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 http://www.archive.org/details/whataboutmexicoOObrew 
 
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 /HAT ABOUT MEXICO? 
 
 By George H. Brewer 
 
 1. 
 
 HISTORICAL 
 REVIEW. 
 
 ^^^^ Question. 
 
 ^^p What can you 
 
 ^r tell us about 
 
 i«- early Mexico? 
 
 Answer. Many 
 students believe 
 that the early 
 story of Mexico 
 was contempo- 
 raneous with 
 Egypt. There 
 is much evi- 
 dence to confirm that belief. Here we 
 find mighty pyramids, colossal stone 
 statues of grotesque form, ruins of 
 buried cities several square miles in 
 extent, ornaments of fine-beaten goldj 
 hieroglyphics of unknown origin and 
 meaning, and remnants of splendid 
 monuments showing architectural skill 
 scarcely surpassed in modern times. 
 The aboriginal inhabitants, the Mayas. 
 Toltecs and Aztecs, in turn, have left 
 records of an advanced civilization which 
 existed centuries before Columbus dis- 
 covered America. There were schools, 
 courts of justice, civil codes, laws gov- 
 erning lands, systems of taxation, public 
 highways, libraries and a thousand other 
 indications of a highly developed life. 
 
 Question. What became of this early 
 Mexican civilization? 
 
 Answer. Hernando Cortez, with a 
 band of about 500 intrepid Spanish ad- 
 venturers, made sad havoc of Mexico's 
 government and civilization. He waged 
 a war of conquest, despoiling and de- 
 stroying whatever he found in his path. 
 He determined to make of Mexico a 
 "new Spain," and indeed so it was called. 
 For 300 years (1521-1821) Mexico was 
 ruled by the viceroys sent from Spain. 
 Their rule, with but few exceptions, was 
 cruel and bloody. The Indians were 
 reduced to abject slavery, their lands 
 despoiled, their wealth taken from them, 
 and hundreds of thousands perished by 
 the sword. Associated with the viceroys 
 were Spanish priests and monks, who 
 supplanted the superstitious religion of 
 the Aztecs with an admixture of pagan- 
 ism and Christianity, resulting in a type 
 of religion common to all Latin- 
 America, which more nearly resembles 
 the former than the latter. 
 
 Question. When and how did the 
 rule of the viceroys and priests come 
 to an end? 
 
 Answer. The Mexicans struck their 
 first blow for independence in 1810. 
 During the following eleven years the 
 struggle continued with varying success. 
 Many of the leaders, like Hidalgo and 
 Morelos, were captured and shot as 
 trouble makers, but "victory perched 
 upon their banners" at last, and in 1821 
 Mexico threw off the Spanish yoke for- 
 ever. The first attempts at government 
 were fraught with disaster. From 1821 
 to 1847 there were no less than twenty- 
 four changes of government, and every 
 one of them brought about by violence. 
 Long years of internal strife and chaos 
 culminated in a war with the United 
 States (1846-1847). 
 
 Question. Tell us something about 
 the outcome of that war. 
 
 Answer. One outcome of that war 
 was the acquirement by the United 
 States of over 900,000 square miles of 
 Mexican territory. The vast region em- 
 bracing Texas, New Mexico, part of 
 Colorado, Utah, Arizona and California 
 became ,United States soil. Incidentally 
 the acquisition of this vast region led to 
 the discovery of gold in California. This 
 fact has powerfully affected the finances 
 of the world. The wonderful and rapid 
 development of the mighty empire 
 acquired by the United States through 
 the Mexican war has promoted Anglo- 
 Saxon supremacy, and the whole cause 
 of Christianity has received a great 
 impulse as a consequence. 
 
 Question. Is Mexico a republic, and 
 when did its real progress begin? 
 
 Ansiver. Mexico nominally is a re- 
 public. It has a constitution patterned 
 largely after our own. It elects its 
 President, State Governors, National 
 House of Congress and a National Sen- 
 ate. Its present constitution was adopted 
 in 1857, under the leadership of the 
 famous liberal, Benito Juarez (Wah- 
 ress). He declared that Mexico could 
 not take her proper place among the 
 family of nations until the shackles of 
 Roman Catholic domination were broken 
 from the limbs of the enslaved nation. 
 His cry was "Separation of Church and 
 State." At first his movement gained 
 great headway and was very popular, 
 but the intriguing Jesuits soon found a 
 
