The Women of Mexico. FAR in the north, the legends say, there dwelt Where they should build new homes; and, wandering far, Their gods appeased with prayer and sacrifice, "In the far south there lies A lani whose mountains vast and valleys broad Thus the oracle Made answer, and a prophecy we read Of centuries, and, looking down the long And shadowy vista of the years, we see Its grand fulfillment. O sad Mexico, The serpent dire of superstition long Has ravaged, with relentless ire, thy land! And, poisoned by its fiery breath, we see With healing! The foul serpent in its grasp Of death; and ere the vision ends we see O blighted land, Lift high thy banners, bearing on their folds Espanola, N. Mex. The Women of Mexico. 119 (Abridged from the paper of Mrs. I. H. Polhemus published by the Woman's Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church.) WOULD you know something of the life of a Mexi can woman from her infancy? Come with me, then, to one of the many homes that abound in Mexico. Without, you see a low, one-story adobe hut, without chimney or window, and with but one small door, not high enough for you to enter without stooping. Within, you find but one room, the earthen floor without carpet or mat; in one corner a piece of coarse matting, the only bed; probably no chair or table; a smoldering charcoal fire, with a few earthen. ware pots standing near, complete the furniture of the room. For ornamentation, a rude priut of some saint or a crucifix on the wall. On such a scene as this many a girl first opens her eyes to the light, with no more air or sunshine than can come in through the door, with no solter cradie than the ground. Think you she finds much love or care in such a home? Ah no! She is clothed in a piece of red flannel pinned about her, is fed fro quently to quiet her cries, and often left in a corner to shift for herself; or, carried around on one arm of the mother, who with the other performs all her work, she can sleep or wake as she pleases. The house, so scant of furniture, may be crowded with grown-up brothers and sisters, who, with their families, huddle together in this one room. In the midst of quarrels, laziness, blows, and neglect, our girl grows up, her food the Mexican beans and "tortil. las," or flat corn cakes. While but a baby hersell, she becomes a nurse for the next comer, and often she may be seen in the street staggering under the weight of an infant almost as large as herself. ness. What does she wear? Rags. The skirt, once put on, stays on till it drops off; she lives in it, she sleeps in it; her head and shoulders are covered with the national "reboza." Where is she educated? lu the streets, growing very wise in this world's craf So the years go on, and at the age of perhaps fourteen she marries a boy of sixteen. Is her cou dition bettered? By no means. From this time she is probably the breadwinner of the household, receiving as her only reward blows and curses. Children are born to her, to be reared as was she herself," and while she is comparatively young in years she is an old woman. The But has religion no comfort for her? priest only gives comfort to those who give money, and her pennies are few. She goes regularly to church, but can Latin prayers soothe her troubled heart? Sickness enters her door; will the priest come and with kindly words and deeds strengthen and help? If she pays well, he will come, muder few meaningless prayers, sprinkle the sick with holy water, and go. At last she lays down her burden; her body, without funeral rite, is hurried to the grave, 120 Cortez, The Ancient Religions of Mexico, Etc. perhaps on the shoulders of men; her soul-where is it? Do you think this is overdrawn? The picture scarcely gives you an idea of the miserable, aimless, godless lives of the women of Mexico among the lowest classes. Naturally, as you ascend, you find the temporal wants better supplied, and, consequently, less and less bodily suffering; but the souls of all must needs be "hungering and thirsting." You can easily believe that to these tired, weary ones, the Gospel would be like sweet music to their cars, would be indeed "good news." But do they hear the music? Is the "good news" being told them? To a few hundreds, yes; to many thousands, no. The work of evangelizing Mexico is well begun, and is growing so fast that the hands are too few to meet it. A few words as to what has been done. As is well known, the greatest hope for the country is with the children; their hearts are easily reached, and the seed sown bears a hundred fold. Girls' schools are needed everywhere. Much good has been done through Bible readers. One in Mexico city bravely pushed her way into the homes, reading and explaining the word of God. She followed the women to the riverside, where they washed their clothes; there she too would wash by their side as she told them the story of Him who promises to wash the sin-stained heart "whiter than snow." In the market place she would repeat or read a verse from the Bible to the women there, that would so excite their wonder that an invitation to come to their homes would often be given, where to an eager crowd she would read the words of life. Would that the number of Bible readers in Mexico could be multiplied many times! Another way of reaching these poor women is by means of tracts. A tract costs but little, but who can measure the good it does? Dropped by the roadside, scattered from house to house, only the great day will reveal the harvest. The people are eager for them. They are ignorant and only know what the priests tell them; but a tract shows them the truth, and once they have tasted of the Water of Life they must have more to satisfy the thirst. Support schools and Bible readers if you can; but if not, send them these leaflets of