CHAPTER XIV. MARIOLATRY AND IMAGE WORSHIP.

Before the light of Christianity dawned on ancient Rome, the Pantheon contained goddesses many and gods many. Chief of these deities to receive the worship of the people seems to have been Diana of the Ephesians, a goddess whose image fell down from Jupiter; the celestial Venus of Corinth, and Isis, sister to Osiris, the god of Egypt. These popular images, so universally worshipped, were naturally the aversion of the early followers of Christ. "The primitive Christians were possessed with an unconquerable repugnance to the use and abuse of images. The Jewish disciples were especially bitter against any but the triune God receiving homage, but, by a slow, though inevitable, progression, the honors of the original were transferred to the copy, the devout Christian prayed before the image of a saint, and the pagan rites of genuflexion, luminaries, and incense stole into the Christian Church." [Footnote: Gibbons' "Rome."]

Having Paul's masterly epistle to the Romans, in the first chapter of which he so distinctly portrays man's tendency to change "the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man," and worship and serve the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever, they were careful to remember that "God is a spirit," and to be worshipped only in spirit. Peter, in his epistle to them, also wrote of the One "whom having not seen ye love." As time wore on, however, the original inclination of man to worship a god he could see and feel (a trait seen all down the pages of history) asserted itself, and Mary, the mother of Christ, took the place in the eye and the heart previously occupied by her predecessors. [Footnote: Just as this work goes to press, the dally papers of the world announce that the oldest idol ever discovered has just been unearthed. The idol is a goddess, who is holding an infant in her arms.] Being in possession of the Acts of the Apostles, which plainly declares that Mary herself met with the rest of the disciples "for prayer and supplication," and, knowing from the four Gospels that no worship had been at first given to her, the innovation was slow to find favor; but, in the year 431, the Council of Ephesus decided that Mary was equal with God.

"After the ruin of paganism they were no longer restrained by the apprehension of an odious parallel" in the idol worship. Symptoms of degeneracy may be observed even in the first generations which adopted and cherished this pernicious innovation. "The worship of images had stolen into the Church by insensible degrees, and each petty step was pleasing to the superstitious mind, as productive of comfort and innocent of sin. But, in the beginning of the eighth century, in the full magnitude of the abuse, the more timorous Greeks were awakened by an apprehension that, under the mask of Christianity, they had restored the religion of their fathers. They heard with grief and impatience the name of 'idolaters,' the incessant charge of the Jews and Mahometans, who derived from the Law and the Koran an immortal hatred to graven images and all the relative worship." [Footnote: Gibbons' "Rome."]

It should be a most humiliating fact to the Romanists to have it recorded as authentic history that "the great miracle-working Madonna of Rome, worshipped in the Church of St. Augustina, is only a pagan statue of the wicked Agrippina with her infant Nero in her arms. Covered with jewels and votive offerings, her foot encased in gold, because the constant kissing has worn away the stone, this haughty and evil-minded Roman matron bears no possible resemblance to the pure Virgin Mary; yet crowds are always at her feet, worshipping her. The celebrated bronze statue of St. Peter, which is adored in the great Church, and whose feet are entirely kissed away by the lips of devotees, is but an antique statue of Jupiter, an idol of paganism. All that was necessary to make the pagan god a Christian saint was to turn the thunderbolt in his uplifted right hand to two keys, and put a gilded halo around his head. Yet, on any Church holiday, you will see thousands passing solemnly before this image (arrayed in gorgeous robes, with the Pope's mitre on its head), and after bowing before it, rise on their toes and repeatedly kiss its feet." [Footnote: Vickers' "Rome"]

This method of receiving heathen deities as saints has been common all over South America, and many Indian idols may be seen in the churches, now adored as Roman Catholic saints, while the worship of Mary has grown to an alarming extent. In Lima's largest church, printed right over the chancel, is the motto, "Glory to Mary."