 

 way to block the wheels of progress. 
 Napoleon III, then Emperor of France, 
 influenced by the Pope at Rome, under- 
 took to establish a Mexican Empire. 
 The dream of the Jesuits was to secure 
 a repeal of the reform laws passed under 
 Juarez. To re-establish the rule of the 
 church in Mexican affairs, Maximilian, 
 an Austrian archduke, was chosen to 
 lead the invasion. Napoleon III sent 
 his troops to enforce the demands. The 
 invaders arrived in Mexico with the 
 Pope's blessing in 1864. The interven- 
 tion lasted three years. Juarez, driven 
 into exile on the northern frontier, was 
 at last encouraged by Abraham Lincoln, 
 our immortal President, who never rec- 
 ognized Maximilian. He then undertook 
 to gather together his shattered forces 
 and begin once more the struggle for 
 freedom and independence of Roman 
 Catholic domination. Secretary Seward 
 warned Napoleon III that French troops 
 must be withdrawn from Mexico. This 
 led to the downfall of Maximilian, who 
 was executed in 1867 at Queretaro. 
 
 Question. What more can you tell 
 us about Juarez? 
 
 Answer. Benito Juarez was a native 
 of Oaxaca (Wah-hac-ka). He was a 
 full-blooded Zapotecan Indian. He could 
 not speak the Spanish language until 
 after he was fourteen years old. He 
 was possessed of remarkable ability and 
 character. He became a leader in his 
 own State and soon rose to be a general 
 in the army and served his State as 
 Governor. In 1858 he became President 
 of the republic. He it was who led 
 the people in their war against the 
 Roman Catholic hierarchy. He pro- 
 claimed religious liberty, and invited 
 Protestantism to begin its propaganda in 
 Mexico. He said shortly before his 
 death in 1872: "The future of my 
 country depends upon the success of 
 Protestant missions." His name is a 
 synonym for all that is high and noble 
 in statesmanship. His name is enrolled 
 with honor in the hearts of all patriotic 
 Mexicans. 
 
 Question. Who was Porfirio Diaz? 
 
 Answer. He was a Mexican states- 
 man, patriot, leader and President. To 
 him, more than to any other man, 
 Mexico owes her great material advance- 
 ment during the last three decades. Dur- 
 ing his term of office he established the 
 country's finances on a sound basis. He 
 opened the mines, built the railroads and, 
 so far as material progress is concerned, 
 he transformed a nation. He encouraged 
 industry and education, and his benevo- 
 lent rule made possible an independent. 
 
 self-supporting, self-respecting and intel- 
 ligent middle class, and that is the hope 
 of any nation. Some criticise him for 
 doing so little for the Indians; others 
 hold him mainly responsible for the 
 perpetuation of the feudal land system ; 
 while still others blame his administra- 
 tion for the thousand ills which cul- 
 minated in the revolution of 1910, the 
 end of which we cannot at this time 
 foresee. Whatever the truth may be 
 concerning these grave charges laid 
 against the administration of Porfirio 
 Diaz, the fact still stands out clear that 
 he ranks among Mexico's great men and 
 deserves a place among the world's 
 ablest statesmen. 
 
 2. MATERIAL DEVELOPMENT 
 AND PRESENT TENDENCIES 
 IN GOVERNMENT. 
 
 Question. How large is Mexico? 
 
 Answer. Mexico covers an area of 
 767,000 square miles. If this were 
 spread out over the map of the United 
 States it would almost cover everything 
 east of the Mississippi River. Its 
 greatest length is 1,950 miles, its great- 
 est width being 750 miles. At the 
 Isthmus of Tehuantepec it narrows down 
 to a strip of territory less than 100 
 miles in width from ocean to ocean. 
 
 Question. What about the mines in 
 Mexico? 
 
 Answer. One-third the world's output 
 of silver comes from Mexico. Even in 
 revolutionary times the annual output of 
 silver is upward of $50,000,000. When 
 peace and security are restored this will 
 be increased by 100 per cent. Mexico 
 is also rich in gold, lead, copper, zinc, 
 quicksilver and many more rare and 
 precious metals. 
 
 Question. What other signs of mod- 
 ern progress are to be found in Mexico? 
 
 Answer. Mexico, during the last 
 twenty years of the administration of 
 Porfirio Diaz, made rrtore rapid progress 
 in industry, railroad building, docks and 
 warehouses, mining and agriculture than 
 any other country on the face of the 
 globe. Another notable enterprise suc- 
 cessfully launched during that period 
 was the drainage canal, from the center 
 of the valley of Mexico, through the 
 rock-ribbed mountains surrounding the 
 valley, one tunnel being over six miles 
 in length, and finally letting the vast 
 waste water flow uninterruptedly toward 
 the Gulf of Mexico. This gigantic pro- 
 ject cost $25,000,000 to complete, and 
 required many years of patient toil. 
 
