua- dor is still hardly awake to her need for religious liberty ; while Mexico for more than thirty years has enjoyed the fruits of victory. Let us begin with a brief statement of some of the influences which led to a desire for politi- cal independence in the first decades of the nine- teenth century. Quoted in Mexico in Transition. The Patriots 127 The Spanish and Portuguese colonies of Amer- ica, although isolated and kept as far as possible in ignorance of passing events, were not wholly cut off from the influence of Europe and the United States. After the recognition of the in- dependence of the latter country by Spain, in 1783, the Count of Aranda, who foresaw the trend of events, recommended to Charles III. the reorganization of all his colonial possessions in America by the establishment of three kingdoms, namely, Mexico, Peru, and the Spanish Main, including what is now Venezuela and Colombia. Over these, members of the Spanish royal family were to be placed as kings ; and the Spanish mon- arch was to be supreme, with the title of Emperor. The scheme was rejected as too chimerical. The difficulties seemed insuperable, but possibly Spain, not to mention France, would now like to revive it under a modified form suited to the present conditions of political independence. From time to time there is much talk of a Latin American alliance, with one or another of these powers at the head. This was the bee in the bonnet of Napoleon III. Although the scheme of Aranda was rejected, thoughtful men could put two and two together, and it was easy to see that Spain, by recognizing the independence of the United States, that is, the right of the Eng- lish colonies to become independent, weakened her own hold on the Spanish colonies to the south of us. 128 Needs of Latin America The French Revolution, identified to a degree with the struggle in the United States, exercised a yet stronger influence on the minds of Latin American patriots; for, guided perhaps by a de- gree of race sympathy, the Latin Americans have always turned to France, even more than to our country, for the study of the principles of liberty. Every educated man among them reads French literature, and is imbued with French political and philosophical ideas. They love the words : Liberty, Equality, Fraternity; use the red liberty cap as an emblem ; and have no faith in the di- vine right of kings. The fact that the radicals had little respect for religion, least of all for po- litical popery, did not weaken the hold of French ideas on the minds of the liberal leaders. The conditions of the struggle made it more like that of France, than that of England or the United States. This will perhaps explain why, until quite recently, American writers did not rightly appreciate the nature of the conflicts in Mexico, Central and South America ; and why they have failed to sympathize, to any considerable extent, with the great liberal leaders of those lands. Napoleon also, without any intention of doing so, helped Latin America most materially in its fight for freedom. He interfered in Spanish af- fairs for his own private ends. The situation thus created served as pretext for a movement which could only end in entire independence of the mother country. The Patriots 129 In 1808, the divided Spanish royal family ab- dicated in favor of Napoleon, who put his brother Joseph on the Spanish throne. The American colonists were, as a rule, hostile both to Joseph and to the old monarch, Charles IV., but friendly to Ferdinand VII., whom they wished to see reinstated. Spain was soon rent by the struggles of civil war, and while the conflict lasted, Juntas, of which that of Cadiz was the chief, were or- ganized to govern in the name of the deposed monarch. The American colonies hesitated to accept the authority of these Juntas, preferring to organize their own, and declaring that the sover- eignty was represented by the people who would govern in the name of the monarch. A few were satisfied with this ingenious fiction ; but there were many more whose ultimate aim was entire independence. The offer of representation in the Spanish Cortes came too late to satisfy the Americans, and only whetted their appetite for liberty. It was an epoch of readjustment, and from the causes named ; and, amid the general unrest, ideas of independence found their way into all parts of Latin America. One student of the question tells us that within little more than a year, the widely separated colonies, with no chance for preconcerted action (there were no cables and telegraphs) declared for independence. “ A condition of things had been reached which made independence a necessity that could not be 130 Needs of Latin America suppressed, postponed, or evaded.” In 1810, steps looking toward independence, though not always its actual declaration, were taken “ on April 19, in Caracas ; May 25, in Buenos Ayres ; July 20, in Bogota; on September 16, in Mexico; September 18 in Santiago, Chile, and during the same month of September in most of the other colonies.” 1 In order to give unity and coherence to the mul- titudinous details, and get a clear, general idea of the whole movement, let us study the struggle for independence first in the Portuguese Colony of Brazil, then in Buenos Ayres and Venezuela, and lastly in Mexico. The struggle in Brazil is peculiar, from the fact that Brazil did not become a Republic until a comparatively recent date. Brazil, during its early history, suffered at different times from the attacks of Spaniards, English, French and Dutch; and was rather neglected by Portugal; but, after 1640, the Braganzas gave more attention to the colony. An early attempt at independence in Sao Paulo failed. The man selected for leader exhorted the insurgents to remain true to the crown and then retired into a convent. During the colonial pe- riod, Brazil was closed to outside commerce and 1 Mex. and U. S. ; M. Romero, p. 295. In Miller’s Memoirs, vol. i, p. 61. and Humboldt’s Personal Narra- tive, vol. v, p. 224, similar statements are made, but some of the dates are placed in 1809. The Patriots *3i intercourse almost as much as were the China and Japan of that day. And yet the leaven of liberty found entrance. In 1789, Tiradentes made a bold attempt at in- dependence, only to fail. But in 1808, Napoleon forced the Prince Regent to save his crown by taking refuge in Brazil. Once there, John VI. started a more liberal commercial policy, and the first printing press was brought to Brazil. The colony was raised to a co-ordinate rank with the mother country. Revolutions started, but were put down, in Pernambuco, Bahia and other points. In 1821 the people demanded a constitu- tion; and, in 1822, under the leadership of the Andradas, Dom Pedro I., the son of John VI., was proclaimed emperor of independent Brazil. For his opposition to representative government, and for other causes, he grew so unpopular that he thought best to abdicate in favor of his son Dom Pedro II. Under this monarch the coun- try grew steadily in wealth and population. The crowning achievement of the emperor in his long reign, was the emancipation of the slaves, of whom there were 1,500,000 in the empire in 1872. No one can read the political history of Brazil without noticing the frequent reference to revolu- tionary movements in various cities or provinces ; and the fact that the Republican party was slowly but steadily growing in strength. Al- though the individual movements were sup- pressed, the pressure at different times became so 132 Needs of Latin America great that several notable reforms were forced upon the government. These forward steps were mainly as follows : Equality with Portugal, independence of the mother country, a constitutional monarchy, and finally, November 15, 1889, a bloodless transition from an empire to a republic The aged em- peror, object of universal esteem, was exiled to- gether with his family, and the republic began under a provisional ruler. The following year a constitution similar to that of our own United States was adopted, and a president was elected. There have been several later revolutions ; as, for example, that in Rio Grande do Sul; but the chief magistracy has been held by worthy men who have striven to promote the advancement of their country. In all this work the state and city of Sao Paulo have played a prominent part. Perhaps it is just as well to complete our sur- vey of Brazil by referring here to the question of religious liberty. The old Portuguese colony was intolerant of any but the Roman Catholic church. Liberty of worship was, however, se- cured by gradual steps, and without a bloody struggle. This was due in large part, to the benign character of Dom Pedro II. ; to the fact that the crown had acquired at an early date the appointing power to ecclesiastical sees, and had received and distributed the tithes; and also to the lateness of the date, 1889, at which the Re- public was formed. The Patriots *33 The fifth article of the constitution of the Bra- zilian empire read as follows : “ The Roman Catholic shall continue to be the established re- ligion of the State; all other religions shall, how- ever, be tolerated with their special worship in private houses, and in houses designated for this purpose, without the exterior form of a temple.” This last clause means without steeple or church bell. The Republican constitution declares the separation of Church and State, religious liberty and the equal rights and privileges of all relig- ious denominations. Thus the door stands wide open for our propaganda ; although, in Brazil as elsewhere, public opinion still makes petty perse- cution easy to inflict and hard to punish in some localities. In 1897, the following contrast was drawn, and it could now be made still stronger. The writer says : “ In i860, the population of Brazil was 9,000,000, including more than 1,000,000 In- dians ; religious tolerance existed only in name ; the Roman church was a department of State, and the Jesuits controlled education, hospitals and public charities ; social purity was tainted by a dissolute priesthood ; communication with the in- terior was by muleback; there were only sixty miles of railroad ; two monthly steamers, and a few sailing vessels afforded the only communi- cation with Europe ; the postage of a letter to the United States was forty-five cents, and the time consumed in its transit was forty-five days. Now 134 Needs of Latin America the population is over 14,000,000 ; there are 5,000 miles of railroad, 12,000 miles of telegraph, two transatlantic cables and twelve lines of trans- atlantic steamers. . . . The new constitu- tion authorizes ‘ separation of Church and State ; secularity of public cemeteries ; the rite of civil marriage ; and religious liberty.’ ‘ All denomina- tions have equally the right to liberty of wor- ship.’ ” 1 This is a great advance ; a splendid victory. We turn next to the Spanish colonies of South America, and shall try to take in at a glance the leading features of their struggle for independ- ence. The widely extended possessions of the Span- ish crown were finally organized under four viceroyalties: Mexico, Peru, La Plata and New Granada; and five captaincies: Yucatan, Guate- mala, Chile, Venezuela and Cuba. It is not nec- essary to add that, as in the case of Brazil, these colonies were governed and exploited in the in- terests of the mother country. For nearly three centuries, until the French Revolution, and kin- dred movements called attention to the rights of man, the colonists submitted, as a matter of course, and with little more than occasional pro- tests, to all kinds of injustice. The Spaniards formed a distinct ruling caste whose interests were closely identified with those of the home 1 Historical Sketches of Presbyterian Missions, p. 306. The Patriots 135 government. They were in the colonies to get rich themselves, and to enrich Spain. The creoles, or Spaniards born in America, and their descendants of mixed race, were subjected to humiliating restrictions and disabilities. They could not, as a rule, hold any chief office in the government of the colony ; they were not allowed to travel abroad without a permit; schools were few and of inferior quality ; and the circulation of books and papers was discouraged whenever possible. At first a special privilege was granted the provinces of La Plata, allowing them to send an- nually to the mother country two ships of one hundred tons burden. Intercolonial commerce was prohibited under severe penalties. The mighty waterways of South America were thus closed for purposes of trade. The system of encomiendas and repartimentos decimated the Indians and filled their hearts with sullen rage. This found vent from time to time, in local up- risings ; and, on one occasion, in an insurrection which bade fair to involve all the Indians of the Andes and which led to barbarous massacres and great loss of life. When an Indian went to work in the mines, the farewell given was as to a man condemned to death. Worthless goods sent from Europe were forced upon the natives, often at an exorbitant price, though entirely unsuited to their wants. In one case a trader who had received a lot of 136 Needs of Latin America worthless spectacles, secured from the local au- thorities a decree that the Indians should wear spectacles at certain feasts, and thus the lot was disposed of, at a handsome profit, to Indians who could not even read . 1 The Church, however, grew and prospered in things temporal, and came to exercise an author- ity hardly second to that of the secular officers of the crown. Given the opportunity and the leader, and the revolt against the long oppression was sure to come. Napoleon made the opportunity by his humiliation of Spain, and amid a host of lead- ers of varying merit two rose to the highest emi- 1 The repartimiento was a privilege originally granted to the corregidores or governors of districts, with the best intentions, empowering them to furnish at a fair price to the Indians, articles of necessary consumption. This privilege, although regulated by law, inevitably de- generated, however, into a compulsory and oppressive exaction. Not only were dying mules, damaged goods, and other worthless articles forced upon the Indians, at double or triple the value of the best commodities of the kind, but razors (for men without beards), silk stock- ings (for Indians who go barefoot), spectacles (for people who retain their eyesight unimpaired to very old age), and articles of luxury, the very use of which was unknown, formed part of the supplies which they were compelled to purchase. The collection of the royal tribute afforded the corregidor another pretence for ex- actions ; while the priests to whose spiritual guardian- ship the Indians were assigned, plundered them without mercy of the little which escaped the rapacity of the governors. “ The Modern Traveller, Peru,” by Condor, p. 30. The Patriots 137 nence in South America: San Martin of Buenos Ayres and Simon Bolivar of Caracas. The history of the movement in Buenos Ayres in its early stages is but another illustration of Spanish incompetency and obstinacy. As usual Spain was her own worst enemy. Obliged to leave the people to defend themselves against English and Portuguese aggressors, Spain alien- ated the good will of the loyal colony by refusal to grant needed reforms and by the denunciation of the defenders of her authority as insurgents and traitors. A long and bloody struggle fol- lowed. Ferdinand VII., when appealed to for the redress of grievances, replied with new threats ; until, goaded to desperation, the colonists issued their declaration of independence and carried it into effect. This was on July 9, 1816. In the meantime Bernardo O’Higgins and others had begun a similar struggle in Chile, and were in need of help. Peru also, which had been for centuries the stronghold of Spanish author- ity, could hardly hope to succeed without outside assistance. The needed aid was to come from Buenos Ayres. The man to bring it was San Martin. Jose de San Martin was a creole, born in Ya- peyu, South America, in 1778, educated in Spain, and imbued with the ideas of Miranda, “ the apostle of South American liberty ” ; who, driven from his homeland, worked from London as a centre. San Martin rose to eminence in the army 138 Needs of Latin America of Buenos Ayres, and when the time was ripe to reach out into the parts beyond, conceived the plan of crossing the Andes into Chile whence he could advance on Peru. He resigned his supreme command of the army, and withdrew to Mendoza on the frontier. Ladies, we are told, gave their jewels to aid the cause, and heroic men volun- teered to serve simply from love of liberty. The little army grew slowly. San Martin was helped by the mechanical genius of a monk, Luis Beltran, who cast shot and cannon for the army. Mitre calls him the Archimedes of the army of the Andes. 1 In 1817 this band of determined men set out from Mendoza under a battle flag made by the women of the town, and adorned with a glowing ' figure of the sun, the ancient symbol of the Incas. Sixty years later it was wrapped about the body of the hero who had made it immortal. The fate of the army of liberation hung in the balance, because of a previous repulse, when, on May 5, 18x8, they met the enemy at Maypo. The leader is said to have exclaimed : “ I take the sun to witness that the day is ours ” ; and as he did so the great luminary rose behind the Andes and shone upon the banner which bore its image. The soldiers thrilled at the sight ; and the victory won that day consolidated the independence of Chile. Peru yer remained, and the people hesitated to 1 Butterworth’s Translation. The Patriots 139 do anything themselves, the Spanish forces were so strong and so well entrenched. Under Lord Cochrane the army was taken by sea to the port of Callao, and after much patient waiting and successful diplomacy the people were induced to assist in their own liberation and Lima was en- tered. This was the culmination of San Martin’s triumph. Soon after, to avoid the clash of dif- ferent plans and opinions, he withdrew, with noble magnanimity, in favor of Bolivar, with whom he had a memorable interview and who was to carry on the work to its final issue. San Martin, in the proclamation which he is- sued on leaving Peru, in 1822, made this proud boast : “ I have proclaimed the independence of Chile and Peru ; I have taken the standard with which Pizarro came to enslave the empire of the Incas ; and I have ceased to be a public man. ... I have fulfilled my promises to the coun- tries for which I have fought ; I have given them independence.” 1 It was an act of splendid abne- gation, worthy the true hearted patriot whom his country has at last learned to honor. A magnifi- cent mausoleum now marks his resting place in the Cathedral at Buenos Ayres. His victory was not, as he well knew, the end of the struggle. The Spaniards rallied their forces. There was work for Bolivar to do before the final victory could be won. To understand Parish, Buenos Ayres, p. 85. 140 Needs of Latin America this juncture in the two movements we must turn our gaze northward, and note what had been going on for several years in Venezuela and Colombia. Simon Bolivar is universally proclaimed as the greatest hero of the struggle for independence in South America. He drew his inspiration in part from Miranda ; from what he witnessed of the French Revolution in Paris; from his study of the United States; and from his admiration for George Washington. On the sacred Aventine Mount in Rome, as far back as 1805, he had pledged himself to the liberation of his native land; and right nobly did he redeem that pledge. Returning from Europe, in 1809, he passed through the United States and made a personal study of the working of our free institutions. He brought Miranda to Caracas, and, when on July 5, 1811, Venezuela declared her independence, he took a prominent part in the movement. His career as a soldier was marked by every kind of good and evil fortune ; now victorious, now driven into exile by overwhelming defeat; anon, narrowly escaping assassination. But he was always ready, sooner or later, to resume the struggle, either in Colombia, or in Venezuela. He crossed the Andes with his army, leading the soldiers through the cold and snow of the high altitudes, a feat worthy to be compared to Han- nibal’s passage of the Alps. He eventually in- flicted an overwhelming defeat upon the Span- The Patriots 141 iards at Carabobo. The vanquished remained shut up in Puerto Bello until their surrender two years later to General Paez; when Venezuela and New Granada were united under the name of Colombia. Bolivar, however, was not yet ready to sheathe his sword. He went to the help of the valiant Sucre, who had gained brilliant victories in Ecua- dor and Peru. Quito fell into their hands in 1822; and on Dec. 9, 1824, the patriots and Spaniards met at Ayacucho. After an hour of desperate struggle the patriots triumphed, and liberty was practicably achieved, although the Spaniards held on for a little while longer to Cal- lao, their last stronghold. Upper Peru was or- ganized into a new state and named Bolivia, in honor of the liberator. The different republics vied with one another in honoring the victorious hero ; and this formed the happiest period in his career. A little later differences of opinion grew into dissensions. There were mutual recrimina- tions ; Bolivar resigned his authority and died on the way to exile ; his death being hastened, in all probability, by the accusations of his detractors. He gave his time and wealth to the cause of liberty, in which he also spent the strength of his manhood ; and when all the difficulties which he overcame are taken into account, we see that he deserves to be ranked as one of America’s great- est heroes ; as one of the fathers of American in- dependence. All Spanish America now delights 142 Needs of Latin America to do him honor. He was sincere when he said : “ My only ambition is the freedom of my fellow citizens. My love of the independence of South America has caused me to make different sacri- fices, sometimes in peace, sometimes in war. I shall never refuse these sacrifices, because he who abandons all to be useful to his country loses nothing, but gains all he consecrates.” “ In his day Bolivar was South America. His heart, thoughts and deeds were her pulse beat and her destiny.” 1 A truth uttered by Bolivar, is as strikingly ex- emplified in the history of Mexico’s struggle, as in that of South America. He said : “ The seed of liberty yields its just fruit. If there is any- thing which is never lost, it is the blood which is shed for a just cause.” 2 It is not possible to mention, by name, the many martyrs who shed their blood that Mexico might be free. Nor can we follow in detail the ten years’ struggle, with its innumerable battles, its frequent victories, and more frequent defeats. The two great heroes in the first stage of the movement were priests, Hidalgo and Morelos. A third, Matamoros, was a general of the latter. The initiative was taken by Hidalgo on Sept. 16, 1810, when he rang the bell of the parish church of San Miguel, and started forth with the little com- 1 South Am. Butterworth, p. 67. s Idem, p. 66. The Patriots 143 pany thus gathered. He was himself an edu- cated, thoughtful man, of quiet manners, and pleasing address, more of a philosopher than a general ; but, withal a born leader of men. Al- lende, a captain in the Spanish army, became his chief general, and divided the honors of supreme command. While on the march, Hidalgo took from the chapel of Atotonilco a picture of the Virgin of Guadalupe and made it his battle flag. This aroused the religious fanaticism of the Indians who flocked to the new standard, hoping to avenge their wrongs upon the hated Spaniards. The massacre of hundreds who were taken pris- oner is the one blot on the career of Hidalgo as a general. He soon became master of Guanajuato and Morelia, and cities of lesser note ; until, at last, after defeating the Spaniards at Las Cruces, he stood upon the summit of the mountains which overlook the city of Mexico, and gazed upon the magnificent panorama of that most beautiful of valleys. How his heart must have thrilled, and how he must have longed to advance and take the capital city and end the struggle. But his army was only a rabble of 100,000 undisciplined, poorly armed men and with but little ammunition. He dared not hurl them against disciplined troops and a fortified city. Some still question the wisdom of his course. They say he had gone too far to turn back. Be that as it may, he withdrew, and i 4 4 Needs of Latin America after the varying fortunes of war was captured and shot on July 30, 1811. Then followed ten years of bloody, guerrilla warfare in all parts of Mexico. From time to time some leader would rise into prominence only to disappear in defeat. For several years Morelos and his generals maintained a bold front in Guer- rero and the South, and at one time it seemed as though they would win against all odds. Morelos is famous for his hundred victories, and for his successful resistance when besieged in Cuautla. But he was taken prisoner, tried be- fore a revived court of the Inquisition, and shot. Finally it seemed as though the only hope of the nation was centred in Vincente Guerrero, who still held his army together in the moun- tain fastnesses of the state since so justly called by his name. The struggle might have dragged its weary length indefinitely across the years, had not Iturbide joined forces with Guerrero, united opposing elements for the time and forced O’Donoju, the last of the viceroys, to recognize the independence of Mexico. Guatemala and the rest of Central America followed, and all Latin America, save Cuba and Puerto Rico, was free and independent. The people had won their political liberty. An- other long struggle was to follow before they were to learn how to use it wisely ; for some of the new republics are still very far from having The Patriots *45 learned the lesson. This slowness and inability will not surprise us if we contrast the education in self-government enjoyed by the Anglo-Saxon colonists with its lack among the Latin Ameri- cans. One of their earlier statesmen remarked: “ Ours is as yet but the A. B. C. of government ; the beginnings of which had better be kept out of view.” The people have had to learn that there is “ no such thing as liberty in the abstract,” that public opinion must be educated in the usages of peaceful discussion, and that revolutions are not a panacea for all political ills. Self-control had to be acquired. The press had to be unmuz- zled and allowed to suggest and criticize. The countries so long isolated had to be opened for free contact with the world. For all this, time was needed. The wonder is, not that the progress has been so slow, but that so much has been done under such unfavorable conditions. The veterans in the great struggle did well to wave their tat- tered battle flags and shout : “ Liberty and inde- pendence ! ” Political independence was a step in the right direction, but its fruits could not be enjoyed to the full, or even ripen properly, until religious liberty, with its attendant popular education, freedom of the press, and right of private judgment, had been secured. We are now to witness the strug- gle for religious liberty. A Mexican friend said to the writer: Did you ever notice that until the flag stamped with the 146 Needs of Latin America Virgin of Guadalupe was replaced by the Mexi- can tricolor, independence was not achieved? Bolivar also said of the clause in one of his con- stitutions, which made the Roman Catholic the exclusive religion, that his conscience told him that it ought to be omitted ; that “ no religious creed or profession should be prescribed in a po- litical constitution.” Unfortunately he was in ad- vance of his age, and only a few men were edu- cated to the point where they saw the need and the value of religious liberty. In the study of this chaotic period of revolu- tions, we shall find it hard to thread our way through the long labyrinth of cross purposes which often express nothing but personal ambi- tion. Yet, after further study, we shall find that the leaders were divided into parties on two prin- cipal questions. One was the question of a fed- eral government with states similar to those of our own United States ; or a more centralized re- public, like that of France, divided into depart- ments. The other issue was between a conserva- tive or clerical party, and a liberal party, the lat- ter being sometimes violent in its opposition to the church. Often the two issues were combined, and the liberals were also federalists; while the clerical party believed in a more centralized form of republic, or openly favored monarchy. All the constitutions of the new Spanish repub- lics contained articles which declared the Roman The Patriots *47 Catholic Church to be the established church, and making it the only one allowed by law. This action was natural at that time, and all the far- reaching consequences were not foreseen. The debate in the Peruvian Congress was an interest- ing one ; and throws light on the whole question. We have, in his published letters, the statements of Mr. James Thomson, an agent of the B. F. B. S., who was present in Lima at the time. This was in 1822. The article as submitted read: “ The religion of the state is the Catholic, Apos- tolic Church of Rome.” 1 The fight was on the word “ only ” or “ exclusive ” which one of the Committee on Constitution wished to have in- serted. The first speaker in the public debate on this amendment was a Roman Catholic clergy- man who read from a Bible Society New Testa- ment 1 Cor. 1 : 12, 13 which speaks of the divi- sions in the Corinthian church. He wished the Article to read, “ The religion of Jesus Christ is the religion of the State.” He deprecated any kind of persecution or compulsion. Another speaker also arose with the Bible in his hands and quoted from the writings of Moses two passages which enjoined the kindly treatment of strangers. It was evident that the only Prot- estants he had in mind were foreigners. 1 Letters on the Moral and Rel. State of S. Am., J. Thomson, pp. 60, 63 and 108. 148 Needs of Latin America Still another clergyman, of advanced age, ad- vocated Christ’s law of love. The conservative element, however, was too strong and the article as adopted read : “ The Roman Catholic Apostolic Religion is the religion of the state and the ex- ercise of every other is excluded.” Speaking on this same theme another congress- man once remarked to Mr. Thomson : “ Why such ado about toleration. We ourselves do not need any such thing, and the foreigners who are here seem very little concerned about the sub- ject. It was not religion that brought them to this country, but commerce. Give them money, therefore, in exchange for their goods, and they will seek nothing else.” Among those who entered a protest when tol- eration was denied was a priest at the head of the principal college in Lima. The fact is they ex- pected all their countrymen to remain good Ro- man Catholics, and the question was discussed as related to foreigners, or as purely philosophical. “ Now,” says Mr. Thomson, “ can you tell me when such things took place in any other country and originating wholly from a philosophical view of the matter ? ” Long debates on the same question occurred in the Mexican Congress, in which the liberals took the same high stand. The fact is, the conflict be- tween Church and State, as fought out in Mexico, is so fine and finished an example of this struggle, The Patriots 149 that it will probably be more profitable for us to describe it somewhat in detail, instead of giving a general statement about all the republics in turn. This is the conflict which from the very outset, has given unity and logical sequence to the long periods of revolution which make such dreary wastes in the history of this long-suffering people. For greater clearness of treatment we must go back to the time of the Conquest, and refer again to the forces which then began to work. We have the period of the planting of Roman Catholicism among the Indians ; and the vice- regal period, in which forces and tendencies were developed which hint at the nature of the coming conflict. Then follows the war for independence, which we have just described; and lastly the rivalries of the liberal and clerical parties under the republic. Mr. Jose M. Vigil in his treatment of this theme says in substance that “ superficial critics will perhaps see only a chaotic mass of revolutions, without rhyme or reason, and there- fore doubt the ability of the Mexican people ever to maintain a stable government. This is because such critics fail to see that the causes which made possible the career of Santa Anna and Maximilian were at work from the very beginning of the so- cial evolution of the Mexican people. Few peo- ples, indeed, present an historical unity as homo- 150 Needs of Latin America geneous, compact and harmonious, so to speak, as Mexico offers to the eyes of a close observer.” 