In Cordoba, the Argentine seat of learning - a city so old that university degrees were being given there when the Pilgrim Fathers landed on the shores of New England - charms, amulets and miniature images of the Virgin are manufactured in large numbers. These are worn around the neck, and are supposed to work great wonders. As may be understood, the workers in these crafts stand up for Romanism, and are willing to cry themselves hoarse for Mary, just as the people of old cried for Diana of the Ephesians.

It is often told of the Protestant worker that he keeps behind his door an image of the Blessed Virgin, and, when entering or leaving the house, he spits in her face. No pains are spared to stamp out any dissenting work, and the missionary is made a by-word of opprobrium. I have repeatedly had the doors and windows of my preaching places broken and wrecked. The priests have incited the vulgar crowd to hoot and yell at me, and on these occasions I have been both shot at and stoned.

In Cordoba, there is a very costly image of Mary. Once every year it is brought out into the public square, while all the criminals from the state prison stand in line. By a move of her head she is supposed to point out the one whom she thinks should be given his liberty.

From Goldsmith's "Rome" we learn that the vestal virgins possessed the power to pardon any criminal whom they met on the road to execution. Thus does Romanism follow paganism. With the Virgin is often the image of St. Peter. The followers of this saint affirm that they are always warned, three days before they die, to prepare for death. St. Peter comes in person and knocks on the wall beside their bed.

As the virgin, Diana, was the guardian of Ephesus, so the Virgin Mary protects Argentina.

The Bishop of Tucuman, in a recent speech, said: "Argentina is now safe against possible invasion. The newly-crowned Lady of the Miracles defends the north, and the Lady of Lujan guards the south."

A writer in The Times of Argentina naively asks: "If these can safely defy and defeat all comers, is there any further necessity for public expenditure in military matters?"

South America groans under the weight of a mediaeval religion which has little to do with spiritual life. In Spain and Portugal, perhaps the two most deluded of European lands, I have seen great darkness, but even there the priest is often good, and at least puts on a veneer of piety. In South America this is not generally considered necessary. Frequently he is found to be the worst man in the village. If you speak to him of his dissolute life, he may tell you that he, being a priest, may do things you, a layman, must not. In Spain, Portugal and Italy, next door to highly enlightened countries, the priest cannot, for very shame, act as he is free to do in South America. That great continent has been ruled and governed only by Roman Catholics, without outside interference, and Romanists in other lands do not, and would not, believe the practices there sanctioned.

"You ask about this nation and the Roman Catholic Church," said the American Minister in one South American capital. "Well, the nation is rotten, thanks to the Church and to Spain. The Church has taught lies and uncleanness, and been the bulwark of injustice and wrong for 300 years. How could you expect anything else?" "Lies," said a priest to a friend, who told the remark to us, "what do lies have to do with religion." [Footnote: "Missions In South America," Robt. E. Speer.]

A missionary writes: "Recently the Roman bishop and several other priests visited the various towns. It was a business trip, for they charged a good price for baptisms, confirmations, etc., and carried away thousands of dollars. In Santa Cruz a disgraceful scene was publicly enacted in the church by the resident priest and one of the visitors. Both saw a woman drop a twenty-five cent piece into the pan; each grabbed for it, and then they fought before the people! The village priest wanted me to take his photo, but he was so drunk I had to help him put on his official robes. He was taken standing in the doorway of the church beside an image of the Virgin."

"There wan a feast in honor of the image of the Holy Spirit in the church. This is a figure of a man with a beard; beside it sits a figure of Christ, and between them a dove. Great crowds of people attend these feasts to buy, sell and drink. On a common in the town a large altar was erected, and another image of the Holy Spirit placed, and before it danced Indians fantastically dressed to represent monkeys, tigers, lions and deer. Saturday, Sunday and Monday were days of debauchery. Men, women and children were intoxicated; the jails were full, and extravagances of all kinds were practised by masked Indians. The vessels in the church are of gold and silver, and the images each have a man to care for them. The patron saint is a large image of the Virgin, dressed in clothing that cost $2,500."

