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came from this village asking for a teacher to be sent to them, adding that whoever came must send word first, and they would send trusty men to meet him. Then we learned for the first time how two years before a band of dacoits (banditti) had fol lowed us for a week; how all the Karen villagers had been warned that if they harbored us they should share our fate; that the old chief had been told that if he stayed in his village he must either help to kill us or be killed himself; that all the men had left the village in consequence, but that the old chief had been so troubled in mind he was constrained to come back again; that the dacoits had come, and, finding him there, asked the reason. He had told them he could not stay away; that many signs and auguries had assured him it would be bad for those who touched us- -the English would discover it, and they could not escape. He was a soothsayer, and a wise man among them. They, tried several auguries, and they were all so alarming, the dacoits reluctantly decided not to touch us, and went away.

When Nau-Nau heard this she came to me with such an awed face, and referring to my fear that day, she said:

"Mamma, you were right and we were wrong, but God took care of us, after all."

The reason that I have told this story is that you may see that the age of miracles is not quite past; for however we may think of this, to the heathen Karens in that district it was a miracle. Our elephant driver thought it so; he had left us with a grim thought of pity, but unable to help. When we sent for him again it was as though he heard a voice from the dead. The villagers all thought it a miracle. When we talked to them the next morning we all noticed how preoccupied they were, they gazed at us with such a strange look, and scarcely seemed to hear what we said. They were glad we were safe, and in their own quick way, which I did not understand then, determined to keep us safe. They invited us to a village we had not heard of before; they hid us there; they said their elephants must rest. When I urged them to take us further on into the district, not knowing the danger, they sail little, allowed us to get on our elephants, thinking we were going in another direction, and turned them toward Burma. When I expostulated with them they said: "The country is dangerous; we shall lose our elephants if we go farther into Siam; we dare not take you there, but we will take you back." And so they did, not by the usual route; they cut a new path through the forest and made a long detour, lest the dacoits, repenting their mercy, migt follow us again. We did not understand it then, but we did afterward.

I came home, feeling we had accomplished little or nothing. Twelve years passed away, and I was permtel to go back to Tavoy. Only then I discovered

that the elephant driver, his mother, and his wife had come over into Burma and were living among the Christians. They had been baptized many years, and he was a deacon in the village church. The old chief and his wife had been baptized, and removed to another Karen village, where they lived a most honored and useful life and died honored and revered by all the Christians. This much I know of the fruits of that trip. There may be more to know hereafter.

What Christian Missions are Doing.

BY REV. J. S. DENNIS, D.D.

THEY are accomplishing much in the development and growth of the English language as a world-wide medium of thought.

They are useful in the propagation of enlightened ideas upon liberty, justice, equality, human rights, fraternity, and mutual helpfulness.

They are hastening the overthrow of effete and tyrannical governments, in the interest especially of liberty of conscience and religious freedom.

They are busy instilling lessons of Christian philanthropy and putting into motion the impulses of beneficence and charity.

They are constantly giving to the world examples of heroism and lessons of sacrifice in the lives and biographies of such men as Carey, Judson, Martyn, Patteson, Zinzendorf, Livingstone, Hannington, KeithFalconer, Moffatt, Mackay, Egede, Taylor, Thoburn, Gilmour, and Paton.

They are breaking the power of priestcraft and the tyrray of superstition, and giving impulse and scope to aspirations after beter things while opening the door of hope to despairing hearts.

They are releasing woman from her immemorial degradation in heathen lands by sending devoted women to visit her in the sec.usion of the zenana and the harem to teach and brighten her life amid her hitherto cheerless and depressing surroundings.

They are building an altar of social worship in many a humble home, purifying and sweetening domestic life and enforcing the blessed moralities of the Christian family.

They are rebuking vice and making its shamelessness le-s ostentatious, amd its practice less easy.

They are giving a spiritual tone to religion, and freeing it from hollow forms and degrading idolatries.

They are establishing a simple worship, and giving a helpful, instructive, and human touch to the ministrations of the Church, placing the word of God in the hands of men in their own language-the language of the heart and home.

They are bringing souls continually into the light and liberty and hope and spiritual obedience of the Gospel of Christ. Should they have our help?Evangelical Christend m.

Holidays and Festivals in Mexico.

BY HENRY WARE ALLEN.