1 Hon. Matias Romero, a statesman and student of Mexican history, says practically the same thing in his study of the causes and philosophy of the Mexican revolutions. Of the struggle from 1821-1867, he says: “ It is no wonder that such a struggle should last nearly fifty years, when it is taken into consideration that Mexico passed during that period, through complete social and political evolution, while, in the older countries of Europe, similar changes have required the lapse of centuries and the shedding of torrents of human blood.” 2 Cortes, while he advocated the sending of mis- sionaries to convert the Indians of Mexico, urged the Spanish monarch, in order to avoid abuse of power, not only to appoint the priesfs and monks, but also to provide for their maintenance thus placing them absolutely under the control of the civil authority. The plan was not carried out in its entirety ; but its proposal affords abundant evidence of the difference between our point of view, and that of all who have grown up in Latin America. We believe in the entire separation of church and state. They inherit the traditions of a state church. We have already told the story of monkish mis- 1 Mex. at. Siglos, vol. v. 8 Mex. and U. S., p. 394. The Patriots 151 sion work in Mexico. It is only necessary to point out, in this connection, that the priests and monks enjoyed many immunities and privileges, incident to the commencement of a work like theirs, which they would be slow to relinquish later on ; and which would be almost sure to bring them into conflict with the civil authorities. Their spheres of jurisdiction overlapped. The monks claimed and exercised the right to punish native offenders, to settle disputes between Indian con- verts, and to defend the rights of the Indians against civil officers. In spite of continual rival- ries between priests and monks, the clergy had a strong organization and could hold their ground against all opponents. The Indians looked upon them as their protectors and followed them with blind and superstitious devotion. During the long viceregal period, which cov- ered nearly three centuries, the hold of the church on all classes was enormously strengthened. In those days there were very strong class distinc- tions in Mexico, as in all the rest of Latin Ameri- ca. The hewers of wood and drawers of water, the laborers in the fields and toilers in the mines, the burden bearers, in every sense of the word, were the Indians, who suffered in angry silence. Next above them came the mixed race and the creoles, of varying degrees of wealth and culture. We have already dwelt upon their deprivation of political and commercial rights under the colonial government. At the top were three privileged I S 2 Needs of Latin America classes, not to say four, as a rule, and these were of pure Spanish descent. They were the civil officers of high rank, the merchant princes, the leaders of the army, and the high ecclesiastical dignitaries. As long as all these were in accord the leaders of the independent forces could make but little headway ; but when the church threw in its influence with the patriots they speedily tri- umphed. The strength of the church had already been shown in several struggles between different vice- roys and archbishops of Mexico. Take for exam- ple the fight in 1624, between Archbishop Juan Perez de Serna, and the Viceroy, the Marquis of Gelves. The viceroy had taken a decided stand against certain abuses. He attacked the practice, followed by some men and women of having por- traits of their lovers painted with the insignia of saints and placed in their rooms. He also ex- communicated those who sold pulque to the In- dians in Xochimilco, and denounced the abuses which occurred at certain processions in Lent. At the command of the Audiencia he withdrew his censures, but complained to the king. The new viceroy told the archbishop what he thought of all this and accused him of taking gifts and having a butcher’s shop in his house where he sold meat at a high price. The prelate resented the insult. The fight began and people took sides. Other matters of a similar kind came up until, at length, affairs were brought to a crisis by the at- The Patriots 1 53 tempt to set a guard over Melchor Perez, who was guilty of certain abuses and had fled for refuge to the convent of Santo Domingo. The arch- bishop ordered the withdrawal of the guard set by the viceroy, whose presence he regarded as a violation of ecclesiastical immunities. Then Serna and Perez plotted against the viceroy, and the prelate excommunicated the viceroy. The bishop of Puebla removed the ban of excommunication ; then the archbishop was removed by force from the city, and the populace made threats against the officers of the law. The archbishop was taken as far as Teotihuacan, a few miles from the city, whence he put the capital under interdict. This angered the people against the viceroy ; the palace was attacked and set on fire ; and a priest absolved all who took part in the attack. When the tumult was at its height the arch- bishop returned followed by 4,000 men. The bells pealed forth their joy ; the churches were reopened ; and the viceroy was virtually deposed and forced to flee. The only punishment inflicted on the archbishop by the king was to transfer him to another see. This leniency served only to in- crease the arrogance of the clergy. Thus, at that early date, we find in the New World a conflict similar to that once waged between the Pope and the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire ; and which was to lead to bloody warfare on the Amer- ican continent as it had done in Europe. The dis- tance of the American colonies from their mon- 154 Needs of Latin America arch, and the slowness of communication with Spain, made this power of the clergy an even greater menace to liberty here than there. The growing wealth and power of the clergy, in all his American dominions, was pointed out to the Spanish monarch by his more observant counsellors. There were efforts after reform, but the fatal mistake was made of attempting to se- cure the consent of the clergy to the curtailment of their own power; a request which they nat- urally refused. History shows us that it is only with a strong hand that such changes are effected ; and only after the evil has become so great that the people rise and compel reform. The only ef- fective blow struck was that aimed at the Jesuits, who were expelled in 1767; but this made no change in the relations between church and state, and the Jesuits subsequently returned, although never to take up mission work as before. It is true that, during the war for independ- ence, from 1810-1821, many of the leaders in the patriot army were priests ; but they were de- nounced, anathematized and excommunicated by the bishops; and, when captured, were degraded, tried before a revived court of the Inquisition, and handed over to the secular authorities to be executed. Some of the bishops made themselves ridicu- lous by the number and violence of their anathe- mas; and also by their pusillanimity in with- drawing the same whenever the patriots gained The Patriots *55 control in their Episcopal cities. It all went to show that the clergy, as an organized body, put the retention of its power and wealth above the independence and prosperity of the people as a whole. It was this attitude which has led to the frequent denunciation of the Mexican clergy by liberal orators, as having thrice proved themselves traitors to their country, namely in the struggle for independence, the war of American invasion in ’46, and the French intervention and the empire of Maximilian, in the sixties. And yet, strange as it may at first seem, it was the clergy who, by a change of front, shortened the first of these conflicts,' and turned the scale in favor of independence. They deserve no spe- cial credit for this, since they seem to have been animated by purely selfish motives. After ten years of guerrilla warfare the royal troops, supported by the Spaniards and the clergy seemed to have triumphed over the patriots in all but one region. There were guerilla bands under Victoria and others, but only Guerrero had what might be called an army. Iturbide, who had been successful as a royalist commander, and who had won an unenviable rep- utation because of his personal greed and his cruel severity in dealing with his patriot oppo- nents, had been for some time idle in Mexico City, and was, in all probability, piqued by the manner in which he had been ignored. He was suddenly summoned into the presence of the viceroy and 156 Needs of Latin America asked if he would take command of an army and crush Guerrero. To this proposition he at once consented, but the viceroy was completely in the dark as to the reason for such acceptance. He was to act not as the agent of the viceroy, but of the priests. 1 We now know something of the secret his- tory of that period. In 1812 a constitution was given to Spain and her colonies. It was soon set aside, though welcomed with joy in Mexico ; but it was again enforced in 1820. There were clauses in this constitution which the clergy did not like, and which they regarded as an attack on their authority. They thought they could retain a firmer hold on their prerogatives should Mexico cut loose from Spain. They, therefore, decided to mount and drive the car of state. They met in secret conclave, we are told, and chose Iturbide for their charioteer; that is, as the general of their army. No one, not in the secret, had any reason to doubt his loyalty to the cause of the viceroy. It was not very difficult for priestly influence to se- cure his appointment to command the army sent against Guerrero. Finding that he. could not crush Guerrero, and then turn back alone to win independence, he made an alliance with the re- 1 Mr. Vigil’s description of their manipulation of af- fairs is intensely interesting, and, withal, instructive. Mex. at. Siglos, vol. v. The Patriots 157 publican leader. Thus was a sudden, unexpected, surprising change wrought, with no bloody bat- tles, and in the space of a few months. The army of liberation grew by defection from the forces of the viceroy, and Iturbide was everywhere ac- claimed as the popular hero, his former opposi- tion being forgotten in the joy of the moment. While in authority he did what he could to con- solidate the power of the church, and, even as emperor, was subservient to the party which had made possible his phenomenal success, and which still speaks of him as the great leader in the war for independence. With the coming of independence the contest centred about a new point which was disputed with great bitterness. The Emperor Iturbide was soon overthrown and later was shot. The re- publican party came into power, drafted a con- stitution, and elected a president. The republi- can leaders of that day were all devoted to the church, and had no intention to separate church and state. In spite of the abolishment of the In- quisition, the disrepute into which Episcopal anathema had fallen by its unavailing use against the patriot leaders; and the ludicrous fact that the Virgin Mary was divided against herself, serving under the name of Virgin of the Remedies as a general in the Spanish army, and as the Virgin of Guadalupe in that of the patriots ; the people, from long habit, were still devoted to the papacy. There was, however, one point at issue ; 1 58 Needs of Latin America and the conceding of this demand of the clergy would have made the Church stronger and more absolute under the republic than when Mexico was under the Spanish monarchs. The monarchs by concessions from the Pope, exercised the right of appointment to episcopal sees, subject to papal approval. When inde- pendence was won, the clergy of Mexico claimed that the patronato, as it was called, was not vested in the Chief Magistrate of the New Re- public, but had reverted to the Church. The ultra clerical party sustained this view, while another party was formed which declared it to be the right of the Mexican President. We need not go into the details of the struggle. Both parties appealed to the Pope, who, of course, did not wish to decide against the Church, and, therefore, put them off with evasive answers. A little greater firmness on the part of the govern- ment at the outset might have ended the matter ; but this difference of opinion was allowed to serve as the entering wedge, and the breach widened until Church and State were cleft asunder. The Church had overrated her power to con- trol the situation. Had she yielded, a different turn might have been given to affairs. Insistence embittered opposition, and thus the liberal party came into being. Statesmen began to study the question in all its aspects, and to put their own interpretation on the Church’s use of her vast wealth to maintain political supremacy. As the The Patriots l S9 struggle intensified, and the liberal leaders grew bolder and more outspoken, impassioned charges were made. The clergy were accused of gross immorality, and the need of a moral reformation was dwelt upon. They were accused of failure to be true to their trust. Attention was called to the enormous wealth of the Church, covering vast territories, with millions of ready money at command for loans and for political uses. Ro- mero says that at one time the Church controlled two-thirds of the wealth of Mexico. What use, men asked, was being made of this enormous wealth? Large sums, said they, are being em- ployed, not in promoting the moral and spiritual interests, entrusted to her care, but to buy up political leaders and help pay armies to fight the battles which should make permanent her politi- cal supremacy. The union of Church and State furnished an argument against the clergy which acted like the boomerang which unexpectedly returns to smite the man who hurls it. The argument of the liberal leaders was as follows, and it seems to be cogent. They said in substance : The Church is recognized and supported as a part of the State by the people — who are the State — to do for the people a certain moral and spiritual work. The great wealth of the clergy is due to grants, gifts, contributions, special privileges, and laws, such as that of the tithe; all hav- ing in view the moral benefit to accrue to the 160 Needs of Latin America people. In a sense, also, this wealth, given to an established Church, or arm of the State, belongs to the government, whose trustees, charged with its wise and proper administration, are the clergy. If now the clergy refuse to recognize the appoint- ing power of the State, the trust can be taken from them as rebellious agents. If, farther, they misuse funds meant for purely religious purposes, by employing them against the State and in fomenting revolutions, they are false to their trust and have forfeited these possessions, which were never exclusively theirs, but belonged to the Church as part of the State. These funds and properties, if forfeited by unworthy ecclesiastical administrators, must revert to the State. The property, said they, is not confiscated, in the popu- lar meaning of the word, but nationalized ; that is, returned to the nation to be used as it shall deem best. This, I believe to have been the gist of the ar- gument which gathered voice and volume as the struggle went on, and the liberals waxed eloquent and angry. Granted the premises, and the rea- soning looks suspiciously like a syllogism, which is a dangerous weapon, especially in the hands of philosophical theorists, who are also practical statesmen. There was also another kind of argument, very practical in its results, which friend and foe alike used with commendable pertinacity. It served to drain the Church of its treasure, little by little, The Patriots 161 with no corresponding benefit to the State or the people. With all my Protestant beliefs in the per- niciousness of the system that was wrecked be- tween the Scylla and Charybdis of the two par- ties, I cannot help sympathizing with the bishops in their terrible dilemma. They had heaped up wealth and adorned their churches with costly ornaments of gold and silver, and precious stones. The Church always had money hidden away some- where. The government, on the other hand, was always short of funds. The liberals, when in power, after first fears had been blunted, stripped the churches or secured forced loans from the clergy; and justified themselves on the ground that all belonged to the people ; that they were the people, and were engaged in fighting the people’s battles. Then the conservatives, when their turn came to rule, demanded similar sacrifices from the Church, because, said they, we are fighting your battles, and you ought to help pay the cost ; for, without us, you will lose everything. So, friend and foe vied with one another in this scramble for the golden eggs, and any one could see that, some day, somebody would try to kill the goose that laid them ; and this actually became the avowed purpose of the radicals. If now we turn to the political leaders in this exciting struggle, we shall find that some, in both parties, were sincere in their actions, while others were in politics for what they could make 1 62 Needs of Latin America out of it. In other words they were in the market, and at the service of the highest bidder. It was a three-cornered game, played by the Liberals, the Conservatives, and certain ambitious men who were after personal advancement. Such an one was Santa Anna, who tried to use both parties to advance himself ; while they tried to use him for their purposes. This unscrupulous politician was sought after by both parties be- cause of his supposed military ability. Others tried to play the same role, but without Santa Anna’s skill. But, below this surface play of personal greed, there were struggling for the mastery two mighty currents. Let us ignore the side eddies and watch the mighty current of re- form as it flows over and conquers the opposing conservatism and sweeps onward in the Mexico of to-day. Iturbide, Santa Anna, Miramon and Maximil- ian were, in turn, the chosen standard bearers of the clerical party. The most extravagant terms were used by the clerical party to describe their situation. For example, in 1834, Santa Anna appeared as their deliverer from the liberal party. The Clergy of Mexico City, after describing the “ destructive tempest,” and the “ cloud of persecutions which shook and almost over- whelmed ” the “beautiful little ship of Peter;” the “ dispersion and banishment of worthy pas- tors; the tears and dolorous weeping of its vir- The Patriots 163 gins ; the vows and sighs of devout souls,” which would lead one to imagine that there had been a persecution as violent as that of Domitian, when there was really nothing of the sort, add that toward the end of April “ there unexpectedly ap- peared a brilliant star, whose beauty, clearness and splendor, announced to us, as in other times to the three fortunate Magi, the approach of justice and peace, and that it was already in our land. . . . It was the sudden arrival of his excellency, the President Don Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna . . . whose religious and patriotic sentiments signalize him eternally as a hero worthy of the love and recognition of the whole American na- tion. . . . Let the man be a thousand times blessed who with such skillful hand has known how to return to God his lawful inheritance. His memory will be eternally and gratefully cherished until the consummation of the ages and his crown will be precious and not to be lost through all eternity.” A committee was sent to carry this fulsome flattery to Santa Anna, and to thank him officially as the benefactor of the church; and the clergy were enjoined to remember him in their public prayers. The bishop of Puebla decreed a thanks- giving service of three days duration, and lav- ished praise on Santa Anna and denunciation on the Liberals. This will afford some idea of the intensity of passion aroused, and of the tactics of the clerical i6 4 Needs of Latin America party which could hail a man like Santa Anna as a new Messiah. On the other side, long before our Protestant missionaries entered Mexico, there was formed a group of studious men, animated by philosophical ideas about the rights of man, who had caught the spirit of liberty and had resolved to be free. These men had come to see that political liberty, without religious liberty, was an impossibility under a dominant papal church. We shall not follow the struggle between these two parties step by step, but take up only the last battle royal, the war of the reform, which was really a war against the empire. The religi- ous issue was at last clearly stated and fought out to a finish in ten long years of bloody strug- gle, from 1857 to 1867; and February 5, the day on which the new constitution was promul- gated, is still celebrated as a national holiday. Let us now put side by side with the liberal pro- gram, as found in their Constitution and Laws of Reform, that of the Clericals, taken from the Plan de Tacubaya. The clerical platform had the following planks : 1. Inviolability of church property and reve- nues. 2. Reestablishment of the fueros or special rights of the church. 3. The Roman Catholic to be the sole and EXCLUSIVE RELIGION. The Patriots i6 5 4. Censorship of the Press. 5. Immigration only from Roman Catholic countries. 6. Establishment of a dictatorship, responsible to the church. 7. A Monarchy or European Protectorate for Mexico, if possible. The planks in the Liberal platform were : 1. Establishment of a constitutional, federal government. 2. Freedom and protection to slaves. 3. Freedom of Religion. 4. Freedom of the Press. 5. Nationalization of church property. 6. Abolition of special tribunals for church and army. 7. Treaties to foment trade with foreign coun- tries. 8. Mexico open to immigrants of all creeds and countries. 1 The Laws of Reform prohibited street preach- ing or religious processions, and forbade the clergy to use ecclesiastical vestments on the streets. All monastic orders were suppressed. The Jesuits were expelled and marriage was made a civil contract. The issue was clearly stated be- tween the two parties. It was not to be fought 1 Mexico in Transition, pp. 120, 121. 1 66 Needs of Latin America out merely with ballots, but with bullets, in a long fratricidal war. The struggle is worthy to rank with the foremost of the reformatory con- flicts of the world. The Liberals were guided in their fight by a truly great leader, a man of Indian race, Don Benito Juarez. Juarez first saw the light in 1806, in the little Indian village of Guelatao, a short distance northeast of Oaxaca. There he tended his uncle’s scanty flock, a shepherd boy like David. On the death of his parents, animated by a desire to study, he went to live with a sister in Oaxaca. Of pure Indian descent, he had, up to that time, spoken the Indian language, and so was obliged to learn Spanish when already twelve years of age. He soon showed marked ability and was urged to enter the priesthood, but refused on account of his liberal ideas. He studied law in- stead, was admitted to the bar in 1834, and be- came Governor of his state which he made the most prosperous in the Republic. Exiled by Santa Anna, he fled to the United States, where he supported himself with great difficulty, but used his opportunity to study the working of our free institutions. After his return, he was elected vice-presi- dent of the republic, and on the defection of Comonfort, assumed the Chief Magistracy. He was endowed with indomitable will and suf- ficient clearness of purpose and constancy to fight the battle through to a finish. To this fact he owes President Benito Juarez Statue of Bolivar The Patriots 167 his lofty preeminence. Competent judges now rank him side by side with our own Lincoln, as one of the great reformers of the New World. Victor Hugo wrote to Juarez : “ America has two heroes, Lincoln and thee — Lincoln by whom slav- ery has died ; and thee by whom liberty has lived. Mexico has been saved by a principle, by a man. Thou art that man.” Washington and Bolivar were his ideal heroes. The Duke of Alva was the hero of Maximilian, we are told . 1 There is a fine poetic justice in the fact that the opponent of Maximilian, Archduke of the royal house of Austria, the tool of Pius IX. and of the French emperor, should be a man of the oppressed native race, “ our little Indian ” as his countrymen affectionately called him. The struggle was, in a sense, the continuation, on American soil of the fight begun by Luther. It was, — as their writers love to phrase it, — changing the chronological order, but adhering to the traditional site of the transfiguration, — the tragedy of a nation passing from her Calvary of 1 Motley wrote of him : “ Maximilian adores bull fights, rather regrets the Inquisition and considers the Duke of Alva everything noble and chivalrous, and the most abused of men. It would do your heart good to hear his invocation to that deeply injured shade, and his denunciations of the ignorant and vulgar Protestants who had defamed him. . . . You can imagine the rest.” He says also that Maximilian believed in his “ divine mission to reestablish the true church. . . . Poor young man ! ” — Corresp. vol. ii, p. 138. 1 68 Needs of Latin America national crucifixion, to Tabor, the mount of her glorious transfiguration. This daring figure, which contains no inten- tional irreverence to the Master, explains, better than any words of mine can do, the surging emo- tions which stirred the heart of the patriot sons who fought in the long and bloody struggle. First came the three years’ conflict known as the war of the Reform, which ended with Juarez’ triumphal entry into Mexico City, and the nation- alization of much church property. The old San Franciscan convent harbored a circus troupe until bought by the Methodist Mission. A former chapel became our Presbyterian house of worship some years later. Another old church became a correctional school ; the Belem convent, the national prison ; while old San Augustin is now the public library building, and the hated halls of the Inquisition, where men were tortured, held first a Lancasterian school; and, at present, shelters those who practice the healing art, the National School of Medicine. Many streets have been opened through the grounds once closed within high walls, and some old churches have become railway stations. Changes such as these are typical of the transition from medieval to modern Mexico. It was heroic treatment, but heroic treatment alone avails in diseases so dan- gerous and so deeply seated. The clerical party, at sight of all this work of The Patriots 169 spoliation, was goaded to madness, and rallied all its forces for a last desperate struggle in which they left no stone unturned to secure their end. Their intrigues in Europe, chiming in with the ambition of Napoleon III., and hidden behind a scheme to enforce the payment of certain indebt- edness on the part of Mexico, led to the French Intervention, which soon took the form of a war of conquest, and placed Maximilian on a Mexican throne. The scheme was gigantic enough to have come from the brain of the great Napoleon or of Gregory VII. Napoleon III. dreamed of an American empire which would act as a check to the United States and give France control of all Latin America. The Pope was willing both to abet the French emperor and to bless Maximilian, because he saw a chance to restore to the Mexican clergy their lost estates, increase his own temporal power in Latin America, and counteract, if not destroy, the Protestantism of the United States. But Napoleon, weakened by his Mexican expendi- tures, was unable to cope with the German Emperor, in 1870, and the Pope lost his temporal power in Italy. Thus was Mexico avenged. Maximilian was not the man to lead such a forlorn hope as that of the Mexican clergy. To his honor be it said he was not enough like his hero, the Duke of Alva. He was not drastic enough. He shrank from the chaos and financial 170 Needs of Latin America ruin which would have resulted had he returned the confiscated property to the clergy ; he did not intend to be dictated to by priestly advisers ; but he was anxious to win to his side the liberal ele- ment; and honestly desired to unite all parties about himself. He thus succeeded in pleasing nobody. It was not a time for half measures. Both sides wished all or nothing; and when, too late for hope of success, instead of withdrawing to Europe, as he started to do, Maximilian threw himself unreservedly into the hands of the cleri- cals. The intervention of the United States, which forced Napoleon to withdraw his army, made suc- cess impossible for the bankrupt Mexican empire. Even had the United States not intervened, Maxi- milian could hardly have been maintained upon his throne. He was besieged in Queretaro, cap- tured, and in the face of many pleas on his be- half, not omitting that of the United States, he was shot, together with his two generals, Mira- mon and Mejia, on the now historic hill of the Campanas. Some question the wisdom of this execution, but none can doubt the courage of Juarez who thus vindicated the majesty of his native land which had been so ruthlessly invaded. Alive, Maximilian would have been a constant menace, a centre of disaffection ; so Juarez calmly replied : “ Allow him to go now, and there is no knowing how the Pope or some European power might The Patriots 171 construe our action in the future. No, the lesson has been a dear one for us ; and we must now teach the corresponding one to Pius IX, Napoleon and all the world.” 1 As already said, the downfall of the French empire and of the temporal power of the Pope are directly connected, as effect and cause, with this last effort to stay up clerical absolutism in Mexico, and to perpetuate, in the nineteenth cen- tury, the religious system of the dark ages. Better the spirit shown by Juarez who thus ex- horted the grateful nation : “ Let the Mexican people fall on their knees before God who has deigned to crown our arms with victory. He hath smitten the foreigner who oppressed us sorely. He hath established this his people in their rightful place. For he who hath his habita- tion in the heavens is the visitor and protector of our country, who strikes down those who come with intent to do us ill. The excellent, the only just, almighty and eternal One is he who hath dispersed the nations who, like vultures, had fallen on Mexico.” 2 Thus was the victory won for religious liberty and the door thrown wide open for the entrance of the Protestant worker. Juarez is said to have remarked to an intimate friend just before his death : “ Upon the development of Protestantism 1 Mex. in Tran., p. 252. ’ Idem. 172 Needs of Latin America largely depends the future happiness of our country.” 1 That all Latin America was interested in the Mexican struggle, and understood how much was involved in its successful issue, is shown by the utterances of the different countries, intended to encourage Mexico. It was freedom's battle in a religious as well as a political sense. In 1852 the Pope had written denouncing a similar movement toward religious liberty in New Granada (Colombia), by which the expulsion of the Jesuits was decreed; the monastic orders de- nounced; the revenues of the church curtailed; free education, freedom of the press and liberty of public and private worship decreed. The Pope condemned these “ nefarious decrees ” ; declared them null and void ; and threatened the actors with the usual ecclesiastical penalties. The tirade was treated with dignified silence; but when the same tactics were tried in Honduras, the presi- dent, Barrundia, had the papal bull read in public to the assembled people and officers of state, then he rammed it home into a cannon and fired it back toward Rome. Though Roman Catholics, they desired a larger religious liberty. This battle is still being waged to-day in all Latin America. In Guatemala Barrios won a splendid victory. In Venezuela, Guzman Blanco did a similar work. Colombia, however, lost what 1 Mexico in Tran., p. 253. The Patriots 173 the liberals had won after thirty years of struggle, and the battle has now to be fought once again. Brazil, Chile and Argentina grant free entrance to Protestant workers. Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador 1 have begun to move in the same direction, yet much remains to be done before religious liberty is secured. Their backwardness forms a strong evidence of the blighting influence of papal con- trol ; while free Mexico has advanced rapidly under the long liberal administration of Gen. Diaz, who is everywhere hailed as the Hero of Peace. But there are still two parties, even in Mexico; and while the history of the past con- tains much to encourage the lovers of liberty, it shows also the need for constant, persevering effort until a stable victory is won. It is at this point that Protestant missionary effort begins ; and, if successful, it will make per- manent the victory achieved with such profuse outpouring of hero blood. Thank God that the wall of Romish exclusivism, higher than the Chinese wall, has been broken down, and that all 1 “ The constitution and laws have put more restric- tions on religious liberty in those countries than any- where else in all America. The Inquisition was not abolished till 1821. As late as 1836, the penalty was death for holding any worship other than the Roman Catholic in Bolivia and Peru. As late as 1896, the con- stitution of Ecuador excluded all other worship. To this day in the three republics, Protestants are subject to exceptional legal privations.” Protestant Missions in South America, p. 148. 174 Needs of Latin America America is now open to the ingress of new and holier influences. The words of Juarez deserve to be repeated frequently to the men of Latin America who still carry on the struggle in this “strife of truth with falsehood:” — “We have generous colaborers within and without the re-' public ; who with their pens, their influence and their money, are aiding us, and they offer up earnest prayers for the salvation of our country. Redouble then your efforts.” Lecture IV. — The Protestants A mighty fortress is our God, A bulwark never failing; Our Helper he amid the flood Of mortal ills prevailing. For still our ancient foe Doth seek to work us woe ; His craft and power are great, And armed with equal hate, On earth is not his equal. Did we in our own strength confide Our striving would be losing Were not the right man on our side, The man of God’s own choosing. Did ask who that may be? Christ Jesus it is he, Lord Sabaoth is his name, From age to age the same, And he must win the battle. Luther. *75 Synopsis of Lecture IV Introductory. — Failure of paganism and the papacy. — Patriots open the door. — Protestant missionaries enter. 1. Early Efforts and Exploration of the Field. — Huguenots in Brazil. — Colony destroyed. — The Dutch oc- cupation. — Expulsion. — Henry Martyn in Bahia. Moravians in Dutch Guiana. — Restrictions on work for Indians. — Individuals saved. — Not affect Latin America. England and the United States. — J. S. Green from Sandwich Islands to California. — Transformation to-day. — J. C. Brigham and T. Parvin in Buenos Ayres. — Schools and New Testament. — Brigham visits Chile, Peru, Mexico. — Adverse report. — J. Thomson, B. F. B. S., and B. F. Sch. S., 1820-1825. — Sale of New Testament. — Favorable attitude of clergy. — Bible Society in Bogota. — Liberators favor Lancasterian schools. — Great ignorance. — General desire for education. II. The Bible and Protestant Literature.— i. The Bible. — Work of B. F. B. S. — A. B. S., follows in all Latin America. — In Mexico. — Many colporteurs. — In Central America. — Three agencies in South America. — Statistics. — Various reports. — Valparaiso B. S. — Bible opens way for evangelist. — Persecution. — Bibles burnt. — Bravery and con- stancy of colporteurs. — Difficulties overcome. 2. The Press and Protestant literature. — American Tract Society. — Church Boards of publication in United States. — London Tract Society. — Presses on the field. — Annual output. — Roman Catholic use of press. — Value of evangelical literature. — Books issued. — Their circulation. — Prepare the way. III. Educational Work and Modern Evangelization. — • General statistics. — Societies working in Mexico. — In Cen- tral America. — In South America. 1. Educational work. — New Testament used in the Lancasterian schools. — Universal desire for education. — Two extreme tendencies. — French infidelity. — Roman Catholic schools. — Need for Protestant schools. — Day schools. — Girls normal and boarding schools. — Colleges and theological seminaries. — Mackenzie college. — Coyoacan, Mexico. — Some graduates and their work. — Influence on liberal elements. — Need for endowed institutions. 2. Modern evangelization work.— In Brazil. — How be- gun. — Work in Mexico. — Melinda Rankin. — G. M. Prevost. — Attitude of Juarez. — Independent workers. — Rev. Arcadio Morales. — Missions organized. — Native pastors and teach- ers. — Large cities as centres. — Spread into rural districts. — Self-support, next lecture. — Use instrumentalities em- ployed in United States. Conclusion. — Birdseye view of field. — Vast extent. — Difficulties.. — Degree of success warrants continuance of the work and redoubled efforts. 176 LECTURE IV The Protestants Crosses there are in abundance; but when shall the doctrines of the Cross be held up? Henry Martyn. We come now to the fourth act in the drama of Latin America’s religious development. Pa- ganism and the papacy had failed to satisfy the religious need of the people. The patriots threw open the door of religious liberty and some even invited the Protestants to enter. Missionaries from the United States and England have now been at work for many years ; and the Protestant movement is growing steadily in force and volume. The earliest attempt at Protestant evangeliza- tion was made by the Huguenots of France as far back as 1555. Only one generation after the Portuguese had begun the settlement of Brazil, three hundred French colonists under Admiral Villegagnon settled on an island in the bay of Rio de Janeiro. Admiral Colignv, the great Protestant leader, directed the enterprise, hoping to find a refuge for persecuted Huguenots ; con- vert the Indians ; and found a French common- wealth in the New World. Some seventy years before the Puritans reached 177 i7« Needs of Latin America New England, and “ more than half a century before the Book of Common Prayer was borne to the banks of the James river,” Calvin and Beza, in response to the appeal for missionaries, sent out from Geneva to the new colony, fourteen students and two ordained ministers. Unfortunately, for the success of the move- ment, Admiral Villegagnon soon avowed himself a Roman Catholic and shamefully maltreated his Protestant subjects. Some returned to France in unseaworthy vessels, and suffered great hard- ships by the way, nearly dying of starvation. Others fled to the wilderness. Among the latter were Jean de Boileau (John Boles) and two com- panions, who began successful work among the Indians, and soon attracted the attention of the Portuguese colonists of San Vincente, three hun- dred miles to the southward, whither they had wandered. Boileau was a man of education and ability. The Jesuits, fearing his influence, had him im- prisoned and sent to Bahia, where he languished during eight long years of confinement, until, after the expulsion of the French and the destruc- tion of their colony, he was brought back to Rio de Janeiro for execution. Brazil’s great apostle, the Jesuit Anchieta, for fear the heretic, whom he claimed to have converted, might repent at the eleventh hour, tied the knot about his neck, thus showing the executioner how “ to dispatch a heretic as quickly as possible.” The Protestants 179 The dream of a Huguenot commonwealth, which might have done for South America what the United States has done for the northern half of our continent, was not to be realized. But who dare say that the martyr blood of Jean de Boileau and his brave companions was shed in vain? No such heroic effort ever is in vain. No Protestant worker of to-day reads the story with- out a renewed vow to labor on until all that fair region is won to gospel Christianity. The next attempt to introduce Protestantism, which if it had proved successful, would also have given us a strong Protestant state in South Amer- ica, was made by the Dutch, 1624-54, during the thirty years in which they held, for varying periods, Bahia, Pernambuco and other ports on the coast of Brazil. Maurice of Nassau was re- called by the West India company, who failed to appreciate the magnitude of his plans, before he could consolidate his work. During the brief period of occupancy the Dutch missionaries could do little beyond the publication of a few religious books in Portuguese and of a catechism in the Indian language. “ In those days Portugal was wont to make thorough work with heresy and heretics, and no vestige of these thirty years of missionary work remains.” 1 A third incident, of a still more transitory character, but one that appeals to us with special 1 Braz. Bulletin, No. 1, p. 37. 180 Needs of Latin America spiritual force, was the brief stay of Henry Mar- tyn in Bahia, on his way to the Orient. He is said to have cried out, at sight of the contrast be- tween the beautiful natural scenery and the moral corruption of the people: “ O’er the gloomy hills of darkness Look, my soul, be still and gaze.” And to have sadly remarked : “ Crosses there are in abundance ; but when shall the doctrines of the cross be held up?” He did what he could, Vulgate in hand, to teach “ the faith once de- livered to the saints,” to the curious and benighted friars who gathered about him. “ Have Henry Martyn’s prayers been forgotten before the Lord of Hosts? We love to regard the petitions of the early Huguenots at Rio de Janeiro, those of the faithful missionaries of the Reformed Church of Holland at Pernambuco, and the prayers of Henry Martyn at Bahia, as not lost, but as having al- ready descended and as still to descend in rich blessings upon Brazil.” 1 The work of the Moravians begun in Dutch Guiana, in 1738, offers many instances of heroic devotion, but we shall not give details, since their labors were mainly among the Dutch settlers and their negro slaves, and reached the Indians in only a small degree. In fact, the Moravian mis- 1 Braz. and Braz., Fletcher, pp. 486-7. The Protestants 1 8 1 sionaries were forbidden to allow the Indians to congregate about their settlements. If any In- dians were converted and abandoned their wan- dering, forest life, it meant additional expense for the missionaries who were commanded to clothe them and pay their personal tax, while the poor convert was frightened by the threat that he was now liable for service in the army. In 1757 Z. C. Daehne, a man worthy to be com- pared with John Paton, the hero of the New Hebrides, had the Indians build him a hut in the primeval forest where he was left alone in “ a dreary wilderness, the haunt of tigers, serpents and venomous reptiles.” On one occasion he had a lively tussle with an anaconda, which nearly squeezed the life out of him. While in the toils of the monster, with wonderful love and presence of mind, he wrote on his table with a piece of chalk, “ a serpent killed me,” for fear the Indians would be sus- pected of the crime and punished accordingly. He, however, escaped, and then shows the sim- plicity and strength of his faith by lying down, as he expressed it, “ to rest in the peace of God.” In 1750 Indians from the Orinoco visited the Moravian settlements, but the opposition of the colonial authorities, together with the nomadic habits of the Indians, made all such visits of little value for permanent work. Many individuals were saved, but Spanish America was touched only incidentally and in but one small district. 1 82 Needs of Latin America Evangelization was to come in another way and from another quarter. The two races, the Anglo- Saxon and the Iberian, which had struggled so long for political supremacy in the New World, were, in the providence of God, to meet also in religious rivalry; and Protestantism was to con- tend with Romanism for spiritual control. I shall not refer to all the early efforts at mis- sion work, nor try to tell the story of all the different missions; as this is not an exhaustive history, but only a sketch of work in which special attention is called, as in the case of Roman Catho- lic missions, to the method and agencies employed. In the light of recent events, however, and especially in the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands, new significance attaches to the fact that, in 1829, “ Rev. Jonathan S. Green, of the Sand- wich Island Mission, embarked at Honolulu for the northwest coast ” of America. He visited what was then a part of Spanish America, the present state of California. He says that he found the Indians of that region very much “ under the influence of the Romish priests. No religion but the Romish is tolerated.” Who then foresaw the transformation to be wrought long before the close of the century! California does not now depend for its evangelization upon the chance visits of missionaries from the Sandwich Islands. To-day these islands and California are Protestant com- munities, parts of our own great commonwealth, and closely united to one another by steamship Members of the Presbyterian Church, Merida, Yucatan Presbyterian Church, San Luis Potosi The Protestants 183 lines. Well, may we exclaim, what hath God wrought ! and hope for a similar, spiritual change, under the new conditions that are rapidly de- veloping, in all the remainder of Latin America. The transformation has already begun, and many now living may be permitted to see its completion. Latin America is awakening from the sleep of centuries, and passing, with rapid strides, from medieval to modern life. Among the missionaries sent to spy out the land and see if it could be taken for Christ, were Rev. Messrs. John C. Brigham and Theophilus Parvin, who, on July 25, 1823, sailed on a tedious three months’ voyage to Buenos Ayres, where they immediately found a wide field of usefulness open before them.” Mr. Parvin, in response to the universal desire for education, opened a school and soon had all the pupils he could handle. The English New Testament was one of his text- books. Bibles were circulated. A Sunday school and preaching services were started. After a year thus spent in Argentina, Mr. Brigham con- tinued his journey into other parts of South America. As there were no railroads in those days, it took him two weeks to reach Mendoza at the foot of the Andes. When Mr. Brigham started to cross the dan- gerous mountain pass alone, the canonigo of the party, forgetful of the daring feats of early Span- ish missionaries and conquistador es, paid this tribute to our countryman’s grit which I hope we 184 Needs of Latin America shall always deserve : “ These norte-americanos are made of very different stuff from what we are; they can do anything.” Mr. Brigham visited the principal cities of Chile, Peru, and Ecuador, and then entered Mexico by Acapulco. After two months in the Mexican capital he returned to New York. In his report of the two years’ trip, while comment- ing on the need for gospel work, he states that the beneficent results of liberation from Spain were most noticeable in Buenos Ayres, which had been practically free for fifteen years or more. Chile had not advanced so far, and Peru very little. While many priests favored independence, the higher clergy were attached to Spain. The work of emancipation from Romish exactions had be- gun. Even in Peru, much of the money formerly lavished on the church was used to support hos- pitals, and schools. One of the latter was opened in the old Inquisition building. In Mexico our traveller noticed the “ imposing worship, corrupt priesthood and superstitious people.” Mr. Brigham finally decided that, “ although there are many individuals in South America who have noble and expanded views on all subjects, men who are up with the spirit of the age, still there is in that field a putrid mass of superstition, on which the sun of liberty must shine still longer before we can safely enter in and labor. We must wait patiently a little longer till the Ruler of nations, who has wrought such The Protestants 185 wonders in these countries during the last ten years (1825) shall open still wider the way and bid us go forward.” Mr. Parvin, who had secured a printing press, was soon obliged to give up his work begun under such favorable auspices. The third witness to the character and method of the work of that early day, whose testimony I shall cite, is an Englishman, Mr. James Thom- son. He was an agent both of the British and Foreign Bible Society, and of a British and Foreign School Society. As the agent of the Lancasterian schools he met with a favorable re- ception from the civil authorities, and thus saw the prospect in a somewhat brighter light. His letters, afterwards published, were written from South America in the years 1820 to 1825. In his efforts to establish schools, Mr. Thomson secured the cooperation of many prelates of the Roman Catholic Church. Some of these went so far as to speak favorably of his circulation of the Bible in Spanish and its translation into Indian languages. A general desire to educate the masses, and thus secure the fruits of liberty is often referred to in these letters. 1 In 1820 Mr. Thomson gathered 100 boys in a Lancasterian school in Buenos Ayres, and taught 1 “ Letters on the Moral and Religious State of South America, written during a residence of nearly seven years in Buenos Ayres, Chile, Peru and Colombia.” — Ecuador is included as part of Colombia. 1 86 Needs of Latin America them to read, using Scripture passages as the text. Several hundred copies of the New Testament were also circulated. One was obtained by a Patagonian chief who said he would explain it to his tribe. Schools were also established in Chile, with this endorsement from the Dictator O’Higgins: “The object of this institution is to extend in every direction throughout Chile the benefits of education; to promote the instruction of all classes, but especially of the poor.” The few newspapers in circulation favored the enter- prise. In Lima a convent was turned over to be used as a school. “ The order for the friars to vacate was given on Saturday; on Monday they began to remove, and on Tuesday the keys were delivered up.” The Bible also was publicly sold at “ a short distance from the place where used to sit the dreadful Inquisition.” Some wondered “ in view of this zeal for the Bible how they had been taught that the English were not Christians.” Many, Mr. Thomson noticed, “ espoused deistical principles ” when freed from “ the trammels of popery.” Not only in Lima did parents ask for copies of the Word, and priests encourage its study. From Ecuador, a friend, engaged in the work of dis- tribution, wrote to Mr. Thomson : “ With pleas- ure have I seen in passing through the streets of Guayaquil, not once or twice, but mostly every day, the shop-keepers and the poor people, who have stalls, read in the blessed gospel of our The Protestants 187 Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. If I had had ten times as many [New Testaments] I am per- suaded I could have sold them all.” At one time Mr. Thomson sold New Testa- ments to five friars in Guayaquil, and one took thirteen copies. The governor of Guaranda bought a copy and told his friends to do the same. With the permission of its prior, 104 copies were sold from a stall in the convent of Latanga. In Quito, the Marquis of San Jose, although a Catholic, allowed the sale of Testa- ments in his own house. The bishop of Popayan was the only one who opposed the movement. Indeed, in Bogota, the capital of Colombia, a Bible Society was organized. The Secretary of State was its president ; the vice-president was the Minister of Finance; the treasurer was a senator ; while the second and third vice-presi- dents were ecclesiastical dignitaries, and one of the secretaries was a priest. “ The Constitu- tional,” a leading journal, wrote : “ This Bible Society has been established with the consent and approval of the most distinguished persons actually intrusted with the executive Govern- ment of the Republic and the ecclesiastical gov- ernment of the Archbishopric to whom it belongs exclusively and without dispute to watch over the spiritual and temporal happiness of the people, and whose fidelity none, without injustice, can call in question.” Agencies of the Bible Society were also started 1 8 8 Needs of Latin America in Buenos Ayres, Santiago, Valparaiso, Lima, Guayaquil and Quito; not to mention points of less importance. Thousands of copies of the New Testament were sold in Spanish, often with the help of Roman Catholic ecclesiastics, and a translation of the New Testament was made into Quichua, a native language spoken by more than a million Indians. No wonder the enthusi- astic Bible Agent felt that “ great and happy changes ” were being effected of a kind impossible under Spanish rule, and that, “ what is going forward in these countries is truly a revolution in every sense of the word.” The establishment of Lancasterian schools in which Scripture selections were used as reading lessons, progressed finely. In Buenos Ayres there were soon one hundred schools with 5,000 pupils. In Montevideo a liberal minded Catholic clergyman headed the movement. O’Higgins favored it in Chile. San Martin helped it for- ward in Peru. Bolivar changed the Ocopa college of Spanish friars into a school, and ordered the establishment of these schools in every provincial capital to supply trained teachers for the towns and hamlets. In 1826 two young Colombians were to be found in London studying the system. Mr. Lancaster directed the movement in Cara- cas, Venezuela, and gave $20,000 to insure its success. The movement spread in Guatemala and Mexico. In Mexico City a school of 300 children was opened in the halls of the Inquisition The Protestants 189 once so inimical to general enlightenment. The pupils were said to be “ acquiring a taste for the perusal of the Scriptures,” and learning “ to be virtuous, charitable, tolerant and free,” and Roca- fuerte, a prominent patriot of that period, adds: “ This moral education will promote the cause of religious toleration and will effect the regenera- tion which our new political system requires.” Mr. Thomson’s own comment is that “ the public voice is decidedly in favor of universal educa- tion. . . . this feeling prevails among the clergy and the laity, the governors and the governed.” These letters, and similar statements made by other writers of that early day, make prominent two facts : First, that the general eagerness to secure copies of the Scriptures showed plainly that, as a class, the clergy, as well as the laity, were unac- quainted with the Bible, although they probably had some knowledge of isolated passages, for example, of the parables and historical narra- tives, and of selections, given in books of devo- tion, or in occasional religious discourses. What a comment on Romish instruction is the fact that monks, priests and even bishops, purchased Spanish Testaments, read them as a novelty, and were often pathetically eager to secure the com- plete Bible which they had never seen. Not merely the masses, but the religious teachers also were densely ignorant of God’s Word. And the same is true to-day in almost equal degree. The 190 Needs of Latin America signs of a promised revival within the Roman Catholic Church came to naught for some occult reason, connected doubtlessly with the system of which they were a part. The second fact which causes surprise, in the light of the modern attitude toward the Bible, is the ready purchase of the Spanish New Testa- ment by monks and priests, and the help in its sale given by Roman Catholic laymen, the priors of convents and even the bishops, as well as by presidents, governors, and lesser political magis- trates. Only one bishop is mentioned who saw that a position had been taken, in the enthusiasm of the moment, from which the papal authorities at Rome would force them to withdraw. We note the change, later on, when the col- porteur is no longer lodged in a convent, but in the jail ; and when instead of organizing Bible Societies the Romish authorities burn the Bible. In Colombia, for example, Thomson had, in 1825, a reception very different from that accorded Norwood in 1898. As soon as it was fully ap- preciated that study of the Bible weaned men from the papacy, the circulation of the Bible was forbidden, and efforts were made to suppress the whole evangelical movement. If we now turn again to Portuguese America, we find this statement in the Brazilian Bulletin for 1898: “The first attempt made in modern times to carry Protestant Christianity into Brazil was by the Methodist Episcopal church of the The Protestants 191 United States by sending the Rev. Mr. Spaulding to Rio, in 1835, as a missionary of that church. The Rev. D. P. Kidder was added to the mission in 1838.” 1 He returned to the States in 1840, and in 1842 the mission was abandoned. Aside from the circulation of the Bible, of which some copies were sent into the interior, “ there was little to show for the five years of faithful work.” Dr. Kidder described his travels in a “ sketch ” which was afterwards incorporated in “ Brazil and the Brazilians.” He says that Portugal had only authorized the publication of the Bible with Roman Catholic notes, and never tried to circu- late it. Indeed it was not on the list of books which might be introduced into the colonies. Yet Brazil has been tolerant and scenes similar to those just described in Spanish America, were to be witnessed. “ Many,” we are told, “ were prepared to hail any movement which promised to give them what had so long been systematically withheld — the Scriptures of truth for their own perusal. Copies exposed for sale, and advertised in the news- papers, found many purchasers, not only from the city but also from the distant provinces.” At the mission house there was even “ a rush of appli- cants for the sacred volume.” Those who did not care to come in person, sent notes asking for copies. A minister of the Imperial government 1 P. 78. 192 Needs of Latin America asked for a supply for use in a school outside the city. Among the applicants were some priests. “ One aged priest, who called in person, and re- ceived, by special request, copies in Portuguese, French and English, on retiring, said, ‘ The like was never before done in this country.' ” 1 There was, of course, some opposition, as for example, in conservative newspapers. Dr. Kid- der says that later on, while travelling in distant provinces, he found that the Bibles he had dis- tributed in Rio de Janeiro had gone before him, and that “ wherever they went an interest had been awakened which led the people to seek for more.” The Brazilian Bulletin 2 tells of a Bible, which then found its way into the hands of a young man who went sixty miles to compare it with an “ official ” Bible. The priest said he thought there was such a book somewhere in the house, and he might find it, if he could. He found it, made his comparisons and went on his way re- joicing. When he and his friends desired to organize a church, they took New Testament statements on the subject as their guide. “ Years afterwards they were visited by an ordained mis- sionary who found that this group of spontane- ous Christians, who had never before heard an ordained Protestant, had a genuine Christian 1 Braz. and Braz., p. 255. * Pp- 78, 79- The Protestants 193 church. He was amazed at their purity of doc- trine and life, their simplicity of faith, and the aggressive character of their Christianity. . . . The deacons attended to material affairs, and the elders to the spiritual, taking turns in preaching, expounding the scriptures, and carrying the gospel to neighboring communities. This little church,” the writer continues, “has already (1898) pro- duced another and bids fair to become the mother of churches.” Then follows this pregnant sen- tence, which has so many similar facts to sub- stantiate it : “ The undiluted Word of God is a living thing, and, like germinal matter, possessing the principle of life, is able to reproduce itself infinitely, by a sort of segmentation.” There is not room for further reference to the priests who favored the movement of Bible cir- culation. The venerable statesmen, the Andradas, expressed their appreciation of the work of the Bible Societies, and the desire to see the Bible, especially the New Testament read by everybody. The President of the Assembly of Sao Paulo, and several members, promised to introduce the New Testament into the public schools of that State; but here again, Dr. Kidder was doomed to dis- appointment — for a cause similar to that which blighted the hopes entertained by Thomson in Spanish South America ; for the first enthusiasm was followed by apathy or opposition. Perhaps this connection is the best in which to 194 Needs of Latin America treat of the first great agency employed in all our mission work, that of Bible Distribution. It is the most natural transition from the efforts of early workers to the more systematic labors of recent years. Our present Bible Agencies carry on the work begun by such men as Thomson and Kidder. The British and Foreign Bible Society was first in the field, but at the present time the principal work is done by our American Society. An agent of the American Bible Society accom- panied the American army in its invasion of Mexico in the war of 1847. Many Mexicans were eager to see the book to which the success of American arms was attributed. Many copies then circulated were destroyed by the priests. In i860 the Society opened an agency in Monterey, and in 1879 Mexico City, where the British and Foreign Bible Society had labored from 1864 to 1878. The work is at present well organized in Mexico, with colporteurs all over the Republic. Mr. Hamilton’s report, for 1898, is full of strik- ing incidents and bits of history from the lives of his colporteurs. During the twenty years of its existence the work had grown from one colpor- teur to fifty. In 1898 alone, nearly 5,000 Bibles were put in circulation, or 27,872 copies, including portions of Scripture. The total from 1879 to t898 was 402,816. Prior to that date the British and Foreign Bible Society circulated 157,554 copies, of which record was kept. At least 40,000 more The Protestants 195 were sent out from other sources, making a grand total of 600,000. These books have been given out one by one, most of them sold, and the supply is practically inexhaustible to-day. Aside from the central agency in Mexico City, there are sub- depots for distribution in 25 of the 27 states of the Union. The work began about the same time in South America, and is equally well organized. There are four chief agencies, namely, those of Central America, of Venezuela and Colombia, of Brazil, and that of La Plata which has for its vast field the rest of South America from Cape Horn to Ecuador, including Patagonia, Argentina, Uru- guay, Paraguay, Chile, Peru and Bolivia. The figures for 1898 of Bibles and portions circulated are, for Central America, 3,787; Venezuela and Colombia, 5,369; La Plata Agency, 29,925, repre- senting the work of 33 men in a total of 2,629 days of actual work. These agents visited 350 towns and villages, and travelled 21,939 miles over a region extending from Patagonia to Ecua- dor. The figures for Brazil are 26,742 ; making a grand total for one year’s work in all Latin Amer- ica of 93,695 copies of God’s Word, in whole or part, distributed, as leaves from the tree of life for the healing of these nations. Mr. Milne says in his report that 600,000 copies have been distributed since 1864. The 38th Annual Report of the Valparaiso Bible Society gives as their total 100,399. 