Since returning to more civilized lands, I have been asked: But do they really worship the Virgin, or God, through her? I answer that in enlightened countries where Roman Catholicism prevails, the latter may be true, but that in South America, discovered and governed by Romanists from the earliest times, millions of people worship the Virgin without any reference to God. She is the great goddess of the people, and while one may see her image in every church, it is seldom indeed that God is honored with a place - then He may be seen as an old man with a long white beard. What kind of God they think He is may be seen from the words of Missionary F. Glass: "I found a 'festa' in full swing, called the 'Feast of the Divine Eternal Father,' and a drunken crowd were marching round, with trumpets, drums and a sacred banner, collecting alms professedly on His behalf." [Footnote: "Through the Heart of Brazil"]

Mary is the one to whom the vast majority of people pray. They have been taught to address supplications to her, and, being a woman, her heart is considered more tender than a man's could be. During a drought their earnest prayer for rain was answered in an unexpected way, for not only did she send it, but with such accompanying violence that it washed away the church!

In some churches the mail-box stands in a corner, and "Letters to the Virgin" is printed over it. There are always many young women to be seen before the image of St. Anthony, for he is the patron of marriages, and many a timid confession of love is dropped into the letter-box, and it often happens that a marriage is arranged as a result. The superstitious maiden believes that her letter goes directly to the Virgin or to the saint in his heavenly mansion, and she has no suspicion that it is read by the parish priest.

Saints are innumerable and their powers extraordinary. When travelling in Entre Rios, I learned that St. Ramon was an adept in guiding the path of the thunderbolt. A terrific storm swept across the country, and a woman, afraid for her house, placed his image leaning against the outside wall, that he might be able to see and direct the elements. The tempest raged, and as though to show the saint's utter helplessness, the end of the house was struck by lightning and set on fire. Little damage was done, but I smiled when the indignant woman, after the storm ceased, soundly thrashed the image for not attending to its duty.

While preaching in the town of Quilmes, a poor deluded worshipper of Rome "turned from idols to serve the living and true God." He had been a sincere believer in St. Nicolas, and implicitly believed the absurd account of that saint having raised to life three children who had been brutally murdered by their father and secreted in a barrel. He brought me a picture of this wonder-worker tapping the barrel, and the little ones in the act of coming out alive and well.

One familiar with Romanism in South America has said: "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 Romish world attempt to apologize for or even defend Romanism. Romanism is not Christianity."

The Church deliberately lies about the Ten Commandments, entirely omitting the second and dividing the tenth in order to make the requisite number. Can a Church which deceives the people teach them true religion? Is the preaching of Mary the preaching of Christ? [Footnote: "Mission In South America," Robert B. Speer.]

"There is not an essential truth which is not distorted, covered up, neutralized, poisoned, and completely nullified by the doctrines of the Romish system." [Footnote: Bishop Neely's "South America."]

A missionary in Cartago writes: "I must tell you about the annual procession of the wonderful miracle-working image called 'Our Lady Queen of the Angels,' through the principal streets of the town. Picture to yourselves, if you can, hundreds of people praying, worshipping, and doing homage to this little stone idol, for which a special church has been built. To this image many people come with their diseases, for she is supposed to have power to cure all. On a special day of the procession, people receive pardon for particular sins if they only carry out the bidding of 'Our Lady,' She seems to order some extraordinary things, such as crawling in the streets with big rocks on the head after the procession, or painting one's self all the colors of the rainbow. One man was painted black, while others wore wigs and beards of a long parasitic grass which grows from the trees. Some were dressed in sackcloth, and all were doing penance for some sin or crime. This little image was carried by priests, incense was burned before her, and at intervals in the journey she was put on lovely altars, on which sat little girls dressed in blue and green, with wings of white, representing angels. Some weeks ago 'Our Lady' was carried through the streets to collect money for the bull-fights got up in her honor. She is said to be very fond of these fights, which are immoral and full of bloody cruelty. This year the bulls were to kill the men, or the men the bulls, and the awful drunkenness I cannot describe. After this collection the bishop came over here, and is said to have taken away some of the money. Soon after he died, and the people here say that 'Our Lady' was angry with him."