 '• Hi 
 
Pulque (pool-kay), the fermented juice 
 of the maguey plant, a terrible intoxi- 
 cant, and consumed largely by the poor 
 and ignorant, was for a time prohibited 
 by the de facto government, but for 
 some reason the prohibition was sud- 
 denly removed and the terrible evils of 
 former days were again apparent. In 
 Mexico City over 30,000 persons are 
 arrested each year for intoxication. The 
 daily consumption of pulque in the 
 federal district exceeds 25,000 gallons. 
 
 3. THE RELIGIOUS SIDE OF THE 
 MEXICAN PROBLEM. 
 
 Question. What do we know about 
 Mexico's earlier religious history? 
 
 Answer. The early religion of Mexico 
 was polytheistic idolatry, or the worship 
 of many gods. The Aztecs had over 
 200 deities, to whom they paid homage. 
 Their images were hideously grotesque, 
 not unlike those found in India and 
 Africa. They built temples, with an 
 altar for human sacrifice. They had 
 convents and monasteries with many 
 ceremonies very similar to those of the 
 Roman Catholic system ; indeed, the 
 proselyting priests, who swarmed every- 
 where during the Spanish conquest, had 
 no difficulty in making converts ; for the 
 ignorant Indians simply added to the 
 number of their gods by adopting the 
 new images introduced by Rome. 
 
 Question. What is the record of 
 Roman Catholicism in Mexico? 
 
 Answer. The whole history of Mexico, 
 from the coming of the Spaniards to the 
 present day, is saturated with intrigues 
 and oppressions practised by Rome. The 
 Spanish inquisition set up in Mexico, 
 presided over by priests and monks, 
 disposed of thousands of heretics and 
 troublesome patriots. 
 
 A foolish story of a miraculous appari- 
 tion of the Virgin Mary to an Indian 
 on a hillside near Mexico City was 
 propagated to deceive the credulous, and 
 to this day the Virgin of Guadaloupe 
 (Wad-a-lo6-pee) is venerated by the 
 ignorant Indians as their goddess or 
 patroness. 
 
 Ingeniously contrived images, which 
 can shed tears, increase in size, move 
 their limbs, wink their eyes, etc., are 
 set up and a miracle proclaimed, to 
 deceive the faithful and incidentally to 
 reap a financial harvest for the attend- 
 ant priest. A few years ago the authori- 
 ties had to intervene and expose a fraud 
 of that kind when a certain image was 
 reported to be shedding tears of blood. 
 
 It did shed tears of blood all right, but 
 a rubber bag filled with the blood of a 
 freshly killed kid, having two tiny rub- 
 ber tubes leading to the eyes of the 
 image, upon a slight pressure admin- 
 istered at a distance and from a hidden 
 position, did the trick. 
 
 Roman Catholicism in Mexico has 
 been a failure so far as benefiting the 
 masses of Mexicans is concerned. A 
 monk who accompanied the French mili- 
 tary forces when they invaded Mexico 
 in 1864 wrote his observations of the 
 church as follows : "Mexican faith is 
 a dead faith. The church here fills no 
 mission of virtue, no mission of mercy^ 
 no mission of charity. Virtue cannot 
 exist in its pestiferous atmosphere." 
 This is a Catholic verdict uttered by 
 Abbe Domenech. This is also the ver- 
 dict of every unprejudiced observer of 
 Mexico. 
 
 Question. What is the record of 
 Protestantism in Mexico? 
 
 Answer. Protestant missions are com- 
 paratively new in Mexico. Its record 
 scarcely covers fifty years, and yet dur- 
 ing that time it has had a marked 
 influence on the life and progress of 
 the country. Under its stimulus and 
 through its schools the rate of illiteracy 
 has been brought down from 94 per 
 cent, to about 70 per cent. The morals 
 and education of the Catholic clergy 
 have been elevated. Persecution, which 
 at first caused the death of several 
 martyrs, is gradually subsiding. The 
 new government, which is now in power, 
 recognized the valuable contribution 
 which Protestantism has made to the 
 progress and betterment of Mexico. 
 Some of the members of Mr. Carranza's 
 official family are Protestants. What- 
 ever government comes into power in 
 Mexico will doubtless give due recogni- 
 tion to the new force which is at work, 
 and Protestantism will occupy a promi- 
 nent place as a powerful factor in 
 making and sustaining peaceful pursuits. 
 There are said to be upward of 100,000 
 Protestant adherents in Mexico, and 
 without exception they belong to the 
 middle and progressive class. 
 