1 ° Brazil, the B. F. 196 Needs of Latin America B. S. has circulated about 400,000 copies of the Word; the A. B. S. 325,000; and other agencies swell the total to 850,000 or 900, ooo. 1 We are safe, therefore, in saying that over 2,000,000 copies of the Word have been placed in the hands of the inhabitants of Spanish and Portuguese America. Has it not been a wonderful seed sowing? Part of the grain has already ripened and been garnered, and the fields are whitening for fuller and richer harvests in our day. Mr. Milne wrote : “ The experience of another year has revealed fruits of work done in bygone years in many a remote corner of the Argentine field.” The work does reach to widely separated corners. North of the equator near our own land, we have Sonora, out in Yucatan we have Merida amid the Mayas with their old civilization and ruined cities, in South America, Quito the capital of benighted Ecuador, and Punta Arenas on the straits of Magellan, in sight of the Fuegians. To all these places the Bible has gone with rich blessings. It is repeatedly the experience of the mission- ary that Bible and tract have gone before and pre- pared the way for him. When, as the first mis- sionary to enter that district, I visited Guayameo in the mountains of Michoacan with a Mexican minister, I was warmly welcomed by a group of Bible Christians. Mr. Campbell afterwards trav- 1 Protestant Missions in South America, pp. 83, 84. Rev. Arcadio Morales Church of Pi vino Salvador, Mexico City The Protestants 197 elled extensively in that region and organized many groups of believers to whom the entrance of God’s Word had given light. A few instances, taken from the many, will show the persecution by which it was sought to stop this work. In 1874, Dr. Wm. Butler was shown a cave near Mexico City where men met secretly to read the Bible which it was unsafe to read openly before the world. I have heard from the lips of Mr. Juan Granados the story of his persecution. He was the first colporteur em- ployed by the Mexico City Agency. When he began to circulate the Bible and expound it in his mountain home in Guerrero, the priest de- nounced him and his Bible, “ and one midnight thirty or forty men, armed with pistols and machetes, surrounded the house, crying ‘ Death to Protestants ! ’ All escaped to the hills save Juan’s brother, Jose, who was cut to pieces by the machetes.” Juan has lived to continue un- daunted in the good work until the present time. In 1879 a colporteur named Gomez was set upon by four men and killed. His brother Euse- bio, who took his place, twice narrowly escaped a similar fate. Mr. Penzotti, who suffered so much in Peru, for the Word’s sake, wrote from Central America that after seven years he and his helpers had risen superior to all opposition, but, he adds, “ it is well known that the Roman Catholic Clergy persecute the Scriptures more than Saul persecuted David, and they were able 198 Needs of Latin America to destroy perhaps three quarters of the copies we distributed in our earlier trips.” It is not now so easy for the priests to find the books for the people hide them. “ I have noticed,” he adds, “ that while the priests burn the Bibles, the people take their images of all sorts and sizes and put them in the fire, at the same time abandoning their sins.” There you have it in a nutshell — the priests burn the Bible; the Protestant convert burns his papal idols! In 1898 Mr. Norwood had an exciting battle for the Bible in Colombia. The priests tried to stop his sales and confiscate his stock, but he se- cured a judicial decision in his favor. They used the pulpit, confessional and Romish press in vain to prevent the purchase of his books. At length the bishop of Santander tried to have the Bible classified as an immoral and obscene book and thus bring it within the law ; but this also failed. This battle against bigotry was fought, not a generation or more ago, but in 1898; not against pagan priests, but against a papal bishop; and in the very country where seventy years before, in the first flush of liberty, a Bible Society was organized with Roman Catholic prelates as officers. I have dwelt thus at length on this work of the Bible Societies because it is the foundation for all other evangelical work, and because I know of no stronger arguments than it affords in favor of Protestant missions. It has brought to light The Protestants 1 99 a well nigh universal ignorance of the Word of God. Whatever the Roman Catholic church did do, during the three long centuries of her undis- puted sway, she did not give the people the Word of God. To accomplish that result Protestants had to undertake the work. All honor to the brave men who have faced and overcome physical obstacles and priestly op- position ! The natural difficulties have been very great in regions where there are few or no rail- roads, and where much of the transportation must be done over mountain trails, or through hot, unhealthy tropical forests, on pack animals, in canoes, or on the man’s own back. Yet all these difficulties have been overcome, and the Bible has been carried to the most out of the way villages and farms ; and most of the work has been done within the last generation. Most of the colporteurs are natives; many are simple-hearted men with no education beyond the ability to read and write. Their names are known to but few, their only earthly enrollment is in the records of the Society under whose wise direction they labor. With relatively little ma- chinery and small outlay this magnificent busi- ness enterprise is carried on, and as fast as one laborer drops from the ranks another takes his place. On a trip through the mountain or river valleys, along the tropical sea coast, or over the high bleak tablelands, we missionaries meet these men, with their packs, on horseback or afoot, al- 200 Needs of Latin America ways cheerful, taking what is offered in bed or board, with Bibles or portions adapted to any purse, and in type for eyes yet keen or eyes that are failing. Thus they sow the seed, trusting God to give the increase. This is pioneer work. The native evangelists and teacher labor side by side with the colporteur and gather in the har- vest. Thank God for the Bible Societies! Thank God also for our Tract Society and our church Boards of Publication, and our Mis- sion Presses on foreign soil. The Press and Protestant Literature is a part of the propaganda closely allied to the work of Bible distribution. It, also, is seed sowing. The American Tract Society of the United States, the Presbyterian Board of Publication, that of the Methodists in Nashville, and others, by their Spanish and Portu- guese publications have helped in this work, but the bulk of the printing, with the exception of books, is done by the Mission Presses and Publi- cation houses located on the field. The missionaries regard this as an essential and very important branch of the propaganda. The total number of presses reported by Dr. Dennis, in his statistics published for the Ecu- menical Conference in April, 1900, was 18 for all Latin America. Forty-three different periodicals are issued, with a total of twenty million pages annually. These figures are r.ot very large com- pared with the work of the religious press in the The Protestants aoi United States, but make a comparison of another kind. What of the presses in Mexico before the era of independence, operated to spread papal ideas? Remember that prior to the nineteenth century there was no press in Brazil, and only one in Argentina, at Cordoba. Even to-day our output does not suffer so grievously by com- parison with the amount, to say nothing of the quality, of the output of the religious press operated by the Roman Catholic church in Latin America. The best of their printing is done abroad. We are not satisfied with what is being done. It should be far more, but it is by no means to be despised, and is a source of enlighten- ment and instruction in things spiritual for many thousands who have no other Christian literature. The invention of moveable types antedated the Reformation in Europe. The great reformers printed their refutations of error and positive statements of truth, and thus reached a larger audience of thoughtful, studious minds. As a contemporary product, adapted to the needs of that age, their writings were a living literature, and were read with avidity. The same is true of the Christian literature of our day in our own English tongue. We need a similar literature in our Reforma- tion struggles in Latin America. We need not merely translations, good as these are, of books on doctrine and ecclesiastical history, Bible exposi- tion and devotional study, all taken from the 202 Needs of Latin America English, but also books and tracts and periodi- cal literature that shall express the thought and need of our converts from their standpoint, face to face with the problems of their own hearts and their own environment. Most of this work, especially when of a periodi- cal character, can be printed only on presses, operated on the field, to which immediate access can be had. Our presses are trying to build up a Christian literature in Latin America, and to keep the people informed week by week on current religious topics ; and also to provide tracts for free circulation among the unconverted. Every mission of any size in Latin America has its periodicals, its tracts and books for immediate circulation, and for permanent use in its schools and colleges. In Mexico, for example, people still call for the controversial works of Padre Aguas ; and delight in the rude yet telling blows at papal error dealt by Santiago Pascoe in his Heraldo. His wall texts are still to be seen in many homes, along with our more modern texts and calendars. We were recently asked to reprint from our Presbyterian paper “ EL FARO ” (The Lighthouse) Don Vicente Hurtado’s keen, satirical arraignment of the papacy. Similar examples could be cited by every worker. In Mexico, our list of evangelical papers is quite long. In addition to El Faro, we have the Abogcido Cristiano of the Methodists and the Evangelista published by their southern The Protestants 203 brethren. The Baptists illumine our minds with their Luz, the Congregationalists give faith- ful witness in their Testigo, the Episcopalian speaks ever of his good fight in La Buena Lid, while the Friend, more peaceably inclined, holds out the Ramo de Olivo. Those who have sepa- rated from the missions to lead an independent Christian life now fly their own Bandera Cristi- ana; while the Christian Endeavor Societies have their own Esforsador Mexicano. This list might be greatly lengthened, but we shall only add the name of a little sheet of the Plymouth Brethren of England which lodges much good seed in the heart, the Sembrador. Several of the Missions print Sunday School Quarterlies and Lesson Helps, and many tracts which circulate also among the Spanish speaking Roman Catholics in the southwestern portions of the United States, and in Central and South America. A similar list of publications might be given for South America, which has its Heraldo in Chile, its Estandarte Cristiano in Argentina and the gospel of glad tiding in As Boas Noas of Brazil, but we cannot mention all. In nearly all our papers is a column devoted to the Sunday School lesson, another to the C. E. Society or some kindred organization, still an- other to the prayer meeting or to missionary news from other lands, just as in the home papers. Our larger sheets are illustrated, and the Amer- 204 Needs of Latin America ican Tract Society has given efficient help by generous grants of engravings at the cost of re- production. Our own Board of Foreign Missions and that of Publication have also given similar assistance. Now that Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines need a similar literature, our Boards will probably do more in their Spanish depart- ment than before ; and, in time, they will find a large field in which to sell this literature. Already a beginning has been made in this direction. The list of publications in Spanish and Portuguese of the Tract Society is a large one. A long list comes also from Spain. Some books have been issued on the field, forming the beginning of a library of Christian books of per- manent value for study and reference. Of popu- lar books for general reading, we have Titus printed by El Heraldo of Chile, and the Wrestler of Philippi, by El Faro. In history we have Hurst’s Outlines and Church History, Fisher’s History of the Reformation, and part of D’Au- bigne’s. Rand’s Bible Dictionary, the Bible Man- ual and the Spanish Cruden’s Concordance, now in press. In the preparation of this concordance many Mexican pastors cooperated with Mr. Sloan. We owe a big debt of gratitude to the Tract Society for these and other books, not the least of them our fine Spanish Hymnal with over five hundred hymns and tunes. Those who wish models of pulpit eloquence can turn to translations of the sermons of Wes- The Protestants 205 ley, Spurgeon, Moody, Purves and others. I cannot begin to give a full list of this rapidly growing literature, only pick and choose at ran- dom. Yet I must be permitted to say something of the work connected most intimately with Princeton. A. A. Hodge’s Outlines of Theology has been printed in Portuguese for use in Brazil ; one of my pupils translated the same into Spanish, but it exists only in manuscript. Another pupil of our Theological Seminary in Mexico, translated Hodge’s Commentary on the Confession of Faith, with notable influence on his own style of preach- ing; and this has been published. Still another rendered into Spanish Dr. Wm. Henry Green’s Argument of the Book of Job ; while Dr. Green’s lectures on Old Testament Introduction were translated and printed with scholarly annotations by Dr. Henry C. Thomson, for twenty years a missionary in Mexico. Charles Hodge’s Way of Life, and Dr. Francis L. Patton’s Summary of Doctrine and Inspiration, we owe to J. Milton Greene, now in Puerto Rico. We have also a modern version of the Bible in Spanish, the re- sult of forty years of scholarly work on the part of Dr. H. B. Pratt, who nearly threescore and ten years of age, has begun to print in Spanish a commentary on the whole Bible. May he live to complete it ! The man who can estimate the power of the press can tell us all about the secret, subtle, ao6 Needs of Latin America leaven-like influence of our Spanish and Portu- guese Protestant literature. It is posted up on bulletin boards in the cities, in front of our churches, schools and presses, where the passerby can stop and read and have his curiosity or in- terest aroused. It lies upon the tables of public libraries. It is read quietly in the home, and by preachers and other speakers in preparation for our devotional meetings. Our tracts and leaflets are circulated annually by millions of pages. They are read in the street cars, in railway trains, by the lonely horseman or muleteer on steep moun- tain trails, by the Indian in his canoe, by the sick or imprisoned in hospitals and jails. Like the Bible, this Protestant literature opens the way for the evangelist. Its pages are also like leaves from the tree of life wafted into many homes. How different our use of this agency from that made of it by the Roman Catholic Church. Its tracts and devotional books are, far too often, full of startling, lying miracles, or queer tales of saints who wrought out their own salvation by penance and self-torture. Ours tell of Jesus Christ, the only Mediator between God and Man. They ignore the Bible ; we give it the foremost place among the books we circulate. We ask our people to study these books, and above all to read and study the Holy Scriptures. We have to teach them how to do this ; and this brings us to the third great agency we employ, A Day School in Bahia, Brazil Second General Assembly of Christian Workers Mexico City ) The Protestants 207 our schools; that is, our educational plant, with its varied forms of work. Reference has already been made to the Lan- casterian schools opened in all parts of Latin America during the first decades which followed independence. By the use of Scripture passages in the readers, and by other means of a similar nature, it was the intention to make these schools moral and Christian in their influence. All that was hoped for then has not been realized, and mainly because they were not connected with any distinctly missionary organization. As govern- ment schools they had to be at least neutral, and were often under influences which would not es- pecially favor the daily reading of the Scriptures. Reference has also been made to the fact that everywhere a desire for education was mani- fested, and large hopes for the enlightenment of the masses were indulged in by the new republics. A work in Spanish called “ Las Dos Americas,” written years ago by an exiled Venezuelan patriot, and printed in Mexico, has for its main object to make known to his countrymen the American school system of which he speaks with unstinted praise, as the panacea for all the ills from which Latin America is suffering. He, like so many other of his compatriots, believed that the secular training given by public schools, in which there is no religious instruction, can do the whole work of civilization and enlightenment. We notice in the native schools two dangers of 208 Needs of Latin America an opposite character. While the public schools of Latin America are becoming more numerous, and many are well equipped for their work of instruction, they are, as a rule, under one of two influences. Many of the teachers are rationalists of one sort or another, and are either indifferent to religion or seek, by covert or open attacks, to undermine the faith of their pupils in Christian- ity as a revealed religion. French text-books, in the original or in Spanish translations, are also very largely used in advanced work. On the other hand there are zealous Roman Catholic instructors who use their position in the public schools to propagate their beliefs, or who teach them in their own church schools ; for, how- ever much the Roman Catholic church may neglect the education of the masses, it does not fail to look after the intellectual training of those whose social position calls for superior knowl- edge. Roman Catholic schools are numerous in some localities, especially in the large cities, and in them the Romish catechisms are efficiently taught. In view, then, of this double danger, while we desire to see the public school system perfected in Brazil and the Spanish republics, our native workers and the missionaries believe in the need for our own mission schools, especially those for the higher education and training of our Chris- tian workers ; — teachers and preachers. A mis- sionary writes from Colombia that “ in all Roman The Protestants 209 Catholic countries, the school work is the real secret of success.” 1 There are also neglected places with no schools of any kind, and where our day schools, afford- ing as they do the only means of instruction, win the sympathy and support of the whole com- munity. The need for such schools, in many parts of papal America is as great as in heathen lands. It is a long, slow, laborious process, this attempt to lift the child out of its environment of superstition and error, and train it into a man or woman who will see all questions not from the papal, but from the true Christian standpoint, and to train native pastors and preachers, im- bued with evangelical ideas, who shall prove equal to the task of building up an independent native church. There are, in Latin America, according to Dr. Dennis’s statistics, seven institutions classed as theological seminaries or colleges, with about 1,000 students; and forty-six boarding and high schools, with nearly 5,000 pupils. To these must be added several hundred day schools, with scholars, mainly from the homes of Roman Catholics, in the poorer wards of the cities, and in the rural districts. These figures are surely very small, when taken in the light of the area to be covered, and the millions to be educated in saving truth, through their instrumentality; but 1 Historical Sketch Pres. Mis., p. 36. 210 Needs of Latin America every great work has its beginning, its day of small things. First a word as to our day schools. As already hinted, these gain us an entrance on the best of terms, into many Roman Catholic homes ; and win for our work the confidence, good will and respect of the community. The results are tangi- ble. A poor child learns to read and write, to repeat precious passages of Scripture, to recite the questions and answers of the catechism which tell of Jesus Christ and his work of redemption, to sing our gospel hymns, the very same you sing at home. It is worth something to violate the technical laws of Spanish or Portuguese poetry, if you can get these nations to sing with the heart and understanding, not merely one, but many of our gospel hymns, which speak of Jesus the sin- ner’s only Saviour; not of Mary or any other human intercessor. I can still see before me the sweet upturned face of the little girl, the child of Roman Catholic parents, taught in one of our mission schools in the slums of Mexico City, as she sang from mem- ory one after another of our beautiful hymns, and I was told that she sang the same in her home to the delight of parents and friends, and surely to their spiritual profit as well. I can still see the barefoot, poorly-clad children, perched on rude benches in one of our many ranch schools, down in the hotlands, or up in the mountains. The parents had given of their pennies to help The Protestants 21 1 pay the teacher, often only a pittance, twelve, ten, or only eight dollars a month in Mexican silver. It is examination day, and the children's faces shine after the good rubbing at the wash- basin, and the clothes of many are neat and clean. Round about sit the fathers and mothers, some squatting on the dirt floor, as proud of the rude hieroglyphics or figures of their offspring, or of the ready reading and writing of the more advanced, as any parent here at home. Then, too, the children are examined in the Sunday- school lessons for the quarter, and in the cate- chism; and from such schools come some of the best of our teachers and preachers. All the mis- sions have day schools and believe in them most thoroughly. For the training of teachers we have a number of normal schools. Not all the pupils in these schools become teachers, but many do, and some have declined offers of higher salary in govern- ment schools, and remained with the mission from love of more distinctly gospel work. From Brazil comes an account of a school in Rio Claro, designed for the education of needy and orphaned children, of which it is said: “ During the ten years’ existence of this school, with an average attendance of about thirty, not only was a good primary education given to many children of native Christians who would not otherwise have received it, but a considerable number of those who afterwards became useful as 1 1 1 Needs of Latin America teachers and preachers, laid there the foundation of their education.” Of another of our institutions in that country, the Girls’ Boarding school (Eschola Americana) at Curityba, it is said that “ it stands next in im- portance to the Sao Paulo Protestant College. It is the outgrowth of a small school established by Mr. Landes, under the care of Rev. M. Carval- hosa, assisted by his daughters. In 1892, Misses M. P. Dascomb and Ella Kuhl, after years of successful work in the Sao Paulo school, assumed charge. They opened a boarding department which now [1897] has twenty-two pupils. The whole number of pupils exceeds two hundred, representing nine different nationalities. The girls are carefully trained in the Scriptures, and the whole atmosphere of the school is that of a Christian home.” 1 The Institute) Internacional in Santiago, Chile, was begun in 1876, and now “ has a preparatory department and a regular college course up to the fourth year, with moral and religious instruction. A commodious new building was erected in 1894. Many of the students come from unbelieving fam- ilies, and receive their only religious impressions in the school. A theological class was begun in 1884. . . . Several of its students are now in the active ministry in Chile or in other countries. 2 1 His. Sk. P. Mis., pp. 315, 319. s Idem, p. 328. The Protestants 213 Our mission has two Normal and Boarding Schools in Mexico ; one in Saltillo, the out- growth of Miss Rankin’s initiative in Monterey, at present under the able management of Misses Wheeler and Johnson ; the other, in Mexico City, also located in a building owned by the Board, is under the efficient direction of Misses Browning and McDermid. Both schools have done a grand work, and many of their graduates have taken charge of mission schools, others teach in public schools and still others exercise an influence on their respective communities, helping their hus- bands in pastoral work. The schools of other missions, notably the Methodist Episcopal, which are doing equally good work, might be mentioned, but space forbids. We have as yet few schools, if any, to be ranked as colleges or universities, in the fullest sense of the term, with the possible exception of the Institute in Santiago, already mentioned, and Mackenzie College, in Brazil. This latter school is located in Sao Paulo, the educational centre of our work in that country. The school was started by Dr. Blackford, and efficiently carried on by Dr. Chamberlain, who also donated land for the buildings, raised funds for the institution, and in every way showed his appreciation of the need for a college and did all in his power to secure one. Dr. Horace M. Lane was sent out in 1886 to thoroughly organize and unify the course of in- 214 Needs of Latin America struction. His labors have met with phenomenal success. There are now several departments, namely, a kindergarten school ; primary, interme- diate, grammar and high school courses ; a nor- mal class; the college proper; manual training shops, and the Theological Seminary. This last is at present under the control of the Synod of Brazil. Mackenzie College was incorporated under the laws of the State of New York, in 1890, with the avowed purpose to “ extend and perpetuate the type of Christian education commenced by the Presbyterian mission in 1870; form an institution of learning of higher grade which should repre- sent the American type of higher education, and the American theory that the ideal school is the ideal community ; and thus give to Brazil a com- plete system of American schools on a Christian foundation.” 1 By the gifts of Dr. and Mrs. Chamberlain, Col. J. J. McCook and others, the land donated reached a little more than eight and a half acres, which, we are told, is now worth two hundred times its original cost. Would that more such paying investments had been made years ago, or were being made to-day, where land can be secured at a reasonable figure. It is a paying business investment, aside from its help to mis- sionary enterprise. Braz. Bulletin, p. 41. Students ok the Presbyterian Theological Seminary Mexico McKenzie College, San Paulo, Brazil The Protestants 215 In 1891, John T. Mackenzie, whose father had affectionately called him, when a boy, “ Johnnie, the little missionary,” offered $50,000 for the con- struction of a college building. Of this sum $42,- 000 had been paid over before he died. The cen- tral edifice is a three-story building fitted up with lecture and recitation rooms, a laboratory and dor- mitories. Other buildings have since been added. Dr. Lane’s plan of a graded course of fourteen years’ duration was adopted, extending to the end of a regular college course. There are now be- tween five and six hundred students ; and more apply for admission than can be accommodated. These are beginnings which, we hope, in the providence of God, will develop into similar in- stitutions in Buenos Ayres, in Santiago, Chile, and in Mexico; at Puebla, Guadalajara and in Coyoacan. The school at Coyoacan is the Theo- logical Seminary of the Presbyterian Church in Mexico. Land has been donated by Mr. W. B. Jacobs, of Chicago ; and other friends have made contributions of money toward the erection of the buildings needed. As I have been connected with this school for sixteen years, I hope I shall be pardoned if I describe it a little more in detail. Shortly after the Presbyterian Mission was opened, in 1872, Mr. Hutchinson gathered to- gether a class of young men, who were placed for a time under the direct supervision of Rev. P. C. Diaz, a Mexican preacher. Rev. A. P. Kiel and ai6 Needs of Latin America Dr. J. M. Greene organized the work more thoroughly. All the missionaries located in Mexico City have been connected with this school to some extent. Rev. Henry C. Thomson had begun a similar work in Northern Mexico. The two schools were united in 1885, and the new institution was located, first in San Luis Potosi ; then in Tlalpam in a building once a Dominican convent ; and to-day, under the direction of Rev. C. C. Millar, in Coyoacan, in sight of the historic residence of Hernan Cortes, who made provision in his will for a legacy “ to establish and endow perpetually a college in Coyoacan for the educa- tion of those missionaries dedicated to preach the gospel to the Indians.” Needless to say the Cortes college never was built, but the institution is as much needed to-day as in 1547, and, we are glad to say that it has started on its career under evangelical direction. Our course of study, as at present outlined, covers five years, with a large part of each year given to theological and Bible study. In time we hope to have a college not altogether unworthy to rank with those of which our Church is so justly proud in the United States. Princeton with its University and Theological Seminary is our high ideal. Of our graduates some have gone into business, others have taught mission schools, and many have entered the ministry; and it is to their co- operation that the success of our mission work is The Protestants a 17 so largely due. One graduate, successful in busi- ness, is helping to build a chapel ; another used his skill as a carpenter in constructing a neat house of worship ; a third, by his indefatigable ef- forts, raised the money to put up a church edifice in Merida, the wealthy capital of Yucatan. The present business manager of our Mission press is another graduate. Other graduates have done good work as translators and as regular contribu- tors to our mission paper. There is no more use- ful branch of our work. This brief outline of our educational work, which has only touched upon it here and there, is perhaps, enough to show the importance we at- tach to our day schools, normal schools, colleges, and Theological seminaries. The link in this chain which needs to be made larger and stronger is the college. When we missionaries come home on a furlough, and attend commencement at our Alma Mater; or visit other colleges, of which there are so many in our broad land, attended by thousands of our brightest and best young men, we thank God for the splendid work that is done at home, and then our eyes turn lovingly back to the mission field. As I think, to-day, of Latin America, a vast region, with millions of young men, men to be educated, men who are to deter- mine the social, political and religious future of their countries, I deeply regret that we have no colleges, or at best only two or three small institu- tions, to which to invite them. They are being 2i 8 Needs of Latin America educated under papal or infidel influences ; and this ought not so to be. Suitably equipped colleges would attract the liberal element of Latin America, which is the hope of its political future. We should have in Sao Paulo, in Santiago, Buenos Ayres, Bogota, Guatemala, Caracas, Coyoacan, and many other points, schools which, in time, would be the Princetons and Lafayettes of Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, and of every country of Latin America. Years ago farseeing missionaries planted and others have nurtured the institutions they started ; when shall we see the full growth of these schools and colleges? It now remains to say a few words about that branch of mission work which is first thought of by the majority, and which many consider the truest sphere of missionary labors, that is, the direct work of evangelization by means of preach- ing and pastoral visitation : — the evangelistic work. First, a word, by way of introduction, as to the number of churches and societies engaged in this work. Sixteen such agencies are mentioned as now at work in South America; namely, with the date of commencement, “ The Moravian Missionary Society, 1735; West Indian Conference, 1815; London Missionary Society, 1821 ; British and Foreign Bible Society, 1824; American M. E. Church, North, 1836; Plymouth Brethren, 1840; The Protestants 219 South American Missionary Society, 1844; Dr. Kalley’s Churches, ‘ Help for Brazil,’ 1855 ; American Presbyterian Churches, North and South, 1856; Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, 1861; American Bible Society, 1864; American M. E. Church, South, 1875 ; Southern Baptist Convention, 1879; Bishop Taylor’s Mis- sion, 1880; American Episcopal, 1889 and the Salvation Army, 1899.” 