THE Mexican people are patriotic. They enthusiastically celebrate those events in their country's history which have made Mexico what it is to-day. Chiefest of these holidays is the 16th of September. This is the Mexican Fourth of July. As in 1776 the Americans declared their independence from Great Britain, so in 1810 Hidalgo, the Washington of Mexico, proclaimed his country's independence from Spain. And, although this patriot perished in an early stage of the rebellion against Spanish oppression, his personality was the inspiration of the upris

brilliantly illuminated. The picture is at once weird and grand, thrilling and fascinating. The mass of the people standing in their sandals, with picturesque "sombreros," "zarapes" and "rebozos," are descendants of an undoubtedly very much like the gentle race that Cortez slaughtered so unmercifully. As evening wears on all eyes are directed to the illumined clock on the palace. It is nearly eleven; voices are hushed; all is expectancy; the hour has President Diaz appears on a balcony of the palace waving the national colors over his head; he cries in a clear voice," Mexicanos: Viva la Independencia! Viva la Republica!" This is the "Grito;" and upon being uttered the blare of trumpets, the

come.

ing-and now, as "El Libertador" he is almost worshiped as a saint.

At eleven o'clock in the evening of September 15, 1810, in the "plaza" (public square) of the little town of Dolores, where the people were gathered in response to the ringing of church bells, Hidalgo, with a musket in one hand and a torch in the other, cried, "Long live our mother most holy-Guadalupe! Long live America! and death to bad government!" This was the Declaration of Independence.

The anniversary celebration commences at 11 P. M. of September 15, in the grand public square-the plaza. Long before that hour the entire ten acres are filled with a surging mass of humanity. Long lines of venders extend in every direction and all sorts of Mexican eatables, illuminated by the flickering light of burning fagots, are advertised by peculiar wailing cries. Bands play the popular Mexican airs, but the cries of venders and the hum of conversation confine the music to a short radius. Neighboring façades are festooned with national colors — red, white, and green; thousands of gayly colored lanterns are strung over the vast area, and the stately cathedral, over which floats the national colors, is

cheers of tens of thousands of Mexicans, the music of military bands, explosions of fireworks, and most powerful of all, the tumultuous roar from scores of great bells in the two towers of the cathedral, join together in a great jubilee chorus. This is kept up for nearly an hour, when the people disperse, many of them, in accordance with an old custom, dancing about the streets to the music of rude "Bandurrias" for the rest of the night.

Early on the morning of the 16th troops arriving from distant points take position in readiness for the grand military parade. At ten o'clock President Diaz, every inch a soldier as well as one of the ablest of living rulers, attended by other distinguished generals, takes his place at the reviewing stand. The procession consists entirely of regulars, thousands of them presenting a very creditable appearance in fresh uniforms. The infantry appear in heavy marching order, each company being officered by a graduate of Chapultepec. The regimental bands are all good and are accompanied by drum and bugle corps, but the large number of drummers-beating. at every step-while useful in giving time, interfere in the music. In contrast to these are some of the

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cavalry bands mounted, the Seventh Regiment being especially noteworthy. The event of the procession, however, is the passing of the "Rurales," the Rural Guards, the pride of the republic. There are usually about one thousand of them in line, every man fiuely mounted. Each wears a large silver-trimmed "sombrero" of gray felt, each a suit of buckskin set off by trimmings and necktie of red, and each carries a sword in hand, while rifle protrudes from saddle hol-sters. The saddles, especially of officers, are beautifully decorated and in many cases must cost small fortunes. A large number of this body of men are said to have been noted bandits, until their occupation became unprofitable in the republic, and President Diaz, with characteristic diplomacy placed them in the national service, where their exceptional courage and daring are most useful in suppressing any threatened disorder.

Other features of the celebration, which lasts almost the entire week, are elaborate displays of fireworks at the plaza and in many other parts of the city, balls given in the large theaters, where floral decorations cost thousands of dollars, banquets given to visiting officials and the distribution by Mrs. Diaz of presents to the poor.

The central fountain in the Alameda is converted into a huge floral piece, and the streets are decorated with flags and bunting, wreaths of flowers, festoons of evergreens and moss.

The 5th of May, anniversary of the triumph of Zaragoza over the French at Puebla, is also a national holiday, and celebrated similarly to September 16.

There can be no stronger contrast than that existing between the nervous, money-chasing Yankee and the complacent, easy-going Mexican. The latter must have a long rest from business in the middle of each day. The stores are closed for a couple of hours at noon, when the streets become nearly deserted. The people live slowly, and the large number of holidays attest to a rational respect for the sunny side of life.

The Church holidays bring with them a rather fantastic mixture of the festive and the religious. These "Dias de Fiestas" are like so many strange Christmases scattered over the calendar, as the giving to children of toys peculiar to each occasion is the chief characteristic of them all.

November 1 and 2 are, respectively, All Saints' and All Souls' Days. The cemeteries are then crowded with, scemingly, the entire population, doing homage to the dead. Immense candles in huge candlesticks burn brightly over thousands of graves, bereaved ones watch all day long over the ashes of their dead, and the hosts return to the city at night as gay as if from a wedding. The plaza contains hundreds of booths in which are sold, as toys for children, death images of every conceivable construction: jumping-jacks, bull-fighters, fiddlers, and daucers-all made as skeletons. Large white skulls of candy are

sold in quantities, and countless happy children return to their homes pulling alter them as many little toy hearses.