truth. "Women's Work for Women" is covering the globe, but what are you doing for your poor sisters who stand at your very door? Cortez, The Ancient Religions of Mexico, Etc. HERNANDO CORTEZ was born at Medellin, in Spain, in 1485. In March, 1519, at the head of an army, he lauded in Mexico with the intention of subjugating it. The sovereign of the country was Montezuma. In a little over two years he conquered the country, and he was appointed the governor and captain general of Mexico by the King of Spain, Charles V. He died in Spain in 1554. When Cortez entered Mexico he found the people, who were called Aztecs, idolators. There were thousands of heathen temples in Mexico, and in these human victims were offered to their gods. They had many gods. Among them were Huitzilapochtli, the god of war, and Quetzalcohuatl, the god of the air. Quetzalcohuatl appears as a fair-faced man with a broad forehead and long, black, flowing hair. It is said that he came from some distant land and taught the people picture writing, and showed them the riches of gold and silver in the mines, and taught them how to refine and work the precious metals. Through the influence of Cortez and the Roman Catholic priests who accompanied him, many of the Mexicans became Roman Catholics, until finally nearly all the people professed allegiance to the pope at Rome. Protestant missionaries commenced work in Mexico about thirty years ago, and now there are Protestant congregations in all the larger cities of Mexico. The Bible Triumphing in Mexico. THE Bible Society Record furnishes the following experience of a Bible colporteur in Mexico, given by himself, in his effort to circulate the Bible in a town in the State of Chiapas: "In the week devoted to the worship of the Virgin Dolores, the clergy of Tuxtla Chico had announced my coming in the usual way: A Protestant bishop Attitude of Protestants Toward the Church of Rome. is coming with a book called the Holy Bible, which is false and evil, as it speaks against the pope, the Virgin, the saints, Christ, the curas, and our religion. This book must not be bought; you must "run" that man out of the town, or the penalty is "excommunication." As usual, the man with whom I lodged asked me to 'go,' for fear of an attack on his house. "It was not long before a group of sixty people gathered about the house, threatening to beat me and cast me out of the town. I was quite lame and could not escape. While I was praying for help, they held council, and then eight men entered the courtyard and ordered my immediate departure. But noticing among the eight one of venerable aspect, of sixty years, at least, the leader, I addressed him: 'I am sorry, my good friend, that you have been deceived in regard to the character of the book that I bring. This book contains the truth of God in its purity. If there is one here who can read, let him examine it. If it is as bad as you are told it is, we will burn it and I will go.' "This seemed fair to the old man, and he called to Richard, his nephew, saying, 'It is only just we should read the book first. A young man of eighteen came forward, took the book, and read correctly and with clear voice from the first chapter of Luke. The crowd without, hearing him, pressed into the courtyard, a hundred people or more, all giving respectful attention when they saw one of their number reading. When he reached the forty-second verse, a vo ce cried, 'But that is not the book of which the cura spoke.' I answered that it was the only book that I came to offer them, the various sizes being due to the size of the letter, and that they had been misinformed regarding the book, doubtless, to keep them in ignorance of the real simplicity of the Christian Gospel. They seemed to be drawn toward the book, and when the young man stopped reading again, I began to read and recommend the Bible, and continued for an hour. "Richard bought the first Bible, the one he had read from, and I sold ten large Bibles and a number of small ones, then and there, and we talked of the Bible till ten o'clock at night. Some of the more enthusiastic proposed that I should hold a public discussion with the cura, on Sunday, the 3d of April. I prepared and waited; but before the hour arrived, I learned that the cura had gone suddenly to Zapachula. The Gospel triumphed again !" 121 does not hold as cheering views as many in regard to its rapid growth in spirituality. There is nothing like living down in the heart of Romanism to dissipate the glamour thrown around the holy mother Church, which unconsciously blinds the eyes of many a good Protestant. The learned student sits calmly in his study and pores over the MEXICAN STONE IDOL. lives of the Church fathers. He marvels at the sacrifices of the early Jesuit missionaries; he dips into the subtle theology that seeks to defend itself against the charge of degrading idolatry by fine distinctions of δουλεία for the saints and angels, ὑπερδουλεία for the Virgin, and λατρεία directed to God alone; he hears of a priest or two who is willing to see the Douay Bible circulated, and another who advocates temperance; and he straightway writes a most edifying article upon the reforming and purify. ing influences at work in the bosom of the Church. The elect church member reads, and rejoices that The Present Attitude of Protestants Toward the he need not give his annual dollar for the support of Church of Rome. BY MRS. SARA B. HOWLAND, OF MEXICO. To the missionary in papal lands, the discussions of the present time in regard to the future of the Church of Rome have a vital interest. As he hears the jeers of the crowd about his windows, and feels the jar of stones upon his door, he may be pardoned if he missions in papal lands, and cheerfully hands it over to the priest resident in his own town, who is collecting to erect a nunnery or a church. If you try to rouse an interest in the mission work in papal lands, you will find that it is not a popular subject. Many do not consider Italy, Spain, and Mexico as legitimate fields for missionary labor. "The people have a knowledge of God and Jesus 122 Attitude of Protestants Toward the Church of Rome. Christ," they say. "Let us send the Gospel to the At the root of this indifference on the part of many is a real ignorance in regard to the teaching and tendency of the Church of Rome. Seeing only the highest and most enlightened form in the United States, they do not understand that a Church noted for its skill in adapting itself to circumstances, has assumed, where it must, the most tolerant and liberal rôle possible. 