1 To this can be added the work of the Seaman’s Friend Society, and of the American and Foreign Christian Union. The Episcopal Church merely renewed, in 1889, work begun in i860 in Brazil. The Presbyterians and Moravians have work in Guatemala, and there are some independent workers in the rest of Cen- tral America. Mexico is, perhaps, the country where the ground is most fully covered. Both the Amer- ican and Foreign Christian Union, and also Miss Rankin had independent work, now a part of the present missions, which are the Presbyterian, North, South, Associate Reformed, South, and Cumberland ; the Methodists, North and South ; the Baptists, North and South ; the Congrega- tionalists (A. B. C. F. M.), the Friends, Episco- palians and Seventh Day Adventists. All these are from the United States. The Plymouth 1 S. A., the Neglected Continent, p. 68. A fuller list of thirty-five societies, including the Guianas, is given in “ Prot. Mis. in S. Am., pp. 225-227.” 220 Needs of Latin America Brethren of England also have work in Mex- ico. In 1897 the following statistics of Protestant work in Mexico were published. Centres of work, 74 in 24 States of the Republic, with 550 churches and congregations ; ordained mission- aries 59 ; lady teachers 52 ; wives and assistants 53; total 164; total Mexican workers 407 ; com- municants 14,965; day schools hi; students 6,033 > theological schools and colleges 9 ; stu- dents 160; girls’ boarding and normal schools 21 ; students 736. To-day the numbers are some- what larger and the total of communicants is more than 20,000. 1 The figures for South America are as follows. Ordained missionaries 255 ; laymen 199 ; wives 201; other women 1 1 7 ; male physicians 6; na- tive workers, of both sexes, 688; stations 224, outstations 271 ; communicants 30,469 ; adherents, not communicants, 28,764; day schools 170; pu- pils 11,989; higher institutions 14; students 868. 2 A glance at the map on which the stations are indicated will show that while in Mexico, every state but one or two contains gospel workers ; in South America, the stations occur in clusters, mainly on the coast, or along the chief rivers or railways. There is a group of stations in South- ern Brazil, others in Argentina, in Chile, in Col- 1 Historical Sketch of Presbyterian Missions, p. 186. * Protestant Missions in South America, p. 227. The Protestants 221 ombia, and Venezuela, and the beginning of work in Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador. It is stated that out of a total population of 37,- 000,000 in South America, only about 4,000,000 have in any sense been evangelized. Others have heard the occasional preaching of the Word, but are as yet ignorant of its significance, while in some regions the inhabitants are deprived of even the imperfect ministrations of the Roman Cath- olic priests. 1 Enough has been said to give an idea of the work done, and the great need of the neglected and benighted portions of Latin America. The great missionary societies of England and Scot- land have, many of them, no workers in this ex- tensive field. It would seem that the work is to be left mainly to our American churches ; and, of these, the Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist and Episcopalian have responded to the cry for help. It is impossible to give a history of all these missions. Let us take only one incident from our work in Brazil. This will illustrate the method of evangelization in a large city, which is one of the two divisions into which this work naturally falls. The other is work in country districts 1 For fuller statistics, I refer you to the Third Volume of Missions and Social Progress which is soon to be published, and which will contain as accurate a state- ment as can be obtained after years of patient labor on Dr. Dennis’s part. Also to the tables given in Protest- ant Missions in S. Am., pp. 224-227. 222 Needs of Latin America where itinerating is necessary, and a good deal of “ roughing it ” is required of the worker. City mission work is much the same the world over, especially in all lands with a civilization similar to our own. The work in Brazil naturally began at the capital, from which knowledge of the truth was carried all over the land by mer- chants and public men who came thither in the discharge of their duties, and heard of the new movement, and perhaps attended the services. The beginning was very humble. Rev. A. G. Simonton reached the country in August, 1859, and, in i860, was joined by Rev. A. L. Blackford. In May, 1861, a small room, in the third story of a building located in a narrow street in the heart of the city, was opened for services. The audi- ence consisted of two men, who attended out of courtesy to Mr. Simonton who was their teacher in English. Teaching English is often a good way to gain the friendship of intelligent young men, and in some cases to win them to Christ. In this case the men were agreeably surprised. They came back again and brought a friend with them ; and there were six persons present at the third serv- ice. In January, 1862, a church was organized, and two members were received ; one an Ameri- can, the other one of the two young men who at- tended the first service, both converted under Mr. Simonton’s ministrations. From this small beginning there has been a The Protestants 223 steady advance, and hundreds have been received on profession of faith. The congregation no longer worships in a little upper room, but has a beautiful stone church in the centre of the city, near one of the public squares, with accommoda- tions for seven hundred people. The Sunday au- diences are large; while the church, under a na- tive pastor, is entirely self-supporting, and even carries on outside mission work of its own. The missionaries and others conduct weekly services in the suburbs. The work has grown so as to call for an assistant pastor. The work in Sao Paulo and other cities is equally encouraging. God has blessed the work of the two Presby- terian Missions which united, after a time, in an independent synod composed of four presbyteries. “ This synod meets once in three years. At its meeting, in 1897, there were reported: 76 organized churches, — 36 of them self-supporting — and 134 places of worship, with 5,437 com- municants; 23 native Brazilian ministers, 3 li- centiates and 21 foreign missionaries; 9 of the Northern, and 13 of the Southern Mission. The cash contributions of the churches during the year of 1897 amounted to 226,709 milreis. These are eloquent facts.” 1 The same general method has been fol- lowed in starting all our Presbyterian mis- sions. In conscious or instinctive imitation of 1 Braz. Bui., June, 1898. 224 Needs of Latin America Paul, the large cities have been occupied first, and from these strategic centres the work has radiated into neighboring towns, villages and ranches, as the way has been providentially opened. Owing to this second element, some of the missions are very compact, while others cover more thinly a very extensive area. Bogota, the capital of the Republic, has long been the chief centre in Colom- bia; Santiago and Valparaiso were first occupied in Chile ; and work in Venezuela began at Car- acas. Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Bahia are strategic points in Brazil ; while the Methodists are strong in Montevideo and Buenos Ayres. This method is also much in evidence in the ex- tension of work in Mexico. The capital of the Republic, Mexico City, is the chief centre of nearly all the important missions. One or another of the twelve missionary societies at work in the Republic, holds services in nearly every state capital, large interior city, or port of entry. So true is this, as also the other fact that Congrega- tionalists and Presbyterians have tried not to du- plicate workers in any part of the field, that to- day the Congregationalists and the four Presby- terian bodies, cover nearly the entire Republic. The same is true also of the Baptists and Metho- dists. In some cases these missions, and the oth- ers named above, have avoided work in the same place unless of sufficient size to afford ample room for all. About every centre are grouped villages and The Protestants 225 rural districts, where are frequently to be found, more members than in our city churches. Many of these converts are of Indian descent, with little or no admixture of foreign blood ; and some have only a limited use of the Spanish language. This second branch of the evangelistic work can be il- lustrated by a reference to the spread of our Mexico Mission. In 1872, our General Assembly voted to open work in Mexico, and sent out three missionaries, one of whom Dr. Henry C. Thomson remained in the country for twenty years and did a grand work as pioneer missionary and educator. Miss Melinda Rankin, on the border and in Monterey, and Dr. G. Mallet Prevost in Zacatecas, had done some preparatory work to which our mission fell heir; and the Christian Union had begun work several years earlier. There was also a group of independent Mexican Christians, drawn together by a study of the Bible, who held their own serv- ices in a rented hall in Mexico City. One of these, Rev. Arcadio Morales, joined our mission and has been a most efficient pastor and preacher. Of late years he has held revival services in many cities and at all our great gatherings ; and has received from all a title suggested more by the nature of his work than the alliteration: Ar- cadio Morales, the Moody of Mexico. His work as a revivalist dates from Mr. Moody’s visit to Mexico, in 1895. From the capital of the Republic, our work ex- 226 Needs of Latin America tending to the state capital Toluca and to Ozumba, each with its group of outstations, and to several villages which nestle in the beautiful valley of Mexico, at the foot of the lava beds or on the banks of its historic lakes and canal. The work also reached out into several of the states ; Guer- rero, Michoacan, Hidalgo, Vera Cruz, Tabasco and Yucatan. The visit of Messrs. Hutchinson and Diaz to Acapulco, Guerrero, led to the frightful massacre of 1875. After he had recovered from his wounds, Mr. Diaz, who had given up his colonelcy in the army, and his seat in the house of deputies of his state, devoted his time to touring among the mountains of Guerrero. In 1884, in seven weeks, he and Dr. J. Milton Greene, organized 13 congregations and 6 churches, and baptized and received into full communion 280 converts. The work spread with equal rapidity in the Zitacuaro district of Michoacan, mainly under Mr. Daniel Rodriguez, who resigned his pros- pects as a lawyer in government employ, to do gospel work. In 1893, and later, Mr. Campbell made long tours on horseback across the Sierra Madre to the Pacific, encouraging many groups of believers to hold their own services and sup- port their own growing work. I cannot follow the extension of the work in the States about the Gulf, where we have some of our most liberal givers to the cause of self-sup- port; or of our Mexican Home Mission Board, The Protestants ni’i with its twenty congregations in the mountains of Mexico and Guerrero, where two years ago 151 were received into the church in a four weeks’ trip by Mr. Arellano. In Merida, we have one of our finest congregations, made up largely of de- scendants of the ancient Mayas, and almost in sight of the massive ruins of Uxmal and other cities of a pre-historic past. While this rapid ex- tension was taking place in the South, there was a similar growth in the North from Monterey, Saltillo, Zacatecas and San Luis Potosi. Many of the early workers have gone to their reward. Others are still with us, among them Rev. Dr. T. F. Wallace, who after forty years of mission- ary service, first in Colombia, and then in Mexico, carries on an important evangelistic work, be- loved alike by all who know him, both natives and foreigners. I never run over the field in this fashion but I feel a glow of enthusiasm for the work, and recall the cordial, hospitable welcome given the mis- sionary in many humble homes way up in the mountains, or hidden amid the long grass or the forests of the tropical lowlands, as well as in more commodious houses in the towns and cities. It is worth a lifetime of labor to win such a reward of love and confidence. God’s blessing is on this work for which our native Christians have made great sacrifices, and to which, now that they see the need they have begun to contribute liberally ; so that we have many churches which are par- 228 Needs of Latin America tially self-supporting, and three Presbyteries, with talk of a Synod in the immediate fu- ture. Of self-support and its problems, and the op- position to our work, I shall speak later. Enough to say here that all the missions give equally en- couraging reports, and each church is organized in accord with its own form of government. In carrying on this varied and extended work, we use the ordinary instrumentalities which have approved themselves to the Christian worker at home ; namely, the Bible, Christian literature, preaching, Sabbath schools, prayer-meetings, young peoples’ societies, pastoral work with home visitation of outsiders, and conversation with in- dividuals whenever and wherever possible. As a rule we begin by holding services in private dwellings, then in a rented hall, and later in churches built in whole or in part by the native converts. The different denominations are drawing nearer together in the work. In Mexico, for ex- ample, the various missions and churches hold joint conventions. In 1888 and 1897, Assemblies of all the Christian workers in the Republic were convened and largely attended. A committee on comity was appointed and, to it, cases as to jur- isdiction and division of territory were submitted with satisfactory results. Only a year ago the Methodist Conference, after hearing our state- ment of the case, decided not to enter Vera Cruz Presbyterian Girls’ Normal School, Mexico City A Class, Presbyterian Normal School, Saltillo The Protestants 229 •where the Presbyterians were already at work. This is as it should be. The Associate Reformed Missions have entered into similar adjustments with our Mission. There is also a confederation of Sunday school workers, Christian Endeavor- ers, Epworth Leaguers, and members of the Bap- dist Young People’s Unions, and temperance workers, which meets annually. The last gath- ering, July, 1900, was attended by 470 young peo- ple, native pastors and missionaries from all over the Republic. This bare outline of a work so vast and varied seems very cold and unsatisfactory to one who knows the toil and stress, the deep sorrow and cheerful hope, the conquering faith and love hid- den beneath these brief, bald statements. The very multiplicity of details excludes nearly all. We look back to the Huguenot colony, driven from Brazil to France more than three centuries ago; to the seemingly small results achieved by the Dutch and Moravian missionaries, outside the narrow limits of Guiana ; to the early sporadic at- tempts at exploration of the new field, thrown open when independence was won; and then we look at the work as it is to-day. Latin America has not advanced with strides as rapid as those of our Anglo-Saxon homeland; but it has ad- vanced. Romanism now bids fair to be in the fu- ture, of a milder, less extravagant type ; shorn of many of its oldtime pomps and vanities. Bitter persecution of our work is likely to die out. As 230 Needs of Latin America means of communication improve, our workers enter new fields. In every city of importance, we now have witnesses to the evangelical faith, the Bible is accessible to all, and thousands read our Protestant literature. The evangelical churches own, in the aggregate, much valuable property. Many of cur schools are of excellent quality. Our church members are numbered by tens of thou- sands, with a steady annual increase. Our friendly adherents or well-wishers are a numerous, and influential body of men and women. In many places, a second, even a third, generation has grown up born and educated in Protestantism. Each year has its story of new places entered, and new professions of faith in Jesus Christ. The wonderful advance made years ago ip Zitacuaro and Guerrero is paralleled to-day in the field of our Mexican Home Mission Board ; where, as already mentioned, 15 1 men and women were won to Christ in two years of pioneer, evan- gelistic work by two humble but consecrated men, elders in Mr. Morales’ church. On the other hand, in the older fields, the movement no longer awakens the same degree either of antipathy or of curiosity. We have settled down to slow, labor- ious plodding; and find ourselves face to face with an indifference harder to conquer than open antagonism. We understand the magnitude of the task and its difficulties, as never before. This should not cause us to falter; but rather to press on with more energy and a stouter resolutioa The Protestants 231 We are not discouraged, but full of hope, for in the new awakening in commercial and intellectual life which has come to Latin America, we be- lieve that God has a place and a work for our Evangelical Christian churches. Lecture V — The Present Problem Workman of God! O, lose not heart, But learn what God is like. And in the darkest battlefield Thou shalt know where to strike. Thrice blest is he to whom is given The instinct that can tell That God is on the field when he Is most invisible. Blest, too, is he who can divine Where real right doth lie, And dares to take the side that seems Wrong to man’s blindfold eye. For right is right, since God is God ; And right the day must win ; To doubt would be disloyalty, To falter would be sin. Faber. 2 33 Synopsis of Lecture V Introductory. — The four factors in the problem. — Pagan and semi-pagan Indians. — Adherents of Romanism. — Liberal leaders, advocates of religious liberty. — Protest- ant missionaries and native workers. 1. Papal and Protestant Conditions Contrasted. — i. Use of force. — 2. Colonists and mixed race Roman Catholics by birth. — Protestant colonists few. Compromises with error. — Protestantism more radical. Other disadvantages. — Protestantism proscribed. — Perse- cution. — Examples. — Improvement. Attitude toward Americans. — Distrust of political plans. — Monroe doctrine. — “ Peaceful Conquest.” — Latin Ameri- can Alliance. — Feeling in Peru. — In Montevideo, Uruguay. — False motives imputed to missionaries. An advantage. — Favorable attitude of liberal party. — Avoid political entanglements. — Thankful for friendly at- titude. — Not exaggerate its significance. II. Threefold Influence of Protestantism. — Hard to determine. — Latin America nominally Christian. — More like a revival and reformation. — Variety of agencies at work. — The press and popular education. — Evangelical Christianity also an agent. — Recognized as such by liberal leaders. Manifestations of evangelical influence. — 1. In individual character. — Intemperance. — Temperance movement begun by missionaries. 2. Influence of Protestantism on the family. — Homes of Latin America. — Social code of Europe. — Family discipline. — Respect for appearances. — Impurity. — Laxity as to mar- riage rite. — Causes. — Firm stand of Protestantism. — Women entering more callings. 3. Humanitarian and philanthropic movements. — Already have hospitals and physicians. — Only few Protestant medi- cal mission stations. 41 The higher life of society. — Protestant work for secu- lar and religious instruction. 5. On national life and character. — Help in advocacy of religious liberty.— -Protestant natives advocate separation of Church and State. 6. Trade and commerce. — Not appreciably affected by missions. 7. On religious faith and practice. — The threefold influ- ence of Protestantism. — (1.) Upon leaders of liberal thought. — (2.) On the Roman Catholic church. — Counter reformation not impossible. — (3.) On lives of converts. — Observance of Sunday. — Circulation of the Bible. — Young people’s societies. III. Prospect for Self-sustaining Protestant Work. — Still need foreign aid. — For Bible societies. — Presses and literature.— -Schools of higher education. — Native congre- gations can support evangelistic and pastoral work in large part. — Apostolic plan. — Statistics. Conclusion. — Greatness of the present opportunity. Outlook for Indian. — For mixed race. — Immigration— Jtfeed for all our efforts. — A great and promising field. 234 LECTURE V The Present Problem As one of her own poets has said, there is “ A future for Latin America, immense as her mountains and her seas, brilliant as her skies and her resplendent stars.” Marmol. The four factors in the problem of Latin America’s religious development, — the pagan, pa- pal, patriot and protestant, — are all in active work to-day. Lowest in the scale, we have the millions of pagan or semi-pagan Indians, described in our first lecture. The great mass of heathen Indians is as yet untouched. The work for their conversion is as difficult and dangerous as any to be found in India, China, Africa, or the Islands of the sea. After four centuries the Roman Catholic church has failed to reach them. We stand and criticize it for its failure. Can we do any better? What are we doing? Practically nothing ; yet the cry for help from darkest pagan America comes to us still in all its force. The second factor is found in the adherents of Romanism, who still form the bulk of the popu- lation. They are not all alike ; but fall naturally into two groups, between which there are notable 235 236 Needs of Latin America contrasts. On the one hand are the mass of ig- norant, superstitious worshippers who accept what they are told, and do what they are bidden, with little or no thought. Over against these is a wealthy, conservative element, strong in social and political influence. They do not intend to yield without a struggle. In all Latin America there are signs of a Roman Catholic revival of power. Disestablishment, wherever effected, has but served to arouse the Church to the putting forth of all her energies to make good, in one way or another, what has been lost in the struggle, or given up in deference to more enlightened public opinion. This is perfectly natural ; and for this reason we must reckon with a revived Romanism in our study of the present religious problem in Roman Catholic America. The Romish church is not at present, nor to judge by present indications, soon likely to be, re- duced to a weak minority. It is still a strong, in- fluential majority in social, not to say political life, even under liberal governments. It is foolish to delude ourselves with over-sanguine hopes. Of course God, in his good providence, may work sudden changes of which we cannot foresee the advent, and we may cherish a strong hope in this case also. But probably, for a long time to come, we shall have against us and our work the domi- nant social, and at times, political influence of the papacy. This fact, far from disheartening us, should nerve us to our best endeavor. When The Present Problem 237 men endued with faith in God, attempt apparently impossible things, God honors their faith and crowns their efforts with success. The third factor is the liberal party, which has won religious liberty, or at least the toleration of Protestantism, in every country of Latin Amer- ica. They have done a grand and necessary work. They have opened the door; but, aside from affording us the protection of the laws, are not to be expected to do our work for us. In- deed, in many cases, the Protestant worker must reckon with the open infidelity, or, at best, the religious indifference, of the majority of the lib- eral leaders, whose main efforts are directed to- ward securing political stability, and perfecting a system of popular education. The Protestant forms the last factor introduced into the religious problem of Latin America. Our purpose is to complete the work of religious and spiritual education. Our work is twofold. In its general aspects, it is to raise the moral stand- ard of the whole country in beliefs and practices. Specifically, it consists in building up a self-sup- porting, self-propagating native Protestant church. The conditions under which we work are dif- ferent from those which have confronted the Ro- man Catholic worker from the beginning of his propaganda down to the present time. At risk of some repetition, it seems necessary to rehearse the conditions under which Protestant and Ro- 238 Needs of Latin America man Catholic workers have labored, in order that we may have them clearly in mind. We have seen that priest and monk came into pagan America side by side with the conquering soldier. The Roman Catholic missionary en- joyed all the prestige of the victorious race whose spiritual representative he was. Force was freely used where milder measures failed. Ancient tem- ples and idols were blotted from the view in or- der that upon the sacred sites of paganism Ro- mish sanctuaries might be built and, in turn, de- light the savage heart with pomps and ceremonies and miracle working images. Protestants can never hope to labor in this way. Imagine the hue and cry which would have been raised, if the Protestant missionary had be- gun his work with an invading army at his back ; leveling to the ground Romish temples, closing convents, degrading all the priests from their sacred office, and then filling the land with new Protestant churches, making the new service the only lawful form of worship, while our country- men established themselves as a ruling class in all the length and breadth of the land. Thank God this never has been or can be our method. The Protestant missionary does not use the sword of Cortes or of Pizarro but the sword of the Spirit. Yet, with human nature as it is, a display of force deemed to be irresistible, will often win outward conformity, where the gentler spiritual appeal is passed by unheeded. This is our disad- The Present Problem 239 vantage, perhaps, but it is much to the honor of our propaganda. Protestantism cannot hope for any outside aids to its extension, except to a very limited degree ; and only in this sense, that the English and American colonies which are found to-day in all the large cities of Latin America are steadily growing in size, while the culture and social standing of many of their members are surely, if slowly, teaching even the most ignorant of the na- tive population, something of the nature and dig- nity of Protestantism. There are chapels where English services are held in nearly all the cities. For example in Mexico City there are four English speaking congregations. This is a help in the right direc- tion. Unfortunately, however, so many of our countrymen accept the irreligious customs of their adopted land, that this good influence is, for the present, practically neutralized, and our na- tive converts have to learn to distinguish between nominal Protestants, and the real followers of Jesus Christ. We may, therefore, say that the influences which made Latin America Roman Catholic, do not operate in anything like the same degree in favor of the Protestant propaganda. We cannot try to win popularity at the expense of truth. We cannot make the transition easy by compromises with error. This the papal church did, and still does ; and her astuteness in so doing is applauded even by some Protestant writers. 240 Needs of Latin America The fact is that so many of the Romish cere- monies were already but adaptations of classical and other pagan forms, that a few more such compromises with heathenism made little differ- ence to the minds of their missionaries, whose consciences were blunted on this question. Then, too, these compromises helped to conciliate the Indians, giving the whole population fine oppor- tunities for the happy union of pleasure seeking, religious worship and commercial dealings. The great fiestas became fairs for barter, gaming and penitential rites. All who mention the subject make note of this fact. In addition to the ex- amples already given let me mention one or two more, for I have noticed that even Protestant tourists, when they enter the sacred shrines, look mainly on their architectural beauty, the paint- ings and other works of art, and seldom stop to recall that it is all in commemoration of some ly- ing wonder, and to perpetuate a lie ; and that it has a degrading, demoralizing influence on the votaries who worship at these shrines. Humboldt says that he saw the Mexican In- dian “ marked and adorned with tinkling bells, perform savage dances around the altar while a monk of St. Francis elevated the host.” The French Abbe Emanuel Domenech wrote, in 1867: “ The idolatrous character of Mexican Catholi- cism is a fact well-known to all travellers. The worship of saints and Madonnas so absorbs the devotion of the people that little time is left to The Present Problem 241 think about God. One day I was present at an Indian dance, celebrated in honor of the patron saint of the village. Twenty-four boys and girls were dancing in the church, in the presence of the priest. An Indian, with his face concealed under a mask of an imaginary divinity resembling the devil, with horns and claws, was directing the figures of the dance, which reminded me of that of the Redskins ! I remarked to the priest that it was very incongruous to permit such a frolic in a church. ‘ The old customs ’ he replied, ‘ are respectable, it is well to preserve them, only taking care that they do not degenerate into orgies.’ ” 1 Mrs. Gooch describes a similar scene at the shrine of Guadalupe, in 1887, on the spot sacred, you will remember, to Tonantzin, a heathen mother of the gods. Her comment was “ I could not but feel awe in the presence of these dark chil- dren of the wild mountains as they performed their mystical devotions and sang the rude, bar- baric songs that had in their tones the strangeness of another world.” W. E. Curtis, writing as late as 1899, describes an Indian celebration of the Asuncion de la Vir- gen, in La Paz, Bolivia. After mass in the church, the Indians gathered in the public square and “ began the dances and other ceremonies 1 See “Mexico in Transition” for fuller treatment of this aspect of the question. 24 1 Needs of Latin America which have been inherited from the days of the Incas, and are said to be of serious significance; like the ghost dances of the Sioux, the corn dance of the Nava joes, the snake dance of the Crows, and other similar rites practised by the red men of North America.” Prof. Bandelier says that every action had a hidden meaning. The dress was fantastic ; the gesticulation, wild ; and all got drunk on native liquor, — and this in honor of the Virgin ! There is no dearth of material out of which to give descriptions of this kind. Imagine, if you can, our Protestant mission- aries making such compromises with error. How long would those who excuse such conduct on the part of monks and priests, tolerate it in the evangelical worker? We make no compromises with error. Our converts burn all their idols, give up superstitious practices, and use only the simple worship of Protestantism. If the appeal is to be made to fear and fancy, the odds de- cidedly are against us. On the one side lies and lying wonders, many holidays, with drinking and gaming and gaudy ceremonials ; on the other the simple Protestant worship with hymn and prayer, Scripture reading and exposition. It is a glaring contrast and attracts universal attention. Many are at first astonished at the simplicity of our worship. In fact, many writers, foreign and native, claim that Roman Catholic ceremonialism suits the Indo-European temperament, and that The Present Problem 243 our refusal to use similar attractions foredooms us to failure. The judgments of Prescott and Curtis have al- ready been quoted. A Mexican statesman and historian, General Riva Palacio, maintains the same thing. “ The races of the North,” he says, “ had in their organism a predisposition for the severe Protestant worship ; the men of the South, endowed with ardent imagination, could not rest satisfied with such arid practices; and the daz- zling ceremonies of the Catholic church, and its poetic and ardent petitions, were for them a neces- sity ; a spiritual food, without which they could neither preserve nor understand the religious life of the spirit.” 