Every body has his own especial feast day, which is celebrated, when possible, with fireworks, music, and dancing. December 12 is honored by all the Guadalupes (the commonest name in Mexico, given almost equally to both sexes), and on that day tens of thousands from the city, the valley, and from distant places gather at the little town of Guadalupe, three miles from the city of Mexico. Many of these pilgrims come hundreds of miles on foot, some on hands and knees, as a penance for sins committed. As the penitents approach the shrine," rebozos " (shawls) and "zarapes" (blankets) are spread in a continual path before the especially sinful ones to make their progress easier. The shades of night find an army of devotees sleeping by thousands with no roof but the sky. On the day of the 12th, from sunrise until high noon, certain Indians attired in brilliant skirts adorned with feathers and shining ornaments, are allowed the time-honored privilege of dancing in front of the church and on top of the surrounding hills.

December is a month of festivities, the Christmas celebration commencing on the evening of the 16th, and continuing every night until Christmas Day. Ou every one of these nine evenings all good Mexicans celebrate the "Posada," it being customary for nine families to meet at one another's houses in turn. The "Posada" commemorates the nine days' journey of Joseph and Mary from Nazareth to Bethlehem, when the shelter of an inn (“posada ") was sought for the mother of Jesus. When the family and friends are assembled a candle is given to everyone, a procession is formed, with the little ones going aliea, and, to the music of one or more instruments, all pass around and around the corridor singing words of a song that belongs to the occasion. In front of all is carried a little tableau composed of figures of the Holy Family. Occasionally a halt is made at some door, when the singing, supposed to be pleading for shelter, is responded to by voices from within refusing admission. At last, however, the response is satisfactory (Joseph having found a stable with manger), and with joyous music all enter the chief room of the house and enjoy refreshments and dancing. A "pinate" (earthen jar dressed up as a figure and filled with candy and fruit) is then an object of attack from blindfolded children with sticks in hand, who, when it is broken, scramble for the candies which fall. During all this time fireworks are exploded from the "patio," and at last everyone is given a small memento, generally of chinaware.

At midnight Christmas Eve a really beautiful service is celebrated in the churches, when the women, each with a little pillow or cushion before her, on her knees and rocking herself backward and forward. sing together the lullaby "A la rórra" to the Infant

Jesus. When Christmas Day at length arrives everybody is well tired out, so that the day is not emphasized as it is in the North.

In Mexico, as elsewhere, an Ea-ter festival has been celebrated from time unknown. Early on the Friday morning preceding Palm Sunday La Viga Canal is crowded with canoes and barges of all sizes bringing to the city great quantities of brightly colored flowers. A little later crowds come from the city mostly by street cars, but the élite in their carriages or on horseback, to buy flowers and to enjoy a few hours promenade on the boulevard beside the canal. Many "caballeros" place garlands around their horses' necks, and private carriages are cov

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house, and with their destruction sombreros, saddles, and articles of lesser value are scrambled for by hundreds of peons who crowd the street below.

On St. John's Day, June 24, the various bath establishments are crowded all day long.

August 6, Ascension Day, is celebrated in some churches by bringing out into the open air representations of the body of Christ, arrayed in wonderful garments, where they are treated to an explosion of fire-works and a tremendous amount of noise.

The graves of Mexican patriots-from Cuauhtemos, who defied Cortez and was tortured by him, to Juarez the Reformer-are kept green by annual commemorative exercises.-Review of Reviews.

ered-wheels, harness, and all-with flowers. On these and similar occasions first-class music is always furnished by the military bands.

Palm Sunday brings the most picturesque scene of the year at the cathedral. Palm branches, plain or worked into fancy shapes and decorated with poppies or corn flowers, are sold in front of the cathedral, and everyone takes one inside to have it blessed by the bishop. Thus the stately building becomes filled with a waving sea of long palm branches.

Holy Week is chiefly marked in Mexico by the silence of church bells and the rattling of "matracas." These rattles are toys, generally made of tin or wood, and they are heard continuously during the week. One church, at least, has a huge "matraca " in its belfry, which is used at this time in place of the bells. At precisely ten o'clock, Holy Saturday morning, effigies of Judas, constructed of paper and fireworks, generally suspended over the street, are exploded all over the city. The Jockey Club usually suspends three or four of these grotesque figures in front of its

Mexican Homes and Custon.c.

BY HENRY WARE ALLEN.

BURGLARY and that twin dread to the housekeeper, fires, are almost unknown in Mexico. The houses, being constructed almost entirely of stone and plaster, are in no danger of conflagration, and each house having all lower windows barred with iron, with but one door, and that a huge one of oak bolted and braced at night, as if to withstand a battery, and guarded by a "potero " who sleeps by it, one feels when going to rest as if he were quite safe from all danger.