From a recent list of prayers used in the Church of Rome I select the following expressions:

 "Queen of heaven and earth, Mother of God, 
  my Sovereign Mistress, I present myself before 
  you as a poor mendicant before a mighty Queen.

 "All is subject to Mary's empire, even God 
  Himself. Jesus has rendered Mary omnipotent: 
  the one is omnipotent by nature, the other 
  omnipotent by grace.

 "You, O Holy Virgin, have over God the authority 
  of a mother.

 "It is impossible that a true servant of Mary 
  should be damned.

 "My soul is in the hands of Mary, so that if 
  the Judge wishes to condemn me the sentence 
  must pass through this clement Queen, and she 
  knows how to prevent its execution.

 "We, Holy Virgin, hope for grace and salvation 
  from you.

 "Dispensatrix of Divine Grace."

How history repeats itself! How hard paganism is to kill! The ancient Egyptians worshipped the "Queen of Heaven." Jeremiah, as far back as 587 B.C., prophesied desolation to Judah for having "burned incense to the Queen of Heaven," and poured out "drink offerings" unto her, and "made cakes to worship her." - Jer. xliv. 17-19.

Of the wise men (Matthew ii.) we read: "And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary, His mother, and fell down and worshipped Him."

The South American version of Matthew 11:28, as may be seen carved on a stone of the Jesuit Church in Cuzco, is: "Come to MARY, all you who are laden with works, and weary beneath the weight of your sins, and she will alleviate you," A literal translation of one of the prayers offered to her reads: "Yes, beloved Mother! of thee I supplicate all that is necessary for the salvation of my soul. Of whom should I ask this grace but of Thee? To whom should a loving son go but to his beloved Mother? To whom the weak sheep cry but to its divine shepherdess? Whom seek the sick, but the celestial doctor? Whom invoke those in affliction but the mother of consolation? Hear me then, Holy Queen!"

The statues of the "Queen of Heaven" are often of great magnificence, the dress of one which I know having cost $2,000. In the poor Indian churches a bag of maize leaves, tied near the top to make a neck, and above that an Indian physiognomy, painted with some vegetable dye, serves the same purpose. The Bishop of La Serena, in Chili, has received as much as $40,000 a year for keeping up the revered image in that church, and these images are worshipped. Bequests are often left to them, and a popular one will receive many legacies annually.

To be just, I must mention that in the arms of this "Mother of God" there is, almost invariably, the child Jesus, but I must also state that to tens of thousands this baby never grew to manhood, but went up to heaven in His mother's arms. What a caricature of Christianity! Paul said: "If Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain." "Make Jesus a perpetual child, and Mariolatry becomes lower than Chinese ancestral worship." If He, as a child, was translated to heaven, then He never died and rose again. Mary is, to them, the Saviour. The child Jesus happened to be her son, and, as she was the great divine one, He, through her, partook of divinity. La Cruz, a weekly paper, published in Tucuman, Argentina, in its issue of September 3rd, 1899, had the following article:

THE BIRTH OF MARY.

"Chroniclers say that such was the fury that possessed the devils in hell, at the moment of the birth of the Most Blessed Virgin, that they nearly broke loose.

"There was sounded in heaven the first cannon shot in salutation of such a happy event. Lucifer gave such a jump that he got his horns caught in the moon, and there, it is said, he remained hanging all the day, like the insignificant fellow he is, to the great amusement of the blessed ones above, who laughed to see such an uncommon sight.

"The other devils, who could not jump so high, remained below screaming and kicking!, and tearing their apology for beards, when not otherwise occupied in scratching and biting and burning the unfortunate condemned ones.

"And all this because... it had been foretold that... a woman, yes, a woman, should one day bruise their heads... and, according to all appearances, this was the woman... and that she was that bright and morning star that announces the appearance of the Sun.

"Why should we not therefore rejoice, as the angels in heaven rejoiced, over that moat happy event - the birth of Mary."

From this it is clear that in Tucuman, at any rate - and this, by the way, is an important city, of at least 75,000 inhabitants - they believe that Mary, not Christ, came to bruise the serpent's head. The Roman Catholic translation of Gen. 3:15 is: "She shall bruise the serpent's head." Thus, the reader sees, at the very commencement of God's Word, and in the very first promise of a Saviour for fallen men, the eyes of seeking souls are turned by Romanists from the Creator to the creature.