66 Articles like one recently published in regard to increased intellectual activity among Roman Catholics will be regarded by many as an encouraging "sign of the times," in spite of the fact, distinctly stated, that the special object of study in their new summer school" will be their own writers; a circumstance which, while perfectly natural and commendable from their standpoint, fails to give any special · encouragement" to Protestants. It ought to be proved that mere secular education will do little toward the actual conversion of the Roman Catholic. Let those who are so sanguine about the matter examine the statistics. How many conversions from Romauism in the United States were there last year? How many members of the secular schools became so enlightened as to join a Protestant Sunday school? How many Catholic servants in Prostestant families became converted? Why are the results of living in a Christian land so small? It is because so little direct personal work is done. How many church members have spoken plainly to their Catholic neighbors upon the subject? How many ministers have preached, we will not say controversial, but sermons particularly to interest and help the Roman Catholic? Examination will prove that in the majority of cases a severe letting alone is all that is done; and to the missionaries in foreign lands, with strange tongues to master, with race prejudices, and all the mighty odds against them, is left the task of battling against the "principalities and powers" of Rome. Are we narrow" when we state the case so strongly? O that we could speak in words so burning with the fire of the holy truth, that they would scorch deep into the hearts of careless and indifferent Christians, and arouse them to a sense of their responsibility in this matter! Let us look beyond our own land into that lovely neighboring country where unfettered Romanism has borne its bitter fruit for so many years. You won. der why we need to preach to Mexicans when they already "know about God." Walk by the beautiful Catheral of Guadalajara and hear the sweet strains of the mass of San Gregorio, which, for the payment of one hundred dollars, will pass the soul of the de parted straight to the celestial regions; follow the crowd to the Cemetery of Belen on All Souls' Day, and watch that second-rate priest mumbling his twentyfive or twelve-cent prayers over the grave of some poor soul; watch the mass of people kneeling in that little pueblo where the Virgin of Zapopan, a rude wooden image about a foot and a half high, has been carried with as truly heathenish demonstration of dancing and drunkenness, as one would see before some Buddhist temple. Pass by the houses of "spiritual retirement" and hear the shrieks of the devotees as they lash themselves with the iron diciplinas, or press the spikes of their cilicias further into the quivering flesh, while the fumes of an extremely material sulphur make the place like a true type of the infernal regions. Go to the baby's funeral, and see the crowd dancing and drinking while the heartbroken mother tries to stifle her sobs and join in the mirth, until the little form is carried away, when she falls into a frenzy of shrieking. Hear the rockets whizzing in honor of the Immaculate Heart of Mary; see the grand dinners of and the paseo on Good Friday; and the clang of the bells and the burning of hundreds of Judases when the "glory comes in " on Holy Saturday; hear the people gayly asking one another on Corpus Christi, "What is your Corpus? Mine is a big watermelon!" Or on All Saints' Day, see the children with their bonbon boxes in the form of coffins, with a candy doll in its white shroud within, while others have their arms full of hideous toys, grinning skulls, skeletons in every conceivable form-everything that will make a ghastly mockery of death. See the thronged market on Sunday morning; hear the wild screaming as the consite for the afternoon bull fight passes by our chapel windows-and, in the face of it all, can anyone say the Gospel is not needed? Can you imagine any Fiji Islander doing any. thing more ridiculous than the following: A certain priest died, and was laid out in state, with a linseed poultice, used during his sickness, still remaining upon his highly respectable person. After a while an observer chanced to note that certain of the faithful had stolen the poultice and were piously eating it up, doubtless in the hope of receiving a plenary indul. gence for so meritorious an act! Another characteristic incident was told us by an educated lawyer of this city, in the presence of his pretty little wife, who laughed heartily at the story, but whom I have often since met on her way to mass. A priest, whose bad luck at the gaming table had caused him to lose two hundred dollars, cast about in his mind to find some way of retrieving his losses. Having, according to the custom of most of the holy fathers, a large circle of admiring female acquaintances, he called upon fifty of the most credulous, to whom he