1 While this dictum is true of many Latin Americans, it would seem to be equally true of the many Anglo-Saxons who prefer a liturgy and ritual in worship. The desire, however, for re- publican simplicity is sufficiently widespread in the Latin Republics, and our success with the ig- norant, when once they are enlightened, is suffi- ciently pronounced to warrant the belief that ig- norance on the one hand, and worldliness on the other, have more to do with the question than temperament, to which appeal is so often made. When once the masses south of the Rio Grande are educated ; when Protestant belief does not In vol. ii, of Mex. at. Siglos. 244 Needs of Latin America entail social ostracism, when longing for a higher spiritual life has been awakened ; then, and not till then, can a fair test be made between the at- tractive power of ceremonies, and of a simple gospel form of worship. When that day comes, we expect to see a greater influx into our Pro- testant churches. Till then the Nicodemuses will hold back for fear of public opinion, and the masses from ignorance and from a disinclination for the real sacrifices demanded by a godly walk and conversation. But even if Protestantism had to-day, in Latin America, a social standing, or wealth and political power, equal to those of Romanism, if true to it- self and the Master, it would not have the same kind of success as that achieved by papal mis- sionaries in so short a time after the Conquest, and we do not wish to have it. Take, for illustration, as a case in point, the relative spread of Christianity and Islam in Af- rica. The greater rapidity and extent in the spread of Mohammedanism in the dark-continent ha . been cited in some quarters to the disparagement of Christianity. The same is said of Romanism in contrast with Protestantism. Of course a re- ligion which, whatever the theory, in practice re- quires but little more than outward conformity and the perfunctory observance of certain cere- monies, and outward acts of devotion and pen- ance, can win its way where the demands of a truly Christ-like walk and conversation would be The Present Problem 245 pushed aside as too strict and searching to be borne. The confessional and penance led to the practical toleration of vices which our sterner creed will not compromise with. It is easier to scourge oneself as a penitente with iron whips or cactus thorns, or walk on lacerated knees over sharp stones to some sacred shrine, than to accept the gospel law of purity. The task of Romanism, set side by side with that undertaken by evan- gelical missions, is seen to be as small in contrast as the molehill of man-made Cholula, to the heaven piercing Popocatepetl whose head is crowned with the whiteness of the unsullied snow. Try both propagandas by the test of their work- ing ideals. We have to insist on the renunciation of darling vices, the curbing of passions, and a radical change of life. We make much of the work of the Holy Spirit in the heart. Our ideal is spiritual. The average Latin American knows little or nothing of spirituality in the sense, for example, of Meyer and Murray and Moody ; and this explains why Protestantism advances so slowly. Habits grown strong with centuries of self-indulgence, fostered, if you will, by the cli- mate, plead for by poor, weak human nature, are all against Protestantism. The sweeping, superficial successes of Romanism are not for us. We dare not pay the price paid by the pa- pacy: — the unworthy compromises with pagan- ism and sin. It is the glory of Protestantism 246 Needs of Latin America that, if small, it is the little leaven of truth and righteousness which is to leaven the masses of Latin America. There are also disadvantages of another kind under which evangelical workers labor. When Protestant missions were first thought of it was found that such work was under the ban of laws enacted to prohibit any but the Roman Catholic religion; and since this ban has been removed, the work has had to encounter a social prejudice which has all the strength and persecuting power of legal enactments. In a word the papal church controlled the situation and used its power to per- secute and prevent the introduction of Protestant- ism. For example: You remember that Mr. Brig- ham, after his trip through South America and Mexico in the twenties, thought it unwise to begin at that time formal mission work, because of the prohibitory clauses in the constitutions of the new republics ; because of the religious fanat- icism of the lower orders ; because, as he said, of the “ putrid mass of superstition, on which the sun of liberty must shine still longer before we can safely enter in and labor.” Many in the United States cannot, or will not, understand the attitude toward Protestants, of a dominant papal church. In countries like our own, where he is in a minority, the Romanist advocates toleration. It is his only hope. When The Present Problem 247 in power, then intolerance and persecution is the rule. As a frank Roman Catholic expressed it in an article in the Rambler, the papist might, under necessity, tolerate the Protestant, but, he adds, “ if expedient he would imprison you, fine you, possibly he might even hang you. But be assured of one thing, he would never tolerate you for the sake of the ‘ glorious principles ’ of civil and religious liberty.” 1 What I have myself witnessed, during sixteen years in Mexico, confirms this frank statement. And here is another, equally outspoken, which I translate from the Defensa Catolica, published in Mexico, in 1887. The capitals are theirs. “ True charity consists in opposing one’s neighbor, in injuring him in his material interests, in insulting him and in TAKING HIS LIFE, always suppos- ing that it is done for love of God. In the Lord’s service, and for love of him, we MUST, if need be, offend men ; we must, if need be, WOUND THEM AND KILL THEM. Such actions are virtuous, and can be performed in the name of CATHOLIC CHARITY.” This, of course, is not the opinion or attitude of all ; but it is the spirit of many ; and has led to bloody persecutions. The massacre in Aca- pulco, when Don Procopio Diaz was cruelly maimed, and ten or more were killed, is a case in point. 1 Quoted in Mexico in Transition. •248 Needs of Latin America Shortly after I reached Mexico, in 1884, when this same devoted man and Don Nicanor Gomez went over from Capulhuac to the neighboring In- dian village of Almoloya del Rio, and tried to hold a Protestant service there, the parish priest denounced the Protestants ; and the faithful, mad with passion, rushed from the church on that Sabbath morning to the hut where our people were assembled, and stoned Don Nicanor to death, and Don Procopio barely escaped a similar fate owing to the fleetness of his horse ; and this oc- curred only fifty miles from Mexico City. In 1887, in Ahuacatitlan, Rev. Abram Gomez, a youthful graduate of our theological seminary, and his elder, Mr. Felipe Zaragosa, were set upon by a mob of men and women, also at the in- stigation of a priest who had boasted that he would exterminate the Protestants. Both were killed, and the blood-stained Bible of Mr. Gomez was placed, in mockery, beneath his head. Some of the brethren who gave timely alarm were thrown into jail by the fanatical authorities. It was only after an interview of the missionaries with President Diaz, and at his command, that the matter was taken up and the rioters punished. A fourth massacre occurred in El Carro, insti- gated by a priest and his brother. Early mission- aries have told me of the perils to which they were exposed. For example, Phillips at Queretaro ; Greenman in Celaya; Thomson in San Luis Po- The Present Problem 249 tosi and Zacatecas; Grimes at Patzcuaro; and the martyred Stevens at Ahualulco. Dr. John W. Butler, of the M. E. Mission, has told me about the murder of Epigmenio Monroy at Apizaco, in 1881, and the massacre at Atzala in 1876. The congregation was gathered for worship one evening when “ they were startled on finding themselves surrounded by a mob of fa- natical Mexicans who were crying : — ‘ Death to the Protestants.’ They desired to continue quietly in their place of worship, but soon found that the building was on fire. They also soon discovered that it was absolutely necessary for them to leave the building. As they did so they were met by armed fanatics who cut them down without mercy, and in one short hour, twenty-eight of the con- gregation were cruelly murdered.” Lesser incidents of houses and organs burned, and of petty persecution in trade and social inter- course, might be greatly multiplied. The fight of Mr. Norwood in Colombia, and of Penzotti and others in Peru, 1 show the same persecuting spirit. These are recent events, as also the attempt on a young Protestant girl in Irapuato, in 1898. She was dragged to the public square by the mob with threats that they would burn her. 1 Jose Mongiardino was murdered in Bolivia by two emissaries of the priesthood. See description of this and other persecutions, in “ Protestant Missions in S. Am.,” pp. 149-153- 250 Needs of Latin America This occurred on the line of Mexican Central Railway, at a town where tourists buy strawber- ries from the car windows. One fanatical sheet, El Tiempo, raised its voice in defense of the mob, but the rest of the dailies roundly denounced their action, and called for the punishment of the of- fenders. This attitude on their part does not give the lie to past violence, but adds one more proof as to the pervasive power of Protestant in- fluence, which thus changes public sentiment. All honor to the martyrs whose blood, to-day, as ages ago, has proved to be the seed of the church. There is still another form of opposition, di- rected this time against the missionary, because of his nationality as an American. It is the appeal made by our opponents to race prejudice. There is prevalent, south of the Bravo, a certain distrust of the American and his intentions in ref- erence to the Latin republics. It is easy to make too much of this suspicion as to our motives, and of the current dislike for the “ Yankee.” The in- dividual American who comports himself with dignity and kindliness, with sincerity and tact, will win friends and be esteemed for his own sake. Unfortunately not all of our countrymen thus comport themselves; 'and the history of the past, viewed from a Latin American standpoint, does not look quite the same as it does to the citizen of our expanding commonwealth. For example, let us begin with our next door neighbor, as we like to call the sister republic to The Present Problem 251 the southward. The patriotic Mexican cannot forget the slice of territory lost in the war of ’47, and all his histories tell him that he was badly treated, and so the memory of his loss is bitter. It has also served as an eye opener. The South American, for his part, wonders, so he tells us,' just what fatherly form the Monroe doctrine may take next. The priests, who had grown used to being called traitors themselves, by their liberal countrymen, saw a good chance to turn the tables on their opponents ; and have not been slow to improve their opportunity. So they denounced the American missionaries as spies and emis- saries of the United States government, sent out to pave the way for annexation, or for some kind of suzerainty. Look, say they, at the fate of Puerto Rico and the Philippines, to say nothing of Cuba. The slander has just enough point to be like the proverbial cat with its nine lives. Although hurled headlong from any height of eloquent denial, this insinuation of “ peaceful con- quest ” is always very much alive. It is sometimes a good thing to see ourselves as others see us. The sight may cause us consider- able surprise. We believe in the high destiny of our country, and that wherever her flag goes the people will be benefited. But Latin Americans talk of an alliance to act as a check to the ambi- tious schemes of the United States. The Mon- roe doctrine can throw a shadow, as well as a shield, over the mission field, to judge by what 2 5 2 Needs of Latin America these critics say. Sometimes it is a thing to con- jure with, or an aegis behind which defenceless American republics may take shelter, as in the case of the Venezuelan boundary claims. Men wonder, however, what lurks behind all this pro- tecting kindness. When Minister Mariscal, in his recent Chicago speech, thanked the United States for Seward’s ultimatum to Napoleon III, which forced the French monarch to withdraw his support from Maximilian, thus leaving him to the tender mer- cies of Juarez and the patriot army, he brought down upon himself a storm of criticism and car- icature in Mexico because he said that, but for this timely help, the enemies of liberty might have tri- umphed. It was only a straw, that little word “ might,” but straws show which way the wind blows. This same attitude of suspicion was noticeable in numerous articles published in South American papers during our war with Spain. The United States was accused of bad faith in its dealings with Cuba and the Philippines, and an alliance of the Latin republics was suggested, as already mentioned. W. E. Curtis wrote a signed article to the Chi- cago Record, in which he pointed out several trade and treaty reasons for this distrust of Uncle Sam. He said : The people do not “ believe that our protestations of friendship are entirely disinterested. Their suspicions are based upon The Present Problem 253 experience, in some measure, and particularly upon their observation of our inconsistent and eccentric national policy in foreign affairs.” After dwelling upon our changes of policy, he continued : “ The ease with which the expansion policy has been adopted by the United States has also excited their suspicion ; and mischievous newspaper writers, particularly those of Spanish sympathies, have taken occasion to moralize upon the results of the war, with the view of convinc- ing the South Americans that our previous pre- tensions that we were not a nation of conquest, were quite as delusive as our expressions of friendship, and our desire for commercial inti- macy.” The above was written from Peru and the Pa- cific. From Montevideo, which together with Argentina, is having a wonderful influx of im- migrants, especially of Italians, Rev. Dr. S. P. Craver, of the M. E. Mission, wrote as follows. We were openly accused, he said, of a “ thirst for conquest,” and of using a humanitarian plea which was “ cheap talk.” The Yankee was called a hypocrite. The acts of violence in the United States against Indians, Chinamen and negroes, lost nothing by passing through the medium of the South American press. Our present policy is viewed with alarm. “ If the United States have laid aside their traditional policy and propose to enter upon a self-imposed task of policing the world, what guarantee has any South American 254 Needs of Latin America country that on some fine day the American eagle will not pounce down upon it and annex it for ‘ humanitarian reasons ’ ? Consequently every- thing looking like North American intervention in South American affairs meets with opposition.” 1 El Tiempo, one of the chief Roman Catholic organs of Mexico City, is constantly sounding a similar note of alarm. While intelligent men only laugh, or hide their real feelings, the masses are influenced; and it is for them these paragraphs are penned. Those who oppose Protestantism are astute enough to try to show that it is but the handmaid of Anglo-Saxon aggressiveness. A somewhat similar feeling has been awakened in the minds of some native Protestants by reason of the utterances of some of our workers, while advocating self-support in native churches. The prejudice thus aroused, and the consequent mis- interpretation of motives, makes it hard for the missionary, and also for the native helper who works with the mission. It is hard for the latter to be called a traitor and an ally of his country’s enemies, for he knows that he is a true patriot, and working for the best interests, temporal and spiritual, of his native land. The missionary, who feels the delicacy of this whole problem, will study the situation carefully, and try to deserve the con- fidence and esteem of the people. Only thus can 1 From an article in The Independent, of New York, 1899. The Present Problem 255 he help them toward a right solution of the prob- lem of a self-supporting native church. As the work passes more largely into native hands, the accusations to which reference is here made will be seen to be false, and the work will be seen in its true light as a patriotic movement for the moral regeneration of Latin America; and, as such, entirely independent of politics. After mention of all these difficulties under which Protestants carry on their work, it is but just to mention one most encouraging feature. Frequent reference has been made in the course of these lectures to a liberal party. Its members are, as a rule, friendly to Protestantism ; at least as an offset to the political power of the papacy. In some countries this party is in political control, in others it is growing in power. Leaders such as Diaz in Mexico, Romana in Peru, Pando in Bolivia, Roca in Argentina, are friendly to Amer- icans, and desire to promote immigration and the investment of foreign capital. It is a curious fact that many regard the terms liberal, mason and Protestant, as practically synonymous. Of course this is not always true ; yet it is true that the liberals have recognized the help to their cause in the teachings of Protestant- ism. Some people seem to misunderstand the nature and extent of this friendliness. In most cases it is but a willingness to use the missionary movement as an instrument against the political power of the clerical party. It is wise for the 2 $6 Needs of Latin America evangelical worker to recognize this fact, and to steer clear of entangling alliances. Politics and religion became so mixed up in the struggle for liberty that this mistake is not to be wondered at. For that very reason the Protestant movement must be emphasized as a strictly religious and spiritual enterprise, and not as an aid to any po- litical party. That the liberals are not necessarily Protest- ants, in the religious sense of the term, is shown by the fact that few or none of their leaders have become members of our churches, or even attend our services. While appreciative of their friendly attitude, the Protestant worker is sorry that the religion of Jesus Christ does not gain entrance to their hearts. The attendance of President Diaz at the funeral services held in honor of the German emperor, in a Protestant church, was only a question of na- tional etiquette. Yet a good deal has been made of it. President Roca, in 1884, attended a Prot- estant anniversary celebration in Buenos Ayres, and made a speech in which he complimented the missionaries on their success. “ To their influ- ence he attributed much of the progress of the republic, and urged them to enlarge their fields and increase their zeal.” The conservative papers criticized his speech; the liberal journals ap- plauded the sentiments expressed; and there the matter ended. Guzman Blanco of Venezuela said and did The Present Problem 257 some enthusiastic things ; but probably Barrios erf Guatemala went as far as anybody when he took back with him a missionary from the States, sent his children to the mission school, and helped our work in various ways. He did not become a convert, however; and his action was little more than a well-directed blow at political popery. This friendly attitude, even when thus limited, is a real help to our cause, and a constant source of encouragement. We do not ask for, or desire, the kind of help which devout viceroys and governors gave to the papal church in such measure that the church dominated, even dic- tated, in purely political questions. It is well to emphasize the fact, until nobody can misunder- stand it, that Protestant missions aim at some- thing spiritual. Alas that the consecrated adher- ence which is asked for by our divine Master is of such a nature that few in high position have been willing to give it. Even when the men of the family are liberals in politics, their wives and daughters are devout Roman Catholics, and so all hold aloof from our services. Bearing in mind, then, these conditions, favor- able and unfavorable, under which our Protestant work is carried on, we take up the first of the two aims which we have in view in all our work, namely, to raise the moral standard of the whole country in beliefs and practices ; that is, to create a new and more spiritual religious atmosphere. 258 Needs of Latin America What is our influence to-day upon the life and thought of Latin America? My personal experi- ence is limited to Mexico, but my reading leads me to believe, that, with slight modifications, the situation is much the same in all the Spanish re- publics, and in Portuguese Brazil. Let it be borne in mind that it is a more difficult problem to de- termine the relation of cause and effect between Christian missions and social and spiritual prog- ress in the Roman Catholic countries of the New World than in strictly pagan lands. Persia and Syria, with their corrupt forms of Christianity, are more nearly parallel. The difference between heathen customs and Christian civilization is more pronounced, and, therefore, progress within the sphere of Christian influence stands out in con- trast as a point of light amid the darkness. What we have to note in the Latin countries of the new world is the revivifying influence of evangelical Christianity on the degenerate life of a grossly corrupted Roman Catholicism. That changes have been wrought, none will deny. The divergence of opinion begins, how- ever, when the cause is sought to which to attrib- ute the changes. Those of us who have lived for a decade, or longer, in any of the more progres- sive countries of Latin America, can point to many outward signs of material progress; as, for example, the extension of railways and tele- graph lines, the use of the telephone and electric light, the establishment of new industries, the The Present Problem 259 improvement in the popular journals and their wider circulation. There is also a subtle, but sig- nificant change in the intellectual and moral at- mosphere of the community. The popular point of view has been steadily approximating that of the more enlightened nations of Europe and America. An enlightened leader like Don Por- firio Diaz, the “ Hero of Peace,” in Mexico, can do wonders in this direction. Another factor of prime importance, is the growing intercourse with other nations, for this insensibly liberalizes and broadens the people. All these agencies work together with Protestant mis- sions in the modern transformation of Latin America, and their interests are closely inter- woven into each other. We feel justified, after giving due credit to the other factors, in claiming much for our mission work. In proof of this we can cite the judgment of congressmen, state governors, cabinet officers, and even the presidents of these republics. All these see in the Protestant worker one who will help them in the prosecution of their reforms. We have already stated that, owing to this very cause, evangelical Christianity has, at times, run the risk of being drawn into politics. This fact shows that enlightened Latin Americans see in evangelical Christianity an ally of liberalism ; a reformatory influence of the highest character. For example, Dr. Wm. Butler, of the M. E. Mis- sion says in his “ Mexico in Transition,” that i6o Needs of Latin America after the Atzala massacre, President Diaz said to him: “You are greatly depressed and discour- aged over what has now occurred, and I do not wonder ; but if you knew this country as I know it, you would feel differently. . . . My ad- vice is, do not be discouraged. Keep on with your work, avoiding topics of irritation, and preaching your gospel in its own spirit, and believe me that, twenty years hence, religious murders will have ceased in Mexico, and our people will be rejoicing in the peace and toleration which our constitution guarantees to all without distinction.” While not yet entirely fulfilled, this prophecy has been justified in a large degree. It is also a striking testimony to the influence of Protestant- ism. When, in 1895, the Virgin of Guadalupe was crowned, and there was much fear of an outburst of fanatical persecution, the Archbishop of Mex- ico issued a circular letter in which he advised the faithful to love the Protestants and to treat them with toleration. He could not have given stronger testimony to the indirect influence of Protestant thought on the popular conscience. He recog- nized that the days for persecution as a weapon against Protestantism, had gone, as President Diaz said they would go. It is no longer politic to appear to be intolerant. Hon. Matias Romero tells us, in his “ Mexico and the United States,” how he felt after the great battle for religious liberty had been won. “ I The Present Problem a6i thought,” he says, “ that one of the best ways to diminish the evils of the political domination and abuses of the clergy in Mexico was to favor the establishment of other sects which would come in some measure into competition with the Catholic clergy, and thus cause it to refrain from excesses of which it had been guilty before.” Hon. Ig- nacio Maniscal has said that many liberals en- couraged the Protestants, saying “ that it was the tendency of all the religious organizations to be- come insolent and despotic when they grew strong, and that what the Roman Catholic church needed was a rival or rivals.” 1 This is native testimony to the influence of Protestantism ; and we have not disappointed their hopes. Protestantism does provoke the Roman Catholic Church to good works ; does sec- ond the best efforts of liberal leaders ; and itself inaugurates new movements of reform ; setting sundry moral questions before the people in a new light, and leading many to look at them from a new standpoint. We cannot do better, in the study of this ques- tion, than to follow the outline given by Dr. Den- nis in his Sixth Lecture on Missions and Social Progress. It is this : Results manifest 1. In individual character. 2. In family life. 3. In humane and philanthropic movements. 'The Independent, New York, November, 1899. 162 Needs of Latin America 4. In the development of the higher life of so- ciety. 5. In national life and character. 6. In commercial and industrial life. 7. In religious faith and practice. We need not treat in detail all the subtopics in- dicated by Dr. Dennis, but prefer to limit our- selves to those which best suit our purpose. For this reason I shall touch upon only one of the “ results manifest in individual character,” namely, the temperance question. Latin America is not the only part of the world where the vice of intemperance prevails. While the wealthy consume the same expensive liquors the world over, the poor have in every country a cheap, national beverage. In many parts of South America the Indians and mixed race ( mestizos ) use a drink called chic ha, and chew coca leaves. The former intoxicates, the latter destroys the sense of taste and vitiates the whole being, when used to excess. Pulque, the fermented juice of the maguey plant, a ropy, ill-smelling, whitish liquor, is the national drink of Mexico. The railroads, which help in the dissemination of vices as well as of virtues, now carry pulque in quantities to points where formerly it was used but little, if at all. Tequila, mescal and aguardiente are the most fiery and effective of the native distilled liquors; while marihuana is a drug which often produces fatal results. The Present Problem 263 At a recent temperance meeting convened by the Protestant missionaries of Mexico City, Mr. E. C. Butler stated that “thousands of men are such habitual drinkers that they never do a day’s work ; others are habitually idle much of the time because of the drink ; while still others are unable to perform full labor because of the injurious effects of drink.” He estimated, from the statis- tics to be had, that the average daily consumption of meat in Mexico City was four ounces per cap- ita, but, he added, some never eat meat, and stated further that “ of the 340,000 (inhabitants) fully 100,000 eat little or no meat.” The pulque drunk in 1898 was worth five mil- lion dollars. Many persons, and even children, drink it for breakfast instead of coffee. Mr. Morales has had to ask the little children in our primary day schools in the city to promise not to drink it, and those who give it up are brighter and learn more quickly. “ Pulque,” continues Mr. Butler, “ lies at the base of the worthlessness and unreliability of a large proportion of Mexican labor. The labor element of Mexico spends more for pulque than do the better classes for meat. The $5,000,000 spent last year (1898) on this white curse of Mexico, represented the centavos of the poor. Had they bought meat instead, they would have brought up even the average of their poor and un- known lives.” They consumed, he tells us, 200,- 000,000 litres, or “ a lake of pulque thirty-five 264 Needs of Latin America feet deep, over a hundred feet wide and nearly a mile in length, a lake big enough to carry half a dozen battle ships like the Olympia.” This is a statement of the consumption of but one intoxi- cant, and, if I understand Mr. Butler, only for the city of Mexico. The liquor problem in Latin America is a sad one. Sunday is the great day for intoxication; and San Limes, or St. Monday, is the saint most honored by the laboring men, who are unable or disinclined to work after the spree of the day be- fore. I have failed to discover any real effort on the part of the Roman Catholic Church to cure this evil. There was no temperance agitation till the Protestant missionaries began the movement. Individual Roman Catholics might deprecate the vice of drunkenness, but there the matter ended. Even our first converts found it hard to see any harm in pulque, or even in stronger liquors. The change in their attitude is a high tribute to Prot- estantism. The movement in favor of temper- ance and total abstinence is not due to the average American colonist, as the most cursory glance at the numerous foreign saloons and club rooms will show. It is due simply and solely to the efforts of Christian missionaries and native Prot- estant workers. This agitation of the question will, in time, we believe, greatly diminish the drinking at the popu- lar religious feasts, to which the natives come in The Present Problem 265 crowds ; for public sentiment will force the church to put a stop to these open abuses. Already some slight improvement can be noted. A few years ago, Mrs. H. H. Stoddard visited Mexico and gave illustrated temperance addresses in many of the principal cities, and organized temperance so- cieties. She was also accorded a hearing in gov- ernment schools, and the press of the country commented favorably on her efforts. The W. C. T. U. now has a resident missionary in Mexico, and there are a number of native temperance so- cieties. If, however, the large Protestant com- munity of the United States must still wage con- tinual warfare against drunkenness, and with only partial success, it is not to be expected that the handful of Protestants in Latin America will as yet accomplish very much. A beginning has been made, and for the results thus far we are grateful, and see many reasons for encourage- ment. We come, in the second place, to the influence of Protestantism on the family. It is sometimes said by Anglo-Saxon travellers that there are no homes in Latin America. This is not true. There are homes, and, in the aggregate, a great many of them, in which parents and children, husband and wife, are bound together by the tenderest of ties ; but the dangers to home life are perhaps greater ; and the proportion of men who are unfaithful, and of children who are precocious in vice, is greater. 