The houses face abruptly on the sidewalk-the Mexican's house being his castle-but within one always finds a square open "patio," often a garden adorned with statuary and fountains.

Mexican houseke ping is peculiar. Servants are generally faithful and honest, and work for five to ten dollars per month. Rations, nine to eighteen cents a day, are always extra. A mat on the floor is gener

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ally accepted as a good enough couch, but cot beds are supplied in the better houses. Everything is done on a cash basis-the cook going to market for the day's supplies and rendering her account at night. Little or nothing is kept on hand; a few cents' worth of this, that, and the other being purchased every day.

Instead of stoves little grates are fixed in masonry of brick, over which, on charcoal fires kept bright by fanning, everything is cooked. Kitchen utensils are almost entirely of earthenware and cost but a trifle. The markets are in the morning great lives of cliattering, expostulating, bargaining humanity-more business being accomplished with twenty-five cents than anywhere else in the world. There is no Chinese question in Mexico-John Chinaman would starve if he tried to compete with the peon.

This is the land of contracts-none sharper than in the prices of commodities. Goods that have passed the custom house are often double or treble a normal price, while native products are sold for a pit tance.

The people of Mexico are much misunderstood in the United States. Americans are apt to think of their Southern neighbors as "greasers," judging the nation by that type which is too numerous at the border on either side of the Rio Grande. But as Cortez found here a civilization higher in many respects than that of Spain, so it happens now that visitors from the North find a great deal in Mexico that is superior.

An urchin at the public school who has never worn a shoe, and whose ancestors never saw one, will always say, "With your permission," when passing in front of his teacher, and when asked his name will add, in replying, "Entirely at your service." That politeness which comes to an American child, if at all, only after much training, seems to be second nature to a Mexican.

When a servant is discharged, instead of raising her voice in wrath, she will say good-bye quietly, at the same time asking to be forgiven for all her faults.

Kindest of parents, extremely courteous and polite, passionately fond of music and flowers, skillful in many branches of art, these people, the "peons" of Mexico, are away ahead of their environment.

A

Rich and poor are equally courteous to each other; the best of feeling seems to exist between them. "cochero" will pull up his horses to allow "el Senor," who lifts his hat in acknowledgment, to pass. Indeed that "dream" in Puck, where two Broadway dray men, just after a collision, are pictured as begging each other's pardon, each claiming all blame in the politest language, is almost a realization in Mexico.

The spirit of democracy, the absence of snobbishness, is noticeable everywhere. Silks and rags mingle freely in all public places and worship together in the churches. That Mexico city is the

quietest and most orderly on the American continent is due more to the disposition of the people than to the exceptionally good police service.

Sometimes undue importance seems to be given to customs of etiquette. Two Mexican gentlemen will bow and gesticulate before an open door, each urging the other's precedence, when Americans would save the time thus consumed. When walking together, each must take the inside; and the breaking up of a party is accompanied by endless handshakings and farewells. Even on leaving street cars, if the ride has been one of any duration, a gentleman must raise his hat to those left behind, and purchasers at the stores commence and end their dealings by shaking hands with the salesmen. Sombreros are always lifted when passing church doors, and at noon, when the cathedral bells ring, every good Mexican within hearing uncovers.

The peon population of Mexico live in adobe houses or shanties of cornstalks, own but two or three garments each, sleep on straw mats, and exist on next to no wages. As an official of the treasury department recently stated it, "The population of Mexico is only half fed, a quarter clad, and an eighth illuminated" (petroleum retails for seventy-five cents per gallon). Yet after all there is, without doubt, more real poverty, more distress and desperate hardship in a single New York tenement house ward than in the whole republic of Mexico-for here the climate is gentle, nature is prodigal, the necessities of life are easily obtained, and the horrors of many-storied tenement houses are unknown. On the one hand is a race of sunny-natured people whose condition is steadily improving; on the other hand a race whose social adjustment are so out of order that an increasing proportion of the population is being crushed under the wheel of unavoidable poverty.

The peon is nothing if not contented. He could no more be induced to join a band of "calamity howlers "than could the most villainous “plutocrat" of Wall Street. This characteristic is due partly to the fatalism which prevails, and is further a result of centuries of servitude. Fatalism is said to be a factor in the army. The Mexican soldier goes into battle believing that if death comes it was foreordained, and so he does not try to evade the danger.-Review of Reviews.

The National Emblem of Mexico.

BY MANUELA FIELD.

(The device of an eagle holding in its talons a serpent is stamped on the national flag and coins of Mexico. The story of its origin is as follows: The Aztecs were conquered by a rival tribe and pursued in their march toward the valley of Mexico. An oracle commanded them to found a city where they should see an eagle, standing on a rock, with a serpent in its grasp. Reaching the present site of the city of Mexico, the eagle appeared, and there they laid the foundations of the city of Tenochtitlan.)