How these words are understood by Romanists is plainly seen by the pictures of Mary trampling on the serpent, which are found everywhere in Romish lands.

Under pictures of the Virgin, circulated everywhere, are the words: "We have seen the star and are come to adore her." The prayers of adoration run, "To the holiest birth of Mary, that in death it may bring about our birth to eternal glory. Ave Maria!" "To the anguish of Mary, that we may be made predestined children of her sorrows. Ave Maria!"

The veneration with which the Virgin Mary is regarded, and the power with which she is invested, are thus told by many a priest: "Once God was so angry with the world that He determined to destroy it, and was about to execute His design when Mary said to Him: 'Give me back first the milk with which I fed you, and then you can do so!' In this way she averted the impending destruction."

"Millions in Brazil look upon the Virgin Mary as their Saviour. A book widely circulated throughout northern Brazil says that Mary, when still a mere child, went bodily to heaven and begged God to send Christ, through her, into the world. Further on it says that Mary went again to heaven to plead for sinners; and at the close Mary's will is given, disposing of the whole world, and God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - the Trinity - act as the three witnesses to the will. How many good Christians at home think Brazil is a Christian country?" [Footnote: W. C. Porter.]

If the Bible were in circulation throughout South America, the populace would be enabled to see that Christ is not the remorseless Judge but the loving Saviour, and that it was He who purchased redemption for us. Mary, according to Luke 1:47, was herself in need of a Saviour, and her only recorded command was to do as He, the Christ, enjoined (See John 2:5). Not only Protestants, but not even Roman Catholics born in Protestant countries, can understand what Romanism is in South America.

Christ said: "Search the Scriptures." Rome has done her best to destroy the sacred volume. Papal bulls, said to have been dictated by the Holy Ghost, have been issued by several Popes. Rome sometimes burned the martyrs with a Bible hanging around their necks. Romanists showed their hatred against Wycliffe, the first translator of the New Testament into English, by unearthing his crumbling remains and burning them to ashes. I have often seen the same spirit shown in South America.

A colporteur, writing of Scripture circulation in the Argentine, says: "Many of the people are trying to get us ejected from the city. One, to whom a Bible was offered, became so infuriated that he said: 'If it were not such a public place? I would drown you in the river.'" A missionary writes: "A young fellow called out after me, 'I renounce you, Satan,' but as that is not my name, I did not turn back. During the meeting on Sunday evening, the priest came riding up to the window, and shouted that he would soon put a stop to us. Today he has had a number of bills printed, warning his parishioners to have nothing to do with us. To-night one of the bills was pasted on the door. Br. Arena took it off, and no sooner had he the door shut than two shots were fired, but they did no more harm than to pierce the door - thank God! I have been informed that a number of young men will either beat or shoot me, and that as I am the only one left they are going to make me leave, too, by foul or by fair means. The following is a translation of the priest's warning:

  "To the faithful of Candelaria. Beware. 
  This parish has been invaded by one of the 
  wicked sects of Protestantism, and, having the 
  sacred duty of warning my parishioners, I give 
  them to understand that should any one of 
  them attend, even from mere curiosity, to hear 
  the false and pernicious propaganda, or accept 
  tracts or books that come from the propagators 
  of Protestantism, he will be excommunicated 
  from the true and only Church of Jesus Christ, 
  Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman, wherein resides 
  the infallible authority. Beware, then, oh, ye 
  faithful, and listen to your parish priest, who 
  advises you of the danger of your souls."

Yet with all this darkness and error, the majority are well contented, and quite willing to obey "warnings" like this and the following, published in Los Principios, of Cordoba:

  "It has come to our knowledge that there are 
  amongst us various Protestant ministers, that 
  distribute with profusion leaflets containing their 
  erroneous doctrines and calumnies against the 
  Catholic Church. Some of these leaflets and booklets 
  have fallen into our hands, and in them we 
  have found confirmation of what we say above. 
  In one of these leaflets, for example, they treat 
  as idolatry the worship that we Catholics tribute 
  to the Mother of God. They treat as superstition 
  the veneration they have in Rome for the holy 
  staircase by which our Lord Jesus Christ went 
  up to the judgment hall of Pilate. They combat 
  the worship of images, relics, and things of that 
  description.