266 Needs of Latin America The upper and middle classes have the social code of Europe, and woman in social life is al- ways treated with elaborate courtesy; France being taken as a model. The manners of polite society are as cultivated as anywhere in Christen- dom. Even among the Indians elaborate cere- mony and courteous hospitality is everywhere to be found. There is also, in many homes, a deep affection between parents and children, which it is beautiful to see. Differences in the matter of family discipline are found there as here. Chil- dren are trained to be very polite on occasion, but obedience is not insisted on as a rule; and pre- varication — not to use a shorter word — is not sufficiently punished. While husbands love their wives and provide for them, it is commonly reported, and seldom or never denied, that one or more mistresses may be added, if only they are kept decently out of sight. Not actions, but appearances, are the test. To concubinage of this kind all eyes are discreetly closed, save for an occasional reprimand in the newspapers. Great regard is paid to appearances, and rarely is anything seen to shock the sensibili- ties among those who are fairly well educated. The men of the lowest class, and the women also, use vile language in conversation ; and these men often make indecent remarks to women of the serving class as they pass them on the street. There is also a custom among the educated, wealthy young men, denounced from time to time The Present Problem 267 in the daily journals, or by indignant travellers, but still tolerated. The gilded youth of the cities line up on both edges of the sidewalk, before their clubs, or in front of stores patronized by women of fashion, and stare at the women in a way which ought to make their blood tingle with shame, es- pecially if they overhear the bold comments on their physical charms of face and body. Why don’t the women put a stop to it? Many, perhaps most, priests ; especially in their youthful days, do not keep their vows of chastity. Some are flagrantly immoral, others live with some one woman who is a wife in all but the marriage ceremony. Pope Leo in an encyclical letter addressed to the clergy of Chile, in 1897, says : “ In every diocese ecclesiastics break all bounds and deliver themselves up to manifold forms of sensuality, and no voice is lifted up to imperiously summon pastors to their duties.” 1 The marriage rite is often more honored in the breach than in the observance. From Colombia comes the following statement : “ The marriage laws, and the state of morals induced by the nearly universal disregard of the same, are the greatest hindrance to the evangelization of the people of Colombia. There can be no really binding marriage covenant except it be celebrated by a priest of Rome, who usually demands a fee beyond the power of the masses to pay. Even 1 Protestant Missions in South America, p. 205. a68 Needs of Latin America civil contracts of marriage are made null and void on certain easy conditions. As a consequence, polygamy, without the sanction of even Moslem law, is more common than in Moslem lands.” 1 The same is true in all the Latin American republics. The repeated conflicts between Church and State over the question of civil and religious marriage have not helped the matter. In Mexico, for example, the government recognizes only the civil contract entered into before a civil magis- trate. The church ceremony is often performed afterwards but has no legal value. The Church does not admit the validity of a merely civil marriage. In any case it costs something to get married; for, although the civil ceremony is said to be free, the nominal cost of a dollar or so bars out many of the very poor, and the petty delays and annoyances to which the peon is subjected, together with an uneducated moral sense, lead him to dispense with the ceremony altogether. As divorce, with right to remarry is not yet granted in Mexico, as in some other of these countries, even on Scriptural grounds, many are found in second unions which have no legal sanc- tion. These facts explain, in part, the very high per- centages of illegitimate births, which reach thirty, fifty, and even seventy-five per cent ; as in Ecua- dor. It is often necessary before receiving a 1 Historical Sketch of Presbyterian Missions, p. 339. Presbyterian Church, ‘San Augustin” Zacatecas The Present Problem 269 couple into our Protestant communion, although they may have been living together for many years as husband and wife, and have a large family, to insist that they be married according to the law of the land, and then afterwards by the Church if they so desire. Our firm stand in this matter is well known, and is not without its influence on the popular conscience. Protestant- ism refuses to wink at impurity ; and our Church members are held to a high standard of family life. The right of woman to earn her own living, without exposing herself to insult and infamy, is closely related to this question. This right is be- coming better recognized, and more avenues are now opened to her. Curiously enough, in Chile, the street car conductors are women ; and in Santiago they once had a successful strike ; for all the women of the town sustained them, and what could the men do but yield as gracefully as pos- sible ? Of humanitarian and philanthropic movements there is little to be said. The civilized Roman Catholic communities already have hospitals and asylums, many of which are large, and well en- dowed institutions. Where the population is almost wholly Indian, little or nothing has been done. Aside from a few medical missions such as that of the Methodists, in Guanajuato, that of the Seventh Day Adventists, in Guadalajara, and a few orphanages, Protestant workers have not added to the charitable institutions. But six I'jo Needs of Latin America medical missionaries are reported for all South America. It has seemed best, as a rule, to leave medical work in the hands of the native physi- cians. The higher life of society, is Dr. Dennis’s fourth division. All the agencies employed by Protes- tantism to elevate the individual and the family, tend to develop the higher life of society. It re- mains, therefore, only to state what Protestant- ism is doing for the secular and religious instruc- tion of the people. We must be careful to give the different gov- ernments full credit for what they are doing in this same direction. A graded system of public schools, from the primary to the professional, is being set up everywhere ; and while it all looks better on paper than in actual operation, and many of the methods are criticized by modern Amer- ican instructors, there are some fine institutions. Their graduates, and those who study abroad, form the educated class. As already described, in a previous lecture, all the missions have day and boarding schools, and institutions for higher education. The efforts of Protestantism in this direction have acted as a stimulus both to the Roman Catholic Church and to the different gov- ernment schools. We come, in the fifth place, to the influences which affect national life and character. In describing the liberal party, we spoke of the recognition by its leaders of Protestant work. The Present Problem 271 In Chile, Dr. Trumbull had a direct influence in the shaping of certain laws. In 1888, the Chilian government granted our Presbyterian mission a charter whereby “ those who profess the Re- formed church religion, according to the doctrines of Holy Scripture, may promote primary and superior instruction, according to modem methods and practices, and propagate the worship of their belief obedient to the laws of the land ; ” and, “ this corporation may acquire lands and build- ings necessary for the expressed object, and re- tain the same by act of the legislature.” It is added that “ this special charter was one of sev- eral important steps taken by the government in the direction of religious liberty, and renders the tenure of property more secure than for- merly.” 1 No one can attend our Protestant gatherings, and hear the stirring speeches on national holi- days, and not see that Protestants are among the truest patriots in Latin America. They ad- vocate the separation of Church and State, and full religious liberty. Their voice is everywhere heard, and it helps to educate public opinion. Sixth, trade and commerce. These are not appreciably affected by our mis- sion work. Much is accomplished indirectly by fuller, freer trade relations with England, Ger- many and the United States. The railroads built 1 Historical Sketch Presbyterian Missions, p. 331. Needs of Latin America by English and American capitalists and engi- neers, are rapidly changing the regions thus entered. We already witness the first influx of immigrants and of foreign capital. It is true that many of the new colonists are from Italy and other papal countries ; but many are also Protes- tants. The Protestant communities thus founded are more eager for modern means of transit and other improvements than are the Roman Catho- lics. This brings us to the last point : The results of missionary effort connected with religious faith and practice. The influence of Protestantism is of three kinds. The first is a general influence on the whole community. This influence is restraining and constraining in character. It helped to create, for example, the public sentiment which de- nounced the attack on a Protestant family in Irapuato, to which reference has already been made. The lesson was learned even in an In- dian village which I visited shortly after the riot. The Roman Catholic town president told me, with a laugh, that he was very careful how he treated our Protestant teacher, lest he be dealt with as were the authorities of Irapuato. This was in Almoloya where Mr. Gomez was killed sixteen years ago. The influence of the stand taken at Ahuacatitlan was felt all over the state of Guerrero. This influence on public opinion is very great, but, from the nature of the case, it The Present Problem 273 is difficult to express in words. It must be felt to be fully understood. The second influence is on the Roman Catholic Church. The great Reformation in Europe gave rise to a counter reformation in the papal Church. There are signs of a similar attempt at reforma- tion in the Latin American Churches. How far it will go, and how radical it will be, it is unsafe to predict. Many outward abuses will be done away with. Old time superstitions and idola- trous practices have already begun to flee from modern ridicule and criticism. The Day of the Dead has lost much of its picturesqueness in Mexico. The Passion Play has been forbidden by the Archbishop of Mexico, on the ground that it has outlived its usefulness. The church in Latin America will become more like her sister com- munion in the United States, which will be a great gain over the present condition of affairs. The third influence of evangelical Christianity is clear and positive. It is seen in the changed lives of our converts. In more than one Indian village you can pick out the boy or girl who has studied in our schools ; and the members of our churches have brighter faces. They are no longer idolaters. I use that word advisedly, for I have talked with many individuals and asked them: Did you worship the image or the saint repre- sented by the image? They answer that they can see now that they were real idolaters, for while they knew about the particular saint thus 274 Needs of Latin America represented, it was the specific image of a specific shrine through which they expected to get the blessing asked for. The image did the work. I well remember one consecrated woman tell- ing me, as we stood before her ranch home in the hotlands, how she had burned and buried her idols and now worshipped God alone. She would not give them to us as curiosities, she preferred utterly to destroy them, to stamp them to powder and thus break utterly with her idolatrous past. Let me name again the steps in our progress. What would the United States be without our English Bible and our long training in its pre- cepts? Latin America would still have no Bible in the language of the people, but for the Protes- tant worker. Now the Bible can be found every- where, and is distributed annually by thousands of copies. Our Protestant converts are the only persons who fittingly observe the Lord’s Day and strive to keep it holy. Latin America, under Roman- ism, has never had a Christian Sabbath. Take away the Protestant worker and you take away Sunday schools, and Young People’s Societies, and similar work in behalf of the young. Our gospel hymns will be unheard. No voice will be raised for temperance. You take away, in a word, the only really spiritual, uplifting influence at work to-day among the millions of this broad heritage. If we believe in the Protestant Refor- mation in Europe, we must believe in the Protes- The Present Problem 175 tant Reformation of to-day in Latin America. America for Christ! That means all America; and on American Christians rests the burden of the work. This brings us naturally to the second element in our problem; how to build up a self-support- ing, self-propagating native church. It is proper and natural for you to ask us who labor on the field, how soon may we expect to see self-supporting Protestant churches in Latin America ? When will there be no further need of contributions from the churches of the United States ? These questions are difficult to answer. A beginning has been made. Each mission has an ecclesiastical organization in accord with the standards and form of government of its Church. For example, the Methodists hold annual con- ferences, presided over by bishops sent from the United States. Many of the presiding elders are natives, and they have a regular system of native contributions for a number of objects, including pastoral support. The total thus raised makes a very respectable amount. Our Presbyterian mis- sions are in various stages of advance. In Vene- zuela and Colombia there are only individual churches and the mission; but Chile has a Pres- bytery. In Mexico one mission has three Presby- teries ; the Southern Presbyterians have one ; and the Associated Reformed mission has one ; mak- 276 Needs of Latin America ing five in all ; and steps have been taken toward the organization of a Synod in July of this year (1901). This will give us an independent Pres- byterian Church in Mexico. In Brazil this step has already been taken. In 1888, the Northern and Southern Presbyterians, divided into four Presbyteries, united to form the Synod of Brazil, which is independent of the Presbyterian churches in the United States, and is a member of the Pan-Presbyterian Alliance. In 1897, there were reported 76 organized churches, of which 36 were entirely self-supporting, while the rest received greater or less help from the Boards of Foreign Missions. There were 23 ordained Brazilian ministers, 3 licentiates, and 5,437 church members. The native contributions reached 226,709 milreis. This is really a splendid showing. The problem has been solved in Brazil so far as those 36 self-supporting churches are concerned ; and the other churches give some- thing and are working toward entire self-support. Some of the churches in Chile are partially self-supporting. “ The Methodist Mission, which was begun in 1878, has been conducted on the plan of self-support from the beginning, the mis- sionaries getting their entire support on the field, and it is one of the most prosperous missions on the continent ” of South America. 1 In Mexico we have a plan of self-support 1 Protestant Missions in South America, p. 137. The Present Problem 277 under which many of our churches pay forty per cent, of their pastor’s salary and all inci- dental expenses ; and the percentage they give increases annually. The church in Mexico City has promised to begin entire self-support in January, 1901, and enter thus upon the 20th cen- tury. This is in view of the fact that the Chris- tian Endeavor Society connected with that church raised $1,263 during the year 1900; of which amount $1,050 was given to our Mexican Home Mission Board, which has three evangelists and two teachers working in an extensive country field among the mountains of Guerrero and in the State of Mexico. All this shows that the native churches can have their own ecclesiastical organizations ; do have them, in fact; and that they can bear the burden of their own preaching services, of their local day schools for little children, and other in- cidental expenses. Experience is teaching the mis- sions that in opening new work a proper method will educate the groups of believers in self-sup- port from the very outset. Let the company of believers worship in their own homes until they so desire a house of worship that they will build it themselves. This has been done. Only lately in Zacualpan, under our Mexican Home Mission Board, the people gave the land and raised the money, with some special gifts from other native churches. The congregation of Merida built a church costing between three and four thousand 2jS Needs of Latin America dollars, and raised the money themselves. In Mexico City the congregation pays the rent of two halls for preaching services. As to the services, let the most intelligent mem- bers of the group of believers conduct them in turn. This has been done especially in Mr. Campbell’s field, and in the Mexico City ward congregations. This is the apostolic plan. If the men are suitable, Paul’s method can be carried a step further, and elders can be ordained in the churches. We have done this also. Forms of worship, expositions of Scripture passages and sermons have been printed, and these, together with the help and instruction given by the mis- sionary or native evangelist, make it possible to hold services of an acceptable character. The congregation also knows that, as soon as it feels able to raise the money, it can have a regular paid pastor, either one already ordained, or a student from our Theological Seminary. This plan also, is already in successful operation. If all the mis- sions will agree on this plan or one similar, and adhere to it, the problem of self-support will solve itself, and growth be made in a natural way. The people who could support the costly wor- ship of the Roman Catholic Church, who made the sacrifices made for it, when once they love the Lord Jesus Christ will gladly do as much or more for love of Him. They can and will meet the expenses of our simpler, Protestant worship. The Present Problem 279 Lack of experience, hope for speedier results, and a desire to avoid any appearance of exactions like those of Rome, led in the early days, to ex- penditures which took the work out of native hands. In places where the missions had for years met all the expenses, the people still ex- pected them to do so, especially as they were commonly credited with the possession of un- limited funds. Why, they argue, should a poor man make sacrifices to do what the wealthy mis- sion can do so easily? Still there are cases where the very moderate salaries paid are often more than one congrega- tion can defray. The remedy which suggests it- self is to group the congregations, or ask them to hold their own services without a paid pastor until they can meet the expense. This has been done in some cases. Kindness and tact are neces- sary in effecting these changes. The spirit of self-sacrifice, and the patriotism of the native Christians, will prove equal to the task, and self-support and self-propagation will be achieved. Much will depend on the missionaries and the na- tive men who take the places of Paul and his fel- low workers. We need more such men as Mr. Morales, who has educated his elders so that they too hold services ; and three of his workers are now missionaries of our Mexican Home Mission Board. Encouraging as all this is, it does not mean that there will be no further need for mission a8o Needs of Latin America effort. For many years to come missionaries and native evangelists, paid by the Board, will be needed to look after the work already established, and to enter new fields. It will also be necessary for the churches in the United States to sustain our presses, our Protestant literature, and our Tract and Bible Societies. Higher education will also demand large contributions. We need well equipped and suitably endowed Normal schools, Colleges and Theological Seminaries ; and educa- tional work is not strictly self-supporting even in the United States. It will not be so on the mission field, although the amount to be received from tuitions will steadily increase. All these agencies will call for as large an outlay as the home churches are likely to make. It is impos- sible to say for how many years this work will call for foreign help. This, then, is the development and this the need of Latin America as I see it. First, a whole hemisphere lying in pagan ignorance and idol- atry; then the conversion to Roman Catholicism of more than half of this vast area, giving the people some knowledge of God and Jesus Christ, but all marred by mariolatry and the idolatrous worship of the saints and degenerating, under the influence of wealth and power, into gross superstition and corruption. Then the patriots opened the door of religious liberty and the Prot- The Present Problem 281 estants entered with the open Bible which tells of Jesus Christ, the only Mediator and Saviour. We have begun our work at the right time, when fuller, freer intercourse with the outside world, the construction of railroads, the develop- ment of natural resources, the establishment of schools, and the larger use of the press, together with a growing immigration, make this a period of transition from America’s dark ages to the light of modern civilization. As we stand thus upon the threshold of the new era, we lift our eyes and look forward into the future. At the risk of mistaken calculations, we venture a few forecasts of what that future is to be. The Indians will be converted and ab- sorbed by inter-marriage with the white or mixed race, as has happened in the past ; or, if unwilling to change their mode of life, they will prove un- equal to the new struggle for existence and will disappear. An enlightened mixed race, the typi- cal Latin American, will be the dominant element in social and political life. The Spanish and Portuguese language will everywhere be spoken ; and, with it, will go the instincts and traditions of Iberian civilization. Immigrants will flow in from all sides. The Spanish, Portuguese, French and Italian elements in the new population will be likely to remain Roman Catholic, and will easily fit into life as they find it in Latin America. The Anglo-Saxons and the Germans will bring, as a 282 Needs of Latin America rule, Protestant traditions ; and, if true to their mission, will help the cause of Protestantism. Unless they enter in immense numbers, they too will learn the language of the country, and their descendants become typical Latin Americans. The power to assimilate, owing to climate and other conditions, is as great as in the United States. Now is the time to infuse evangelical thought and ideals into this mixed national life. This part of our western hemisphere is bound to grow in wealth and population till more nearly equal to the Anglo-Saxon half of our continent. Napoleon III. and Puis IX., with a long look ahead, tried to set up in Mexico a Roman Catholic monarchy which should hold the balance of power in the New World; weld the Latin nations into a unit ; and hold back the United States. They failed, and to-day the influence of Protestant America is supreme ; but it will be equally great in the future only if true to the mission given our people to carry the gospel to all the world. In our great missionary enterprise, let us not forget that portion of the western hemisphere lying to the southward of our own beloved land. Friends, I thank you for the kindness which has permitted me thus to present the religious need of Latin America, and make my plea to you on her behalf. By the sacrifices of her patriots, made to win religious liberty ; by the blood of her martyrs, who died preaching the truth as it is in Christ ; by the work of all our native Protes- The Present Problem 283 tants ; by the expenditures already made in men and money ; by my belief in the future that awaits Latin America, “ immense as her moun- tains and her seas, brilliant as her skies and her resplendent stars I appeal to you, in obedience to the divine command, to win Latin America for Christ. I see here the grandest opportunity for mission work offered the churches of America. It means all America, our whole continent, for Christ ; the complete victory of evangelical Chris- tianity in this struggle of the centuries since its discovery; a continent to be saved that it may be used in the conversion of the Old World of the Orient from its debasing heathenism. May our American Christians prove equal to the task: “ For right is right, since God is God ; And right the day must win ; To doubt would be disloyalty. To falter would be sin.” BOOKS OF REFERENCE Abbott. Mexico and the United States. 1869. Agassiz, L. A Journey in Brazil. 1868. Andrews, C. C. Brazil, Its Conditions and Pros- pects. 1891. Appleton’s Guide to Mexico. Latest edition. Ballou, M. M. Aztec Land. 1890. Bancroft, H. H. Popular History of Mexican People. Bancroft, H. H. Native Races. Mexico and Central America. Bandelier, A. F. Mexico. Bates, H. W. The Naturalist on the Amazon. 1863. Bates, H. W. Central America, the West Indies and South America. 1885. Bishop, N. H. The Pampas and Andes. 1883. Bishop, W. H. Old Mexico and her Lost Prov- inces. Boyd, R. N. Chili and the Chilians. Brand. Journal of a Voyage to Peru. 1828. Brigham, W. T. Guatemala. Brocklehurst, T. N. Mexico To-day. 1883. Brown, R. Races of Mankind. Butler, J. W. Sketches of Mexico. 1894. Butler, W. Mexico in Transition. 1892. *85 286 Books of Reference Butterworth, H. Over the Andes. 1897. Butterworth, H. Spanish America. Caldcleugh. Travels in South America. 1825. Calderon de la Basca, Madame. Life in Mexico. 1843. Child, T. The Spanish American Republics. 1891. Clemens, E. J. M. La Plata Countries of South America. 1886. Coan, T. Adventures in Patagonia. 1880. Condamine. Travels in South America, in Pink- erton’s Voyages. Condor. The Modern Traveller. Volumes on South American Countries and Mexico. 1829. Crawford, R. South American Sketches. 1898. Curtis, W. E. Capitals of Spanish America. 1888. Darwin, C. A Naturalist’s Voyage. 1886. Despard, G. F. Hope Deferred not Lost; Mis- sions to Patagonia. Ecumenical Missionary Conference, New York, 1900. Fletcher, J. C. and D. P. Kidder. Brazil and the Brazilians. 1866. Ford, I. N. Tropical America. 1893. Graham, M. Residence in Chile. 1824. Gooch, F. C. Face to Face with the Mexicans. Haight. Sketches of Buenos Ayres and Chile. 1829. Hale, S. Story of Mexico. Hall, B. Journal. 1824. Books of Reference 287 Head. Rough Notes. 1828. Holton, I. F. New Granada. Humboldt, A. von. Researches. 1814. Humboldt, A. von. Personal Narrative. 1826. Humphrey, A. R. A Summer Journey in Brazil. 1900. Janvier, T. Mexican Guide. Last edition. John, I. G. Handbook of Methodist Missions (South). 1893. Johnson, H. M. About Mexico, Past and Pres- ent. Mansfield, C. B. Paraguay, Brazil and the Plata. Markham, C. R. Travels in Peru and India. 1862. Marsh, J. W. Story of Commander Allen Gardi- ner. Mathison. Visit to Brazil, Chile and Peru. 1825. Mau. Journal of a Passage from the Pacific to the Atlantic. 1829. Mier. Travels in Chile and La Plata. 1826. Millard, E. C. and L. E. Guinness. South Amer- ica, the Neglected Continent. 1894. Miller. Memoirs of General Miller. 1829. Mulhall, M. G. and E. T. Handbook of the River Plata. 1892. Myers, S. A. Self-sacrifice, or the Pioneers of Fuegia. 1861. Noll. History of Mexico. Ober, F. A. Travels in Mexico. OPson, E. The Dark Continent at our Doors. 1899. 288 Books of Reference Olsson, E. South America, the Dark Continent. 1900. Page, T. J. La Plata, the Argentine Confedera- tion and Paraguay. 1859. Parish. History of Buenos Ayres. Presbyterian Mission, Historical Sketches of. 1897. Prescott, W. H. The Conquest of Mexico. Prescott, W. H. The Conquest of Peru. Rankin, M. Twenty Years in Mexico. Rays of Sunlight in Darkest South America. Reclus, E. The Earth and Its Inhabitants. North America and South America. 1894-95 Reid, J. M. and J. T. Gracey. Methodist Epis- copal Missions. 1895. Reville, R. Native Religions of Mexico and Peru. 1884. Ridpath, J. C. Great Races of Mankind. 1893. Romero, Matias. Mexico and the United States. Schmidtmeyer. Travels into Chile. 1825. Smith, E. R. The Araucanians. Southey, R. History of Brazil. 1822. Squier, E. G. States of Central America. Stephens, J. L. Incidents of Travel in Central America. Stevenson. Twenty Years’ Residence in South America. 1825. Taylor, W. Our South American Cousins. 1878. Thompson, W. Recollections of Mexico. 1846. Thompson, R. W. British Foreign Missions. 1899. Books of Reference 289 Thomson, J. Letters on South America. 1827. Ulloa. Voyage to South America, in Pinkerton’s Travels. Vincent, F. In and Out of Central America. Vincent, F. Around and About South America. Wallace, A. R. Travels on the Amazon and the Rio Negro. 1853. Wilson, R. A. Mexico and Its Religions. Young. From Cape Horn to Panama. 