 Some changes are contemplated in 
 Mexico's constitution, but there is one 
 clause which will not be changed, and 
 that clause reads: "The State and the 
 Church are independent of each other. 
 The Congress may not pass laws estab- 
 lishing or prohibiting any religion." 
 
 This is in hearty accord with our 
 great Baptist principle of absolute sepa- 
 ration of Church and State. To us 
 Mexico's door stands wide open. 
 
4. BAPTIST MISSIONS AND RE- 
 SPONSIBILITIES IN MEXICO. 
 
 Question. What was the first Protes- 
 tant work to be established in Mexico? 
 
 Answer. A Baptist missionary by the 
 name of Rev. Santiago Hickey, of 
 Brownsville, Tex., entered Mexico in 
 1860, and two years later founded what 
 eventually became the First Baptist 
 Church of Monterey. 
 
 Question. What was the first mis- 
 sion board to undertake work in Mexico? 
 
 Answer. The American Baptist Home 
 Mission Society appointed Rev. Thomas 
 M. Westrup as its first missionary in 
 1870, and has been carrying on work 
 continuously since that date. 
 
 Question. What has been the progress 
 of the work? 
 
 Answer. Most gratifying. From the 
 small beginning in Monterey the work 
 spread into no less than twenty-one other 
 States, the Foreign Mission Board of 
 the Southern Baptist Convention sharing 
 with the American Baptist Home Mis- 
 sion Society the responsibility of caring 
 for so vast a field. To-day there are no 
 less than seventy-five Baptist churches, 
 with a combined membership of nearly 
 4,000. There are over 2,500 children in 
 Sunday School and 1,500 children being 
 educated In our Baptist mission schools. 
 
 Question. What more can you tell 
 us about our mission schools In Mexico? 
 Answer. The schools In Mexico, In 
 the fields occupied by the missionaries of 
 the Northern Baptist Convention, are 
 sustained by the Woman's American 
 Baptist Home Mission Society as 
 follows: Children 
 
 Enrolled 
 
 Monterey 280 
 
 Mexico City 175 
 
 Guadaloupe 40 
 
 Puebla 336 
 
 Puebla (San Antonio Mission) . .226 
 This makes a total of 1,057 children 
 in these five schools. The Woman's 
 Society employs a teaching force of 
 twenty-one, and sufficient tuition Is 
 received at these various schools to 
 employ no less than six other helpers 
 in the lower classes. 
 
 Question. How has the war Iii 
 Mexico affected our work? 
 
 Answer. It has been necessary sev- 
 eral times to remove our American 
 workers and their families to places of 
 safety during the periods of pronounced 
 disturbance, but fortunately the mis- 
 sionary work Itself has suffered but 
 little. In fact, on some fields the work 
 
 has grown to such proportions that we 
 can no longer accommodate the crowds 
 that are anxious to hear the gospel 
 preached. This is particularly true in 
 Mexico City, San Luis Potosi, Tampico 
 and Puebla. In Mexico City, under the 
 vigorous leadership of Rev, A. B. iDe 
 Roos, a converted Jew from Holland, 
 who has had a remarkable career as an 
 evangelist in Central America, the 
 church has received no less than 200 
 new members since January, 1916, all 
 of them from the better class of people, 
 such as teachers, merchants, clerks, 
 bookkeepers and government employees. 
 Mr. De Roos is preaching the gospel 
 to about 1,000 each Sunday. We have 
 over 450 children in our five Sunday 
 Schools In Mexico City. 
 
 QuESTIO^f. What else can you tell us 
 about the most Interesting fields? 
 
 Answer. The majority of our churches 
 are in the northeastern part of Mexico, 
 In the States of Nuevo Leon and 
 Tamaulipas. In these two States we 
 have seventeen churches and nine out- 
 stations. 
 
 Question. In what other States does 
 The American Baptist Home Mission 
 Society have its work established? 
 
 Answer, In San Luis Potosi, Agua- 
 scalientes, Mexico, Federal District, 
 Morelos, Puebla and Oaxaca. In all of 
 these we have work In the capital cities 
 and Itinerate from those centers to the 
 surrounding territory. 
 