  "Catholics ought to know that it is not lawful 
  for them to read these leaflets, nor the Sacred 
  Bible distributed by the Protestants, because it 
  has been falsified by them, accommodating its 
  texts to their errors. The Church has prohibited 
  its children many times these pernicious readings. 
  Let us reject, according to the counsel 
  of St. Paul, these ravenous wolves that come in 
  sheep's clothing, for they come to kill and to 
  destroy souls, thrusting them into the ways of 
  error, being separated from the true Church of 
  Jesus Christ, from which Luther, Calvin, 
  Zuinglio, Henry VIII, and others separated 
  themselves, of whom Cobbell, the Protestant 
  historian, himself has said: 'Never has the 
  world seem gathered into one century so many 
  perverse men as Luther, Zuiniglio, Calvin,' etc."

One acquainted with Spanish-American Romanism will smile at the reference in the above article to the Bible having been falsified by us. If the text of any version extant is compared with those which are painted on the walls of the church in Celaya, there surely will be found a great discrepancy. The following are translations:

"MARY, my mother, in thee I hope; save me from those that persecute me." - Psalm vii. 1.

"Be thou exalted, O MARY, above the heavens, and thy glory above all the earth." - Psalm lvii. 5.

'I will sing to MARY while I live." - Psalm civ. 33.

"Serve MARY with love, and rejoice in her with trembling." - Psalm ii. 11.

"Offer sacrifices of righteousness and trust in MARY." - Psalm iv. 5.

"Let everything that hath breath praise OUR LADY," etc., etc.

Protestant Christians pay almost all the entire cost of circulating Roman Catholic translations of the Scriptures over the world. In the versions of De Saci (French), Martini (Italian), Scio (Spanish), Pereira (Portuguese), and Wuyka (Polish), we find in Matthew 3: 2, and thirty-four other places, instead of "repent ye" the words, "do penance," while in Matthew 3: 8, and some twenty other places, the word that should be translated "repentance," is rendered penance. In the following light way "penance" can be done, while "repentance" is not thought of.

For sins against the Church the priest will often condemn the culprit to wear a hideous garment for hours, or days, according to the gravity of the offence, but this punishment can be worn by proxy. There are always those who, for a consideration, will don the badge of disgrace.

What is called "Holy Week" gives proofs of the shallowness of Rome's piety. Priests and people alike can weep, fast and faint, because their God is suffering and dying; all traffic can stop because, they say, "God has died"; but as soon as the death of Judas is announced, at noon on Saturday, the noise of guns, pistols, squibs, etc., takes the place of the death-like quiet that had reigned. After an hour or two silence again prevails till Sunday morning, when all restraint is removed, and people seem to make up for lost time. Drinking and kindred evils run riot, and it is no uncommon thing on the Sunday night to see the people drinking and dancing by the light of the candles they were burning to their favorite virgin or saint.

In the large city of Lima, for centuries a very stronghold of image worship, the interest in the Church has of late years been waning. Perhaps one reason for this is the changing nature of the native population of the city, for the deaths there exceed the births. Seeing this falling away from the Church, the priests announced that they had decided to send for the Sacred Heart of the Virgin, and trusted that the presence of this holy relic would promote the more faithful attendance of the flock. The heart arrived and was with great solemnity hung from the roof of the cathedral as the incentive to piety. Thousands flocked into the sacred building with reverent awe. The women gazed upon the heart with tearful eyes, and as they thought of Mary's sufferings and goodness they were emulated to deeper acts of love and piety. One day the wind blew very strongly through the open doorway, and the Sacred Heart began to sway to and fro. Getting more and more momentum with every oscillation, the heart finally struck against a sharp cornice, when lo - all the sawdust fell out of the canvas bag they had worshipped as the heart of flesh of their goddess. How they reconciled the existence of the heart of the Virgin with their belief that she ascended to heaven in a bodily form I do not pretend to imagine. It may be remarked that this is surely Romanism corrupted. Nay, it is rather Romanism developed.