represented that, in a special revelation, he had learned that the soul of a husband, wife, or child was in purgatory crying for release, and he Mexico Mission of the Methodist Episcopal Church. would be happy to complete the arrangement; so he soon paid his debts, and the mourners were comforted. The priests resident in the United States may be too shrewd to say much about modern miracles; but the Bishop of Tamaulipas, who made the statement that it was not absolutely necessary to believe in the apparition of the Virgin of Guadalupe, was promptly rebaked by his superiors and his retraction has been published far and wide in the Mexican papers. These are but typical instances. Any Protestant missionary who has gotten into intimate personal relations with the people could match these with hundreds of examples to illustrate the power of the priesthood and the extreme degradation and fanaticism of the people. The enlightened and prosperous Church of the home land will be culpably careless it, knowing these plain and unvarnished facts, she does not do all in her power to enlighten the eyes of those who sit in darkness.-Life and Light. Mexico Mission of the Methodist Episcopal Church. THIS mission was commenced in 1873 and was organized as a Conference in 1885. The four presiding elders of the Conference have lately forwarded their reports to the mission rooms of the Missionary Society for insertion in the Annual Report. From these reports the following extracts are made. Rev. Wm. Green, Ph.D., Presiding Elder of the Coast District, reports as follows: "Much sickness and distress have been experienced within the bounds of the Coast District the past year. There has been pestilence, inundation, and drought. Several of our ministers have been sick from fevers and other causes; but we have had, notwithstanding, the usual amount of success. We have not had much persecution. The work on the Cordoba Circuit has been much hindered by a pestilence. Culapam Circuit has enjoyed prosperity, and the congregations are large and enthusiastic. The outlook on the Cuicatlan Circuit is promising. Oaxaca Circuit is prospering. "Rev. L. C. Smith, in charge of the Oaxaca Circuit has visited a large number of towns and villages and preached to large and interested congregations. In many places no Protestant minister had previously visited them. All along the way he found the grossest idolatry, and in some places he heard rumors of human sacrifices. There seems very little reason to doubt that among some of the remote Indian tribes of the mountain districts human sacrifices are still offered to their Chinques (gods). He passed through the territory of several tribes who are little known to history. Some of them were but a little removed from barbarism; such as the Chinantecos, Masatecos, Cuicatecos, and others. He found more than twenty different languages spoken by these people, and from conversations with them wrote out the alphabets of their 123 several languages. A greater effort ought to be made to spread the glad tidings of salvation among these benighted people. In the city of Oaxaca the congregations number about one hundred and fifty persons. "Orizaba Circuit has made considerable advance during the year. Jayacatlan Circuit has had a very prosperous year, and a new church has been built. Tehuacan Circuit has been practically abandoned for most of the year for lack of funds to carry on the work. Tetela Circuit has had the most prosperous year in its history. In Tezuitlan the priest has made continual war upon us and we have met with considerable opposition. The Tuxham Circuit has had a sick pastor, and in Tuxham we greatly need a church building. The congregation has presented us with a lot, and is anxiously waiting our help in the erection of a suitable place of worship. Some of the most influential men in the city are our friends and are reg ular attendants at our services. San Andres Tuxtla Circuit has met with some success, notwithstanding the sickness of both pastors. Jilotepec has a day school of thirty-seven children. "Xochiapulco Circuit includes the work in the mountain regions of Puebla. The people are pure Aztecs, and there must be an American at the head of this work if it succeeds. The native pastors do not get the grip on these people that our opportunities demand; and, moreover, the official interference neutralizes the power they would otherwise exert. A foreigner is not subject to this interference. We have two schools and six preaching places on the circuit, with boundless possibilities." Rev. J. W. Butler, D.D., Presiding Elder of the Mexico District, reports: "The Mexico District includes what was last year the Central and Hidalgo Districts. It embraces the federal district, a part of the State of Mexico, and a good part of the State of Hidalgo, and contains over a million of souls. In Mexico city the Mexican services have been well sustained. The Sunday school improved in attendance and interest. The boys' school has matriculated one hundred and nine during the year, and the work among Anglo-Americans under Rev. Frank Borton is prospering, the attendance nearly filling the chapel every Sunday morning. The press report shows 2,037,561 pages of religious printing during the year. "In the State of Mexico we have three circuits. The Ayapango Circuit includes six congregations and four schools. In Miraflores we have about three hundred children in one of the finest school buildings of the state. In the Chicoloapam Circuit have two congregations and two schools, with nearly one hundred children, and our people here serve God in the face of intense persecution, two of their number having already gone down to martyrs' we graves. "The Tezontepec work has grown under the present pastorate from four to fifteen congregations, with |