1900. Consult also the Handbooks of the Bureau of American Republics, Encyclopedias, Indexes to periodicals and the Missionary Reviews and An- nual Reports of the various Societies at work in Latin America. There are also numerous works in Spanish, Portuguese and other languages. See lists of books in “ Protestant Missions ” in South America, pp. 216-223; “Historical Sketches of Presbyterian Missions,” pp. 193, 202 and 342, and similar lists in other mission publications. INDEX Abbott, Christianity pagan- ized, 6x. Abel, City of* in Yucatan, 2 3 - . Aborigines, see Indians. Acapulco, massacre of protestants, 226, 247. Acatlan, Santa Cruz de, picture of chastisement of Cortes by monks, 96. Agencies, for distribution of Bible in Latin Amer- ica, 195. Aguardiente, intoxicating drink, 262. Aguas Calientes, centre of work of Cumberland Presbyterians in Mexico, 219. Aguas, Padre, controver- sial writer, 202. Aguilas, Jerome of* at Cozumel, 38. Ahuacatitlan, massacre of protestants in, 248, 272. Ahualulco, massacre of protestants in, 249. Alexander VI., grant of pagan world to Spain and Portugal, 71. Almeida, saint of Brazil, biographical notes, 115. Allende, general in Mexi- can war of independence, 143 - Alliance of Latin American republics, proposed, 127. Almoloya del Rio, attack on protestants, 248, 272. Alva, duke of, Maximil- ian’s hero, 167. Altamirano, Ignacio, liter- ary Mexican of Indian descent, 51. Amecameca, sacred shrine of Mexico, 25. America, brief descriptive survey of the continent, 13 - . America, Central, ancient Indian empires, 21, 29. See Guatemala, and Hon- duras. America, South, desire to awaken religious interest in, 7; native tribes, 18; civilized ancient races, 21 ; ancient Indian em- pires, 29; number of In- dians and their religious destitution, 53-57. See also the various republics of S. A. under their re- respective names. American Bible Society, 144. See Bible Societies. American Board of C. F. M., 219. See Congrega- tionalists. Americans, of U. S., feel- ing toward, in Latin America, 250, 281. American Tract Society, 200 et seq. 291 292 Index Anchieta, Apostle of Bra- zil, 1 14; executes Boileau, the Huguenot, 178. Andes, crossed by San Martin, 138; by Bolivar, 140. Andradas, Brazilian pa- triots, 131. Anglo-Saxons, territory occupied by them in America, 16; How re- garded in Latin America, 250, 281. Apizaco, murder of prot- estant preacher, 248. Aranda, plan for political reorganization of Spain’s American colonies, 127. Araucana, La, Epic of Er- cilla, on cruelty of Span- iards to Indians, 69. Araucanians, of Chile, never conquered, 19. Archbishop of Mexico, on toleration toward prot- estants, 260. Arellano, Plutarco, 226. Argentina. Political, in- dependence, 137 ; mission work, 183. See Buenos Ayres. Associate Reformed Pres- byterian Church in Mex- ico, 219, 275 ; comity, 229. Asuncion, Virgcn dc la, Festival in La Paz, Bo- livia, 241. Atotonilco, paintings taken from shrine of, by Hi- dalgo, for banner, 143. Atzala, massacre of prot- estants in, 260. Augurs, of the Aztecs, 41. Auto de fe, in Mexico City, described by an eye-wit- ness, hi. Ayacucho, victory of in war of independence, 141. Azores, 71. Aztecs, 24; empire of, 29, cruelty to sacrificed, 30 ; priests, 39 7. destruction of their temples, 81. Babel, Cholula, the tower of, 23, 49. Bahia, revolution in, 131 ; occupied by the Dutch, 179; visit of Henry Mar- tyn, 180. Balance of power in Amer- ica, 282. Balboa, discovery of the Pacific, 63. Bancroft, H. H., — Wash- ings of newborn Aztec child, 41. Bandelier, on the Indians of South America, 242. Banner, of Cortes, 72; of San Martin, 138. Baptisms, of Aztec chil- dren, 41 ; irregularities in administration of R. C. rite by missionaries, 100. Baptists, 219. Barrios, Pres, of Guate- mala, reforms of, 257. Beltran, with San Martin, 138. Beza, favored Hugenot Colony in Brazil, 178. Bible, desire for, in Latin America, 190 ; ignorance of, 190; statistics of dis- tribution, 19^ Bible Societies, one organ- ized in Bogota, 187, in other points, 188, statis- tics, 194; agencies, 195; persecution of agents, 197 - Index 293 Blackford, on R. C. Church in Brazil, 117, as mission- ary, 222. Boards of missions, how long their help will be needed, 280. Bogota, 130, 218. See Col- ombia and New Gra- nada. Boil, first apostolic vicar to new world, 64. Boileau, Jean, Huguenot executed in Brazil, 178. Bolivar, Simon, his belief that no religion be pre- scribed in state constitu- tion, 125, 142, his work I37» 139: biographical items, 140 ; death, 141 ; abnegation, 142 ; on pub- lic schools, 188. Bolivia, 141, 225, 241, 249. Books, list of protestant works in Portuguese and Spanish, 204. Brazil, Indians of, 53-55 ; discovery, 63, 66; Jesuits of* 100; power and cor- ruption of R. C. Church, 103, 1 17, 1 18 ; feasts, 103; popular saints of, 114- 117; political independ- ence achieved, 130- 132; religious liberty, 132, 133; articles of the constitu- tion on religious liberty, 133; advances made, 133; Huguenots in, 177; Dutch in, 179; Bible in, 190; missions, protestant, 177- 180, 190-193, 196-231 ; Synod of Brazil, 276. Brigham, visit to Latin America, and opinions, 183, 246. British and Foreign Bible Society, 194, 218. See Bible Societies. British and Foreign School Society. See Lancaste- rian Schools. Browning, Clara, 213. Buenos Ayres, 66; inde- pendence* 130; Lancaste- rian Schools, 188; San Martin of, 137. Bull-fights, at time of relig- ious feasts, in viceregal days, 103. Bull, of Paul III. in de- fence of the Indians as rational beings, 70 ; of Alexander VI., dividing the world, 71. Bustamante, publisher of Sahagun’s works, 91. Butler, E. C., statistics on drunkenness in Mexico, 263. Butler, J. W., on Atzala massacre, 249. Butler, W., enthusiasm over patriot struggle in Mexico, 8; on Mexico in Transition, 197, 259, etc. Butterworth, H., on strug- gle for liberty in South America, 8, 138, etc. Cadiz, Junta, desire to con- trol Spanish colonies, 129. Cain, city of in Yucatan, 23. Cajamarca, Colombia, work of R. C. missionary, Mateo, 94. Calderon de la Barca, Ma- dame, descriptions of R. C. Mexico, 1 18. California, 68; Jesuits in, 100; visit of protestant missionary from Sand- wich Islands, 182. 294 Index Callao, 139. Calvary, figure used in de- scribing Mexican strug- gle for independence, 168. Calvin, favored Huguenot missions in Brazil, 178. Campbell, C. C., protestant missionary, 196, 226, 278. Campanas, hill of, where Maximilian executed, 170. Cannibalism, of Indians, as a religious rite, 19. Captaincies of Spain in New World, 134. Capulhuac, Nicanor Gomez of, killed, 248. Carabobo, victory of, its importance, 141. Caracas, declaration of in- dependence, 130 ; Lancas- terian schools, 188. Catechisms, R. C. in Mex- ico, 98. Celaya, attack on protest- ants, 248. Cempoalla, use of force to set up R. C. worship, *ro. Central America, see America, Central, Guate- mala and Honduras. Chalchihuitlicue, now shrine of the Virgin of the Remedies, 41, 99. Chamberlain, Dr., mission- ary in Brazil, 214. Charles III., plan of Ar- anda, 127. Charles IV. unpopularity in Latin America, 129. Chavero, Alfredo, on Aztec priesthood, 40 ; symbol- ism of Quetzalcoatl, 36. Cherentes, of Brazil, mis- sion work among, 54. Chicha, a South American drink, 262. Chilan Cambal, his fraudu- lent prophecy, 38. Children, kill pagan priest at Tlascala, 81. Chile, Araucanians in, 19, 69, 130 ; religious strug- gle, 172 ; Brigham’s visit, 184 ; Bible, 190 ; protest- ant college, 212; immor- ality of R. C. Clergy, 267; Trumbull and laws in reference to protest- ants, 271 ; self support of protestant missions, 276. Chimalma, 34. China, influence on primi- tive America, 23. Cholula, tower of Babel, 23. 49- Christian Endeavor Socie- ties, 229, 274, 277. Christian rites, resem- blances to, in pagan wor- ship of America, 23. Cihuacoatl, 30. Cisneros, Cardinal, ordered ships to carry mission- aries, 64. Civilized races, 21-48; see Aztecs and Peruvians. Class distinctions in Latin America, 134, 151. Clavijero, on cruelty of Spaniards to Indians, 68. Coatepec, 32. Coatlicue, 32. Coca, drug used by Indians of Andes, 262. Cochrane, Lord, takes San Martin’s army by sea to Peru, 139. Coligny, Admiral, and Hu- guenot colony of Brazil, 177- Colleges, protestant in Latin America, 212; In- Index 295 stituto, Chile, 212; Mac- kenzie, Brazil, 213; Co- yoacan, 215 Colombia, work of R. C. missionaries, 94, 126; re- ligious struggle, 172, 218, 249 ; marriage in, 267. Colombians sent to London by Bolivar to study school system, 188. Colonies of Latin America, degree of isolation, 127; class distinctions in, 134. Colonists of Latin America help the R. C. mission- aries, 70. Colonization of Latin America, rapidity of, 62. Colporteurs, Bible, tribute to them, 199. Columbus, 63 ; interest in conversion of the Indi- ans, 71 ; at San Salvador, 72. Comity, between protestant missions, 228. Commerce, restrictions in the Spanish colonies, 135 - Compromises of Romanism with paganism, 239. Concepcion, early bishop- ric, 65. Condor, on injustice to In- dians, 136. Confederation of protestant societies in Mexico, 229. Congregationalists, mis- sions in Mexico, 219. Conquerors, their motives, 68 ; aid R. C. mission- aries, 70. Conventions, annual, of protestants, 229. Convent schools of Aztecs, 42. Cooke, W. A., on the Che- rentes, 54. Cooper’s novels, an ideal picture of the Indians, 18. Copocobana, 25 ; feast of, 106. Cordoba, R. C. missionary in South America, 65. Coricancha, temple of the sun, Cuzco, 27. Cortes, Hernan, writings, 24, 64 ; instructions to, 72 ; his banner, 72 ; use of violence to convert In- dians, 78; chastised by monks before Indians, 95 ; on restrictions upon monks, 150; will of, ex- press desire for a college in Coyoacan, 216 ; use of the sword, 238. Cortes, Spanish, offers rep- resentation to American colonies of Spain, 129. Coyoacan, passion play in, 106 ; protestant college, 216. Cozumel, cross of, 38 ; vio- lent conversion of In- dians, 78. Craver, on attitude toward United States in Uru- guay, 253. Creoles, treatment by Spain, 135. Cross, pagan, symbolism in America, 37, 38 ; of Cozu- mel, not pagan but R. C., 38. Crusaders, Spanish con- querors so regarded themselves, 70. Cuauhtemoc, conversion of, 74 - Cuautla, siege of, 144. Cuba, 64, 126, 134, 144, 250. Index 296 Cumberland Presbyterians in Mexico, 219. Curityba, protestant school in, 212. Curtin, J„ on religious life of the Indians, 20. Curtis, W. E., quotations from, on Ecuador, 118; on feasts, 241, 252, etc. Cuzco, Inca capital, 25; erection of R. C. temples and convents on old sites, 86. Daehne, C., Moravian mis- sionary in Guiana, 181. Darien, early bishopric of, 63 - Day of the Dead, 273. Dascomb, protestant mis- sionary teacher, 212. Dcfensa Catolica, on perse- cution of protestants, 247. Demetrius, his imitators in R. C. America, 104. Dennis, statistics, 200, 209; on influences of protest- antism, 261. Devil, caused resemblances to Christian rites among pagans, 24. Diaz, Bernal, his intrigues, 24. Diaz, Pres. Porfirio, of Mexico, 173. 248, 255, 256, 259, 260. Diaz, P. C., protestant preacher, 226, 247. Dominicans, 64, 66, 69, 87, etc. Domenech, on immorality of R. C. clergy, 240. Druids, influence on primi- tive America, 23. Dutch, attacks on Brazil, 130; missionaries of, 179, 229. Earthquakes, Lord of, 106. Ecuador, religious condi- tion, 1 18; struggles, 126; independence, 141, 172; Brigham’s visit, 184, 186 ; Bible in, 190. Education in Latin Amer- ica, 207. Egypt, influence on pagan America, 23. El Abogado Cristiano, M. E. paper, 202. El Carro, attack on prot- estants, 248. El Faro (The Lighthouse), Presbyterian paper, 202. El Ramo de Olivo, Friends, paper, 203. Esquimau, 18. El Teste go, Congregation- alist paper, 203. El Tienpo, R. C. paper, at- tacks on protestants, 254. Encomiendas, 68, 175. English attacks on Brazil, 130; missionaries, 177; services in, 239; in fu- ture of Latin America, 281. Ercilla, on cruelty of Span- iards, in his epic La Ar- aucaria, 69. Episcopalian missions, 219. Epworth League, 229. Evangelistic work, agencies used in, 218. Faber, his hymn, 238. Family, Aztec father’s ad- vice to his sons, 46; homes of Latin America to-day, 265. Feasts, Aztec, elements in, 43, 44; Roman Catholic, 103, 240, etc. Ferdinand and Isabella, Index 297 zeal for conversion of the Indians, 71. Ferdinand VII., was popu- lar with Latin Amer- icans, 129, 137. Fireworks, use in religious feasts to delight the In- dians, 104. Fisher, his History of the Reformation in Spanish, 204. Fletcher, on R. C. saints, 1 1 5, 1 16; on feasts, 103. Flood, supposed reference to in New World tradi- tions, 49. Force, use by R. C. to se- cure conversion of In- dians, 77. France, influence in Latin America, 146, 266, 281. Franciscans, 64, 66; helped by government, 78; beg alms, 87 ; convents, 85 ; beat Indians, 88; conflict with civil authorities, 88; Sahagun, 90. French attacks on Brazil, 130. Friends, or Quakers, 219. French Intervention in Mexico, 169. French Revolution, influ- ence in Latin America, 134 - Fuegians, destitution of, 19. Fueros, or special privi- leges and tribunals for clergy, etc., 164. Gante, Pedro, R. C. mis- sionary in Mexico, a let- ter of, 92. Garcilasso, writings of, 24. Gelves, fight with Arch- bishop Serna, 152. Geneva sends missionaries to Brazil, 178. Germans in Latin America, 281. Gods of pagan Indians, meaning, 37. Gomez, Abram, murdered in Ahuacatitlan, 248; Ni- canor, 248; Eusebio and his brother, 197. Gooch, Mrs., on Indian re- ligious feasts, 241. Goyaz, Indians of, 54. Granados, Juan and Jose, murder of latter, 197. Great Spirit, of the In- dians, 19. Greece, influence on primi- tive America, 23. Green, J. S., his visit to California from Sand- wich islands, 182. Green, Wm. Henry, Book of Job and Introduction to Old Testament in Spanish, 205. Greene, J. M., trip in Guer- rero, 216; organization of Presbyterian Theological Seminary, 216. Greenman, persecution of, in Celaya, 248. Grimes, persecution in Patzcuaro, 249. Guadalupe, the virgin of, 25, 108; on banner of Hi- dalgo, 145; comments on, 260. Guadalajara, centre of protestant work, 269. Guiana, missions in, 180, 229. Guanajuato, Hidalgo in, 143 - Guatemala, reforms of Bar- rios, 172, 257. Index Guayameo, influence of Bi- ble in, 196. Guayaquil, and sales of New Testament, 187, 188. Gucumatz, heathen god, 34. Guaranies, Indians of Jes- uit missions, 100. Guerrero, state, in war of independence, 144, 155, 156; trip of protestant missionary, 216. Guerrero, Vincente, libera- tor, 144, Guiana, Moravian Missions in, 180, 218, 229. Guzman, Blanco, reform work in Venezuela, 172, 257 - Haiti, 63. Hamilton, H. P., Bible agency, report, 194. Hawaiian Islands, 182. Hiawatha, religious aspira- tions of the Indian, 10 ; idealized picture, 20; R. C. priests’ visit, 59. Hidalgo, father of Mexican independence, 142-144. Hieronomites, 64. Hispaniola, 63. Hodge, A. A., works trans- lated into Spanish and Portuguese, 205. Hodge, Chas. “ Way of Life ”, in Spanish, 20s. Holy War, conquest of In- dians so regarded, 70. Homes of Latin America, 26s. Honduras, president’s defi- ance of a papal Bull, 172. Honolulu, 182. Hospitals in Latin Amer- ica, 269. Huguenot colony in Brazil, 177; its destruction, 178, 229. Hugo, Victor, address to President Juarez, 167. Huemac, mythical culture hero of Mexico, 36. Huitzilopochtli, Aztec war god, 30-33- Huitziton, culture hero, 34. Humanitarian movements in Latin America, 269. Humboldt, A. von, 61 ; on Indians, 130; on feasts of R. C. Church, 240. Hutchinson at Acapulco, 226. Hurst, Bishop, Church His- tories in Spanish, 204. Hurtado, Vincente, contro- versial articles, 202. Hurukan, god of tempests, 24. Hymnbooks, protestant, in Spanish and Portuguese, 204. Icazbalceta, on legend of Guadalupe, 109. Iceland and primitive America, 23. Idolatry of pagan Ameri- cans, 45, 47; of R. C. image worship, 274. Illegitimacy in Latin Amer- ica, 268. Immigration into Latin America, 281. Impurity of life, 266. Incas, capital Cuzco, 25 ; government, 25; temples, 25, 26; priests, 28; feasts, 28. Independence of colonies in Latin America, causes favoring, 127 ; move- ments, 130. Index 299 Indians, religious life, 17; savage tribes, 18; mental and moral development, 19; civilized races, 21; their origin, 22 ; debt to other countries, 23; sources of their history, 24; idolatry, 31; number in Latin America to-day, 51 ; why study them, 57 ; value of study to mission- ary, 58; religious nature, 58; suffering under cn- comiendas, 68 ; denied that they had souls, 69; why Indians accepted R. C. Christianity, 73 ; easy conversions, 75 ; secret idolatry, 79, 80 ; used in relays by monks, 87, 88; beaten by monks, 88 ; in- struction of by monks, 89 ; Indian preachers, R. C., 91; conversions, 92; forced to attend services, 95; systems of mnemon- ics, 95 ; failure to under- stand truths of Christian- ity, 99; of Brazil, 133; extortion, 135; position of, 151 ; of Orinoco, 181 ; at feasts, 240; dances, 241 ; future of, 281. India and primitive Amer- ica, 23. Influence of protestantism in Latin America, 257- ^ 75 - Inquisition, in Mexico, number of victims, no; auto de fe, in; Morelos condemned, 144; old building used for school, 188. Instruction, see Schools. Intemperance, 262. Intervention, French, 169. Irapuato, persecution of a protestant girl, 249, 272. Isabella, queen, zeal for conversion of the In- dians, 71. Islam and Romanism, 244. Italian colonists, 253, 281. Iturbide, liberator and leader of clerical party, 144, 155. 157. 162. Ixtlilxochitl, writings of, 24. Jacobs, W. B., 215. Jamaica, 64. James, St., aided Cortes, 73, 78; looked upon as a god by Indians, 99. Janeiro, Rio de, 176. Japan and primitive Amer- ica, 23. Jesuits, 8; extent of work, 66, 78, 100; expulsion, 154, 172; against Hugue- nots of Brazil, 178. Jewish rites, resemblances in heathen rites, 23. Jimenez, Cardinal, 65. John VI., of Brazil, 131. Joshua, supposed reference to sun of, 49. Johnson, 213. Joseph Bonaparte, in Spain, 129. Juarez, President Benito, 51, 125, 166; on execution of Maximilian, 170. Judases, exploded on Sat- urday of Passion Week, 105. Junta of Cadiz, 129. Keil, A. P., protestant mis- sionary, 215. 3 °° Index Kingsborough, publication of Sahagun’s works, 91. Klondike, 68. Kukulkan, 34. Labastida, report of Icaz- balceta to, on Virgin of Guadalupe, 109. Lancasterian schools in Latin America, 185-189. La Paz, Bolivia, R. C. feast in, 241. La Plata, 134, 135- Las Casas, the Defender of the Indians, 65, 69, 79. Las Cruces, victory of Hi- dalgo, 143. Latin America, religious development, order of, 7; religious need, 9, 14; area, 16; rivalries in re- ligion and politics with Anglo-Saxons, 16; fac- tors in religious life of, 17; pagan Indians, 17; R. C. missionaries of, 61- 101 ; supremacy of R. C. Church, 101-116; corrup- tion of R. C. Church, 116- 121 ; rapid colonization, 62-64; cruelty of Spanish conquerors, 70 ; crusa- ders, 71-73; mixed race, 73; conversion of In- dians, 73-76 ; violence used, 78-84 ; churches and convents built by forced labor, 84-89 ; instruction of natives in Christian doctrine, 89-99 ; power and wealth of Church, 102-110; feasts, 106-110; Inquisition, 110-113; saints, popular biogra- phies, 110-117; corrup- tion, 117-121; religious struggle, 125 ; work of patriots, 125-174; protest- ant work, 175-283; perse- cution 1 f protestants, 246- 250 ; influence of protest - antism, 261-275; distrust of Americans, 250-261 ; self-support of protestant work in, 275-280; Future greatness of, 280-283. “ Laws of Reform,” 165. Leo, Pope, on immorality of clergy of Chile, 267. Lectures, purpose, 7, 9 ; plan, 14. Lesson Helps for Sunday Schools, 203. Liberal platform in Mexico. 165. Lima, Peru, Inquisition, 1 13 ; in struggle for inde- pendence, 147 ; the Bible and schools, 186. Literature, Protestant, 204. Liturgy, use demanded by temperament of Latin Americans, 243. Longfellow. See Hiawatha. Lord’s Prayer, in sign lan- guage for Indians, 97. " Lust for gold,” a motive in the conquest of the New World, 68. Luther, his hymn quoted, 175. Mackenzie College, Brazil, history and work, 214. Magalhaes, on Indians of Brazil, 55. Mancera, R. C. missionary, 80. Marchena, R. C. mission- ary, 64. Margat on zeal 0 if Spanish monarchs for conversion of Indians, 71. Index noi Marihuana, injurious drug, used in Mexico, 262. Mariscal, Ignacio, on Maxi- milian’s empire, 252; on protestant work, 261. Marmol, on future of Latin America, 235. Marriage, among the Az- tecs, 42 ; Roman Catholic and civil, 267, 268. Martyn, Henry, on Roman- ism in Brazil, 177; in Ba- hia, 180. Mary, St., regarded as God by the Indians, 99. Masquerades, at religious feasts, 103. Master of Life, Indian be- lief in, 19. Matamoros, patriot general, 142. Mateo, work in Colombia as R. C. missionary, 94. Maurice of Nassau, in Bra- zil, 179. Maximilian, 149, 155, 162, 169, 170. Max. Muller, on thoughts of primitive humanity, 13 - Mayas, 34. Maypo, victory of, 138. McCook, colonel, 214. McDermid, M., protestant missionary, 213. Medical work, 269. Mejia, general of Maximil- ian, shot, 170. Mendieta, historian, 8, 80; children at Tlascala, 81 ; on beating of Indians, 88 ; on Indian preachers, 91 ; on imperfections of work of conversion, 99. Mendoza, A., R. C. press in Mexico City, 98. Mendoza, province of Cuyo, Argentine, 138. Merida, church built by protestant congregation, 217. Methodists, 86, 190, 218, 219, 269, 275, 276. Methods, of R. C. and prot- estant missionaries, 237- 2 45 - Mexican Home Mission Board, 226, 229, 277. Mexico, religious interest in, 7; homes of Indians, 20 ; civilized Indian races, 21, 28, 29 ; Aztec civiliza- tion and religion, 29-48 ; resemblances between Romanism and heathen religion, 48-50; Indians of to-day and their re- ligious condition, 51-53; R. C. missionaries, 66 ; Cortes, 63 ; violent con- versions, 78-84 ; con- structive work of monks, 84-89 ; instruction given Indians, 89-99 power and corruption of R. C. Church, 102 ; independ- ence won, 143-144; lib- eral movements, 130,134; religious liberty won, 149-172; protestant work, 182, 194, 196, 202-231 ; feasts, 239-241 ; persecu- tion of protestants, 246- 250; distrust of United States, 250-251 ; influence of protestantism, 261-275 ; future of Mexico, 280-283. Mescal. — Intoxicating na- tive drink, Mexico, 262. Meyer, 245. Michoacan, Indian nations of, 29. 3°2 Index Midas, touch of by Incas and R. C. clergy, 27. Millar, C. C., 216. Miller, general, on inde- pendence, 130. Milne, report on Bible dis- tribution, 195. Miramon, a leader of the clerical party, 162, 170. Miranda, liberator, 140. Missions, protestant, great- ness of task in Latin America, 15. Missionaries, Roman Cath- olic, method, 58, 77, etc. ; heroism, 67 ; imperfec- tions in work, 99. Prot- estant, societies at work and statistics, 218, 219; centres, 222, 224; rural districts, 225 ; agencies used, 228; confederation, 229; comity, 228. Mitre on Beltran, 138. Mixed race, help to R. C. missionaries, 73 ; future of, 281. Mnemonics, systems used by Indians, 91. Mongiardino, murdered in Bolivia, 249. Monks, see Missionaries. Monroe doctrine, 250. Monroy, murdered in Api- zaco, 249. Monterey, Bible in, 194. Montesinos, R. C. mission- ary, 65. Montevideo, Lancasterian schools, 188; attitude to- ward U. S., 253. Montezuma, 68. Montufar, Bishop, against monks, 87; imperfection of Indian conversions, 99. Moody, visitto Mexico, 245. Morales, Arcadio, protest- ant worker, 225, 229. Moravians. 180, 218, 229. Morelia, Hidalgo in, 143. Morelos, Indian descent, 51; condemned by the Inquisition, 112; as pa- triot general, 142, 144. Motley, on Maximilian, 167. Muller, Max, on thoughts of primitive humanity, 13. Murray, 245. Nahui Ollin, “ four move- ments,” 38. Napoleon I., helped move- ment for independence in Latin America, 128, 131. Napoleon III., plan for an American empire, 127, 169; downfall, 171, 252, 282. Nava joes, 242. Navagiero, on emigrants from Spain to America, 62. New Granada, 80, 134. See Colombia. New Hebrides, 181. New Testament, 186. See Bible and Bible Societies. Nicodemuses, 244. Noah, supposed pictures of, 49 - Normal Schools of protest- ant missions, Saltillo, 213; Mexico City, 213; Curityba, 212. Norway, and primitive America, 23. Norwood, fight in Colombia for right to sell Bibles, 198, 249. Oaxaca, Indians of, 52. O’ Higgins, liberator of Chile, 137. Index Olmedo, R. C. missionary with Cortes, at Cozumel, 78 - Olsson, Emilio, travels in benighted South America, 56. Omar of New Spain, Zum- marraga, 83. Ometochtli, priest of, stoned by children, 81. Orinoco, Indians of, reached by Moravians, 181. Ozumba, feast in, 95. Paez, Venezuelan liberator, 141 - Pagans of Latin America, see Indians, Aztecs, etc. Palacio, see Riva Palacio. Pando, President, 255. Palemke, cross of, 39. Papers, protestant, contents of, 203. Papists, sense in which term used, 7. Paraguay, 8, 66; Jesuit Re- ductions in, 100. Parish, Sir Woodbine, on Jesuits of Paraguay, 101. Parties and policies in struggle for liberty, 146. Parvin, protestant mission- ary, Buenos Ayres, 183. Passion Week, in Brazil, 104; in Mexico, 106. Patagonia, its Indians, 19; a chief and the New Tes- tament, 186. Paton, J„ 181. Patriots, part in giving re- ligious liberty, 144. Patronato, importance of dispute over, in religious conflict, 158. 303 Patzeuaro, attack on J. Grimes, 249. Paul, the apostle, apply pic- ture of heathen, to In- dians, 20; his plan fol- lowed in protestant work, 224, 278. Paul III., Bull in defense of the Indians, 70. Pedro I., Dom, of Brazil, 131. Pedro II., Dom, of Brazil, 131, 132. Penzotti, F., 197, 249. Perez, Melchor, right of asylum denied to, 153. Persecution of protestants in Latin America, 246 et seq. Peru, the Incas, their civil- ization and religion, 25- 28; Pizarro’s conquest of, 63 ; murder of R. C. mis- sionary, 65, 66; idols dis- covered in Cuzco, 79 ; convents and churches built, 86; saints of, 113; Inquisition, 113; debate on religious toleration, 147, 172; Brigham’s visit, 184; mission work, 186; persecution of protest- ants, 249; Pres. Romana, 255 - Peter, St., patron saint of Cortes, 73 ; image of, fish- ing in Pacific, 106. Phallic worship among the Indians, 39. Philip II., decrees relative to Indians, 75, 88. Philippines, 250. Phillips in Queretaro, 208. Pius IX., 169, 171, 282. Pizarro, takes priests with him, 72; sword of, 238. 304 Index Plata, La, 63. Platforms, of clerical party in Mexico, 164 ; of lib- erals, 164. Plymouth brethren, 218, 219. Political leaders, many sin- cere patriots, 161 ; some after spoils, 161. Polytheism of Indians, easy to add R. C. saints and images to the list, 75. Popes, see Alexander VI., Paul IV., Pius IX, Leo XIII. Popocatepetl, 23. Portugal, neglect of Brazil, 130; Dutch and, 179. Portuguese, area occupied by, in South America, 16. Pratt, H. B., translation of the Bible into Spanish, 218; commentary on the Bible, 218. Presbyterians, 219, 275. Presbyteries of Mexico, 275 - Prescott, W. H., on cruelty of Spaniards, 73; on In- dians, 79, 86; on colon- ization of America, 62 ; use of violence in estab- lishing R. C. worship, 78. Present Problem, in Latin America, factors in, 238. Press, R. C. Mexico City, 98 ; Protestant, 200. Priests, of Incas, 28; of Az- tecs, 39. Princeton, and books in Spanish, 218. Provost, G. M„ 225. Problem, the Present, in protestant mission work in Latin America, 238. Prospect, probable Future of Latin America, 281. Protestantism, influence on Latin America, 258, 272. Protestants, 177, etc. Puerto Bello, 141. Puerto Rico, 63, 126, 144, 250. Pulque, national drink of Mexico, 262. Puritans, 177. Purves, sermons in Span- ish, 205. Punta Arenas, Bible agency in, 196. Quakers, see Friends. Queretaro, and Maximilian, 170. Quetzalcoatl, Aztec god, 31 ; appearance and legend, 34 ; symbolism, 36. Quiches, of Central Amer- ica, 34. Quito, freed, 141 ; New Testament in, 187; Bible society in, 188. Rambler, on attitude of pa- pist toward protestant, 247. Ramirez, S., 5 ; catechisms for Indians, 98. Rankin, Melinda, pioneer protestant worker in Mexico, 213, 225. Raymi, Peruvian feast, time of the Incas, 28. Reductions of Jesuits in Paraguay, 100. Reform, Laws of, Mexico, 165. Religious development of Latin America, factors in, 238. Religious liberty, struggle Index 3°5 for in Latin America, 144; debate in Peruvian Congress, 147. Remedies, virgin of, Mex- ico, 99. Repartimicntos, their injus- tice to the Indians, 135. Resemblances to pagan ceremonies in Romanism, 49- 50. Revolutions, religious struggle a prominent cause of, 144. Rio Claro, Brazil, protest- ant school in, 21 1. Rio Grande do Sul, revolu- tion in, 132. Riva Palacio, Vincente, Mexican historian, states why Indians accepted Romanism readily, 74, 75 ; on destruction of ancient manuscripts, hieroglyph- ic rolls, etc., by Zum- marraga and others, 84; on value of the work done by R. C. mission- aries, 89 ; on love of cere- monies in Latin Ameri- cans, 242. Roca, president of Argen- tina, 255, 256. Rocafuerte, Mexican lib- eral, on education, 189. Roman Catholic Church in Latin America, condemn- ed as a system, 8; resem- blances to pagan system, 24, 49, 50; missionaries, 64-101 ; becomes religion of Latin America, 101 ; wealth and corruption, 120; the state religion, others prohibited, 146 ; attitude in struggle for independence, 154; oppo- sition to granting of re- ligious liberty, 146-174; persecution of protest- ants 246-250 ; influenced and modified by protest- antism, 273. Romana, of Peru, 255. Romero, Matias, on Indians of Mexico, 51, 53; on unity of Mexican history, 150; on protestantism, 260. Rosa, Santa, of Peru, sketch of, 1 13. Sacred Year of the Aztecs, 44- Sacrifices of the pagans of America, 28, 44. Sabbath observance, in Latin America, only by protestants, 274. Sahagun, 8; his writings, 24 ; on symbolic washings of Aztec child, 41 ; on de- struction of heathen tem- ples and idols, 80; sketch of, 90. Saltillo, Presbyterian Nor- mal School in, 213 ; evan- gelistic work, of Isaac Boyce, W. Wallace, and others, 227. Samuel, S., poetical quota- tion from, 123. Sanchez, P„ on origin of cross of Cozumel, 38. Sandwich Islands, a mis- sionary to California, 182. San Francisco de Solano, II 3- San Jose, Marquis of, a R. C., but Bibles sold in his house, 187. San Juan de Puerto Rico. See Puerto Rico. 3°6 Index San Luis Potosi, mission- ary centre, work of C. S. Williams and others, 227. San Martin, sketch of his life, 137 ; resignation at height of his power, 139; on Lancasterian schools, 188. San Miguel, Hidalgo’s grito, given there, 142. San Salvador, 72. Santa Anna, his policy, 149, 162; adulation by clergy, 163. Santa Rosa, sketch of life, ri 3- Santiago, Chile, Bible So- ciety in, 188; schools, 212. Santo Domingo, 65. San Toribio, of Peru, 113. Sao Paulo, attempt at in- dependence, 130; promi- nence in revolution, 132 ; Mackenzie College, 212. Sarmiento, historical writ- ings, 24. Schools, of Aztecs, 42; of Protestants, 206 ; statistics, 209; Sao Paolo, 212, 218; Santiago, Chile, 212; Sal- tillo and Mexico City Normal School, 213; Coyoacan, 215. Self-support of protestant work, 275 ; in Brazil, 276 ; in Chile, 276; in Mexico, 277- Self-torture, of Aztecs, 45. Serna, Juan Perez de, Archbishop, fight with Viceroy Gelves, 152. Seventh Day Adventists, 269. Seville, emigration from, to America, 62. Seward, ultimatum to Na- poleon III. about French troops in Mexico, 252. South American Mission- ary Society, 2x9. Shrines, sacred, of Latin America. See Ameca- meca, Asuncion, Copoco- bana, Guadalupe, Reme- dies. Simonton, protestant mis- sionary in Brazil, 222. Sin, Aztec sense of, 45. Sioux Indians, 242. Sonora, Bible in, 196. South America, see Amer- ica, South, and names of the different republics in South America. Southey, R., on mendacity of Jesuit biography of Anchieta, 115. Spain, plan of Aranda, 127; recognition of independ- ence of United States, 127; Juntas, 128. Spaniards, area occupied in America, 16; as god- parents of the Indians, 76 - Spaulding in Brazil, 191. Stevens, missionary killed in Mexico, 249. Stoddard, H. H., temper- ance worker, reception in Mexico, 265. Sucre, celebrated liberator, 141. Sun, worship of, by In- cas, 26; temple at Cuzco, 27; among Aztecs, 31,37; elsewhere, 37. Sunday Schools, of Prot- estants, 229. Sunday School, Lesson Helps, 203; conventions, 229. Index 307 Synod of Brazil, 223, 276; of Mexico, 276. Synopsis of Lectures, 12, 60, 124, 176, 234. Tabasco, violent conversion of Indians, 78. Tabor, in Mexican strug- gles, 168. Talabarteros, church of pic- ture of Cortes chastened, 96. Teachers, R. C., 208; Prot- estant, 208; infidel, 208. Tenochtitlan, capital of Az- tecs, 29. Temperance movement in Latin America, 262. Teocallis, or pagan temples, Mexico City, 30 ; frag- ments used for R. C. churches, 86. Tequila, intoxicating liquor, 262. Texcoco, ally of Aztecs, 29. Text-books, see Books. Tezcatlipoca, Aztec God, 30, 35- . . Theological seminaries; Coyoacan, 215 ; Santiago, Chile, 212; Sao Paulo, 213. Thomas, St., supposed apostle to America, 23, 49- Thompson, Waddy, on Guadalupe, 109; on Mex- ico in general, 118. Thomson, H. C., protestant missionary in Mexico, 248. Thomson, J., letters on South America, 185. Tiradentes, revolutionary leader of Brazil, 131. Titicaca, shrine of, 27 ; fes- tival of Copocobana, 106. Tlacopan, ally of Aztecs, 29. Tlaloc, Aztec god of rain, 30, 35- Tlalpam, Passion Play, 35. Tlapallan, 35. Tlascala, heathen priest killed by children, 81. Tolosa, where manuscript of Sahagun was hidden away, 91. Totec, his shrine, 31. Trade relations, 271. Transition, made easy from paganism to Romanism, 48. Trumbull, protestant mis- sionary in Chile, 271. Tunja, 80. Tzompantli, or flag of skulls, 29. United States and Latin America, 15, 146, 170, 177. Uruguay, see Montevideo. Valencia, R. C. missionary to New Spain, 66; letter of, 94- Valparaiso, Bible Society of, 188. Valverde, work in Cuzco and Peru, 86. Vasconcellos, life of An- chieta, 113. Vincente, San, 178. Venezuela, early mission- aries, 65, 134, 172; Lan- casterian schools, 188; boundary claims, 252 ; Guzman, Blanco, 257. Vetancourt, maintained that Indians had souls, 69. Viceroyalties of Spanish America, 134. Victoria, 155. 308 Index Villegagnon, admiral, treachery toward Hugue- nots of Brazil, 177. Vigil, I. M., Mexican his- torian, on unity of Mexi- can history, 149. Walden, Bishop, on area occupied by different na- tionalities, 16. Wales and primitive Amer- ica, 23. Wallace, Lew, The Fair God, 34. Wallace, T. F., Presbyter- ian missionary, 227. War, of ’47, 251. Webster, Daniel, on strug- gling Latin America, 126. Wheeler, J., Presbyterian Normal School, Saltillo, 213. Wesley, John, sermons in Spanish, 205. West India Company, 179. West India Conference, 28. Woman’s Christian Tem- perance Union, in Mex- ico, 265. Woman’s work, more open- ings for women, 269. Xochimilco, sale of pulque prohibited, 152. Yankee in Latin America, 250, 253. Young People’s Societies, 274. Yucatan, garden of Eden, etc., 23 ; nations of, 29. Zacatecas, 225, 227, 249. Zaragoza, 248. Zacualpam, 277. Zitacuaro, 226, 229. Zumarraga, the Omar of New Spain, 83; letter on mission work, 93 ; his press, 98.