 Question. Give a summary of the 
 work of the Home Mission Society for 
 the past year (1916). 
 
 Answer. Present number of churches, 
 24; number of outstatlons, 26; number 
 of English-speaking missionaries, 4; num- 
 ber of Spanish-speaking and native mis- 
 sionaries, 22; number of baptisms during 
 the year, 186 ; present membership in 
 churches, 1,428; contribution for all work 
 (estimated). United States currency, 
 $2,500; present number of chapels, 11; 
 present number of Sunday Schools, 40; 
 number of pupils enrolled, 1,450. In 
 years gone by the Foreign Board of the 
 Southern Baptist Convention established 
 a denominational printing house in Leon. 
 The Home Mission Society at about the 
 same time established a theological 
 school at Monterey. Recently both 
 boards entered into a co-operative agree- 
 ment with relation to both of these 
 Institutions. This makes unnecessary a 
 duplication In our Baptist work in Mex- 
 ico. All the Baptist churches of Mexico 
 have formed a National Baptist Conven- 
 tion, which meets annually. 
 
This, together with a magnificent water- 
 supply system, bringing the pure and 
 abundant streams of Xhochimilco (So- 
 che-mil-co) into the capital city, has 
 wrought wonders in bettering health con- 
 ditions and freed the whole regions sur- 
 rounding from the plagues which for- 
 merly made Mexico City a center of 
 disease and death. Mexico is covered 
 with a network of railways, with a total 
 mileage of 15,000. There are 45,000 
 miles of telegraph lines and over 3,000 
 postoffices. Mexico has numerous places 
 of interest for travelers; a great variety 
 of climates, ranging from the heat of 
 the tropical jungles on both coasts to 
 the chilly blasts of zero weather on the 
 mountain tops. For beauty of scenery 
 she cannot be surpassed by any country 
 in the world. 
 
 Question. Can you tell us something 
 about the population of Mexico? 
 
 Answer. The census of 1910, the last 
 taken, gave Mexico a population of 
 16,000,000. The races are divided as 
 follows: 39 per cent, are of pure Indian 
 blood, 43 per cent, mixed, or "mestizos," 
 and the remaining 18 per cent, are whites 
 and foreigners. It will be seen at a 
 glance that Mexico is overwhelmingly 
 Indian. Many of the interior tribes still 
 live in their primitive state, preserving 
 to this day the habits, customs and 
 dialects of their forefathers. The middle 
 class, to which reference is made in a 
 foregoing paragraph, is made up largely 
 from the "mestizos," or mixed races. 
 They easily become skilled artisans. 
 They are quick to learn the better way 
 to do things, especially when they learn 
 how well it pays. The pure-blooded 
 Indian, on the other hand, is steadier 
 and more dependable. He will do more 
 work through longer hours for less pay 
 than his brother, through whose veins 
 there flows some foreign blood. The 
 largest city in the republic is the capi- 
 tal, Mexico Citv, with a population of 
 about 500,000. Next to Mexico City 
 comes Puebla, with 125,000; then fol- 
 lows Guadalajara (Wadal-a-hah-ra) with 
 110,000. The remaining cities in their 
 order are as follows: Monterey, 75.000; 
 Leon, 70,000; San Luis Potosi, 60.000; 
 Merida, 60.000; Oaxaca, 45,000; Chihua- 
 hua, 38,000; Aguascalientes, 35,000; 
 Queretaro. 35.000; Saltillo, 30,000; Tor- 
 reon, 35,000; Toluca, 35.000; Tampico, 
 30,000, and several other cities of 
 importance. 
 
 Question. What are the present-day 
 conditions? 
 
 Answer. Owing to the long-continued 
 civil strife, the masses of people are 
 
 reduced to penury and suffering. Busi- 
 ness and industry of all kinds have been 
 hard hit by the revolution. Mines and 
 factories, railroads, agriculture and en- 
 terprises of various kinds have found it 
 necessary to suspend operations. The 
 rich people have either lost all they 
 had or they have been driven into exile. 
 It is thought by close students of the 
 Mexican problems that if peace and 
 security were assured it would not take 
 Mexico very long to regain her former 
 prosperity. It is a country of vast 
 natural resources, as yet but partially 
 developed, and a few years of peace will 
 work wonders in effacing the ugly scars 
 made by the war. The people of Mexico 
 are by nature kind, polite and hospitable. 
 Education and moral stamina, which only 
 the gospel of Christ can supply, will be 
 the leavening influence to lift them to 
 a higher plane. More Bibles and less 
 bullets is Mexico's crying need. 
 
 Question. What about education and 
 public morals in Mexico? 
 
 Answer. Unfortunately the rate of 
 illiteracy in Mexico is very high. About 
 70 per cent, of its inhabitants can neither 
 read nor write. This is due in a large 
 measure to the dominant ecclesiastical 
 system which has always kept the 
 masses of people in ignorance, denying 
 to the poor even the rudiments of an 
 education. The Roman Catholic church 
 is bitterly opposed to lay education, and 
 denies to the State the right to have a 
 public-school system unless the same is 
 placed in the hands of priests and nuns. 
 In spite of this opposition many liberal- 
 minded statesmen in Mexico, aided by 
 the growing Protestant sentiment through- 
 out the country, have encouraged the 
 establishment of public schools, and in 
 the larger centers of population there 
 are many well-equipped schools. How- 
 ever, in the rural districts, where 90 
 per cent, of Mexico's population reside, 
 very little has been done toward the 
 education of the children. Moral stand- 
 ards are low. Open gambling is per- 
 mitted. Until recently lotteries in al- 
 most every State absorbed about 20 
 per cent, of the wages of the poor. 
 Sunday is the great day of sport. Every- 
 thing in the way of diversion and amuse- 
 ment is reserved for Sunday. Bull 
 fights, with all their demoralizing tend- 
 encies, are weekly occurrences, although 
 it should be stated that a recent decree 
 published by the de facto government 
 forbids bull fights throughout the re- 
 public. This decree is only transitory, 
 and not until national legislation is 
 enacted can it be said that bull fighting 
 has been abolished. 
 
Question. What other outstanding 
 feature can you mention? 
 
 Answer. Our medical missions. A 
 few years ago we had nothing of the 
 kind in Mexico. A volunteer medical 
 missionary, Dr. C. E. Conwell, offered 
 his services to the Home Mission Society 
 as an experiment. His work grew from 
 the start. Scores have been brought 
 into the church in Mexico City as a 
 direct outcome of Dr. Conwell's work. 
 He has treated no less than 5,000 
 patients in a single year, and all this 
 without adequate equipment or hospital. 
 Three years ago, through the muni- 
 ficence of a Baptist layman in Con- 
 necticut, money was provided for a 
 hospital. By the providence of God 
 and the aid of many interested friends 
 we have at last secured a splendid plant 
 in the city of Puebla, which is now 
 altered to adapt it for hospital purposes, 
 and have equipped it with as complete 
 and perfect equipment as could be se- 
 cured. This plant will be ready for 
 inauguration as soon as the troubled 
 conditions subside. In this hospital we 
 have room for about seventy-five 
 patients. We also have a chapel where 
 religious services will be held each 
 morning for the poor and helpless, and 
 where medicines will be given both for 
 the soul and for the body. 
 
 Question. What is the immediate 
 duty of American Baptists? 
 
 Answer. To recognize that Mexico is 
 our neighbor and that she now stands 
 in dire need of our help. Europe can- 
 not help Mexico; South America has 
 serious problems of her own. Help 
 such as Mexico needs can and must 
 come from this side of the Rio Grande. 
 Some may turn away, like Cain of old, 
 and ask: "Am I my brother's keeper?" 
 but the Lord makes immediate answer 
 and says: "Yea, verily." We must help 
 save Mexico. We took from her a 
 large part of her territory, paying but 
 a pittance in comparison with its worth; 
 shall we not freely give her spiritual 
 blessings? Mexico has thrown off the 
 Spanish yoke; she is now trying hard to 
 throw off the Roman yoke; and shall 
 we not assist her to secure her eman- 
 cipation? The day of Mexico's awaken- 
 ing is at hand. Out of the confusion 
 which has prevailed for six years a new 
 and better Mexico will result. One 
 thing is sure: The need for more mis- 
 sionaries, more mission schools, more 
 Bibles and Testaments, more chapels 
 and churches, more hospitals and other 
 agencies for the redemption of our 
 afflicted sister republic was never more 
 urgent than now, and American Baptists 
 should not and will not be slow to do 
 their full share in meeting that need. 
 
 PITAL, ri"i:i;LA, MEXICO 
 
 The American Baptist Home Mission Society 
 
 23 EAST 26th STREET LIBRARY OF CONGRESS NEW YORK 
 
 SM— 12-'i6. 
 
\ 
 
 LIBRORY OF CONGRESS 
 
 017 505 665 8