"Andacilli is a hamlet, at which there is an image of the Virgin. Every year pilgrims resort thither, and a great feast to the Virgin is celebrated, the most important day being December 26th. During the last few years there has been a falling off in the number of pilgrims, especially those of the better class, but this last year the clerical authorities have left no stone unturned in order to get together more people than ever. Six bishops were advertised to come, and they were to crown the Virgin with a crown which cost thousands of dollars. These proceedings rouse an incredible enthusiasm in the people." [Footnote: "Regions Beyond."]

Sometimes Mary's image is baptized in the river, while men and women line the bank, ready to leap into the holy water when she is lifted out. Afterwards the water in which she was immersed is sold as a cure for bodily ills. Sometimes the earth from under the building where she is kept is also sold for the same purpose.

Imagine a church like that in Tucuru! "It consists of a palm-leaf hut, with a bare floor and no furniture whatever. Round the sides stand twelve life-size figures, made of canvas and stuffed with husks of corn, which some one of the Indian worshippers has painted with the features and dress of his own race. When I went in two women lay prostrate on the floor, and one of them screamed in agonizing tones, 'My Lords, send the rod of your power to heal him!' - evidently praying to these apostles on behalf of some sick relative. Here, once a year, a priest celebrates mass, and when he last came he stuck a paper over the entrance, which read: Hoec est Domus Del et Porta Coeli (' This is the House of God and the Gate of Heaven.') In San Jose we have the four walls of a new church, consecrated to the 'Virgin,' where, recently, a raffle was held on behalf of the projected edifice. As we enter, the first thing seen is an inscription, professing to be a message to each visitor from the Virgin, which says, 'My son, behold me without a temple. Come, help in building it, and I shall reward thee with Eternal Life." [Footnote: Report of the British and Foreign Bible Society.]

Christ said: "I give unto My sheep eternal life"; but the record of that saying is jealously kept from them.

When the early colonists left Spain for the New World, they took with them the Creed of Pius IV. That creed expressly states that the Bible is not for the people. "Whoever will be saved must renounce it. It is a forbidden book."

"In 1850, when the Christian world was first being roused to the darkness of South America, and philanthropic men were desirous of sending Bibles there, Pope Pius IX. wrote an Encyclical letter in which he spoke of Bible study as 'poisonous reading,' and urged all his venerable brethren with vigilance and solicitude to put a stop to it. Thus has South America been denied the revelation of God. The priest has, because of this ignorance, been able to 'lord it over God's heritage.'" [Footnote: Guiness's "Romanism and the Reformation."]

With an open Bible, Spanish America would have progressed as North America has done. Without the enlightening influences of that Word, behold the darkness! Could anything be more eloquent than the prosperity of the land of the Pilgrim Fathers in proclaiming the value of the open Bible?

Mr. Hudson Taylor, of the China Inland Mission, speaking on a recent occasion, said: "I always pray for South America. It is a most needy part of the world, and wants your prayers as well as mine. The workers there have great difficulties to contend with, and of the same sort as we have in China, from Roman Catholicism - the most God- dishonoring system in the world. The heathen need your prayers, but the Roman Catholic needs them ten times more. He is ten times as much in the dark as the heathen themselves are."

The Missionary Review of the World describes South America as "Earth's darkest land." Do you not think, O reader, the words are most truly applied?

"There are in South America eight hundred missionaries, men and women, from Great Britain, the Continent of Europe, Canada and the United States. In Canada and the United States there is on an average one Protestant minister for every 514 persons. In South America each missionary has a constituency of about fifty thousand, indicating a need in proportion of population one hundred times as great as in the Protestant countries of North America." [Footnote: Bishop Neely's "South America."]

Yet, One called Jesus, whom we say we love, said: "Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature."