TALKS ON LATIN AMERICA GEORGE H. TRULL LIBRARY OF THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY PRINCETON. N. J. Presented by 0 \\ j ^ c \ or. Division Section... Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2017 with funding from Princeton Theological Seminary Library https://archive.org/details/talksonlatinamerOOtrul Talks on Latin America By S GEORGE H. TRULL Editor of “Missionary Studies for the Sunday School” First, Second and Third Series. Author of “Missionary Methods for Sunday School Workers,” “Five Mission- ary Minutes,” “Missionary Programs and Inci- dents;” joint author of “The Sunday School Teacher and the Program of Jesus” Sunday School Department Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the U. S. A. New York City Copyright, 1916. By George H. Trull To My Wife and Children CONTENTS Chapter Page Preface .1 ... 7 I. Introductory Talk, Our Latin American Neighbors 11 II. Talk on Mexico 21 III. Talk on Guatemala 33 IV. Talk on Colombia 43 V. Talk on Chile 53 VI. Talk on Brazil 69 VII. Talk on Venezuela 85 How to Use the Map, Motto and Chart Ma- terial 97 Mottoes and Charts 99 Bibliography 109 Key Map of Latin America . at end of book Talks on Latin America PREFACE The following material has been prepared for use in Sunday Schools. It is adapted for both class and platform use. When used in the classes, it may be supplemental to the Bible lesson of the day and ten or fifteen minutes should be devoted to it at the beginning of the class session. Each teacher should have a copy of the booklet and prepare the lesson in advance. Encourage the pupils to use notebooks, in which striking facts may be recorded and maps drawn locating the mission stations. Material placed on the blackboard may also be copied in the notebooks. Pictures may be cut out and pasted in the note-books, using the collection found in “Child Life Pictures, South America/’ price io cents. See also current magazines, secular and missionary. As an encouragement to pupils to use note- books, and for others to make posters or charts, it is suggested that each school have an exhibit at the close of the course and give honorable mention to all pupils whose notebooks attain 80 per cent, credit, and to all whose posters attain like credit. The grading should be marked by an impartial committee. When the Talks are used as Platform instruc- 7 tion, the Superintendent or other Leader should make use of the large outline wall map of Latin America (40x48 inches on durable map paper, price twenty cents, postpaid), and should locate from week to week the Presbyterian mission stations under our Foreign Board, drilling the school until everyone is familiar with these stations,- their work and needs. See the key map at the end of this volume. Encourage Intermediate and Senior pu- pils to enlarge to poster size, for display in the Sunday School room, the motto and chart material found on pages 99 to 108; also to make original charts and posters. “Latin American Stories,” compiled by George H. Trull, price 25 cents, furnish the story material to be used in connection with these Talks. They are for use in all grades, being suitable for such adaptation as may be demanded. They will be especially valuable in the Platform work in connec- tion with the Talks. In connection with the Talks, the Year Book of Prayer for Foreign Missions should be used, as it contains the names and locations of all our mission- aries in the countries studied. Familiarize the pu- pils with the names of these missionaries, and en- courage offering daily prayer for them. Secure also from the Educational Secretary of the Foreign Board, the Prayer Cycle for members of Mission Study Classes using “The Living Christ for Latin America,” As a fitting preparation for presenting “Talks on Latin America” or “Latin American Stories,” offi- 8 cers and teachers should form study classes, using as a text-hook “The Living Christ for Latin America,” by Rev. J. H. McLean. The equipment which every school should have is as follows : 1. Talks on Latin America for the Superinten- dents and every Teacher. 2. Latin American Stories for the General and each Department Superintendent, and for Teachers. 3. Outline Latin American Wall Map, size qox 48 inches. 4. Small outline maps, 11x14 inches, on Central and on South America, for notebook use. 5. Child Life Pictures, South America: one set for the Bulletin Board, and additional sets for those using note-books. 6. The Year Book of Prayer for Foreign Mis- sions. Also the Prayer Cycle for Study Classes using “The Living Christ for Latin America.” 7. Reference Material on Latin America. See Bibliography on pages 109 and no. More material is offered in the Talks than can ordinarily be covered in ten minutes from the plat- form, in order that selection may be made of certain things for special emphasis, or a story told from “Latin American Stories.” Some schools may de- sire to devote more than one Sunday to a Talk. The best results will be secured from a consecutive study of the Talks rather than to take them up once a month, and by using them both in the classes and from the platform. Let the aim throughout the course be to arouse 9 and deepen an interest in Latin America that will issue in practical results. Schools desiring to invest funds in Mission Stations in Latin America under the Foreign Board should write to the Board’s Sun- day School Secretary. Young people desiring to become missionaries in Latin America should ad- dress the Candidate Secretary of the Board, 156 Fifth Avenue, New York City. Grateful acknowledgment of help furnished by Miss Blanche B. Bonine in preparation of the Talk on Mexico is hereby made, and to others of our missionaries in Latin America whose reports and writings have been drawn upon. It is hoped that the perusal of these Talks by our Sunday School teachers and pupils will arouse an abiding interest in Latin America— -an interest that is motor. George H. Trull. Echo Lake, Pa., September 7, 1916. 10 Talks on Latin America Introductory Talk OUR LATIN AMERICAN NEIGHBORS I want to tell you something about your neigh- bors in Latin America. How many of you have ever heard of Panama? (Hands up.) What has Uncle Sam been doing down there the last few years? (Draw out the re- ply: Building a canal.) It is the biggest piece of engineering the world has ever seen. The Suez Canal is a sea level ditch. The Panama Canal had to be cut through mountains and is 50 miles long. We are proud of what Uncle Sam has done. In or- der to dig the canal he had to kill the mosquitoes that carried fever and plague. It was as big a task to rid Panama of the mosquitoes as it was to dig the canal. But Uncle Sam has done both. Panama is a republic — one of the smallest in the world. Before Uncle Sam took hold of the canal, it was a bit of jungle which belonged to Colombia in South America. Who can tell the direction of the Panama Canal? (You might think, from east to west, but if you will look closely at any map of the canal, you will see it is from north to south.) This little republic of Panama is one of 21 in the Western Hemisphere, and is midway between them, ten 11 lying to the north of the canal and ten to the south. Who can tell me which is the biggest of the re- publics north of Panama? (Draw out the reply: The United States of America.) Who can tell me which is the biggest to the south of Panama? (Draw out the reply : Brazil.) It is 245,000 square miles larger than the United States excluding Alaska. You could put into Brazil, the United States of America, the British Isles, Italy, and the Netherlands. I suppose you are acquainted with your North American neighbors — the people who live next door to you, or on the next farm if you live in the coun- try. I want to tell you to-day something about your neighbors in some of these Latin American republics. We Presbyterians are particularly inter- ested through our Foreign Board in six of them — Mexico and Guatemala, north of Panama, and Ven- ezuela, Colombia, Chile and Brazil south of Panama. I wonder who can now name these six countries? (Have some member of the school come forward and point out on the map the countries mentioned.) I am glad that I have here to-day an outline map* which shows these countries. Suppose we insert the names, first. That will help us to remember these six countries. On other Sundays when we study each separately, we shall learn in what places our church is working .* t Use the Outline Latin American Wall Map, 40x48 inches, durable paper. Price 20 cents postpaid. * Small outline maps of South America and of Central Amer- ica, each 11x14 inches, may be obtained at 15 cents a dozen from McKinley Publishing Co., Philadelphia, Pa. These may be used for note-book work. 12 Those who are using the small outline maps in their note-books, will be able to put on them all that we have on this larger map from week to week. In what two countries north of Panama is our Presbyterian Church at work through the Foreign Board? (Mexico and Guatemala.) Mexico ad- joins our own borders. It is our nearest neighbor. It is a mountainous country and rich in minerals. It has had bad government, however, and the rich have oppressed the poor so that there has been much bloodshed and revolution. We shall have another lesson on this country later. Guatemala is the smallest country in Latin America where our Foreign Board is at work. It lies on a narrow strip of land south of Mexico be- fore you get to Panama. It is one of the Central American republics, and it, too, is mountainous. We will return later to study more particularly this in- teresting little land. Let us look now at the great sister continent ot South America. Look at the map a moment. Does it lie directly south of North America? You will note that it is really southeast. Valparaiso, on the west coast of Chile, is due south of Boston. Most of South America, there- fore, lies east of New York City. There are ten republics in South America, the three Guianas being under European control. Name the countries, please— (Venezuela, Colombia, Ecua- dor, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentine, Uruguay, Par- aguay and Brazil). 13 SIZE: South America is, in round numbers, about one million square miles smaller than North America; to be exact, 961,000 square miles. Its population is about half that of the United States. MOUNTAINS: The western part of South America is mountainous, containing some of the highest peaks in the world. They are a continua- tion of the great mountain range that is in the west- ern part of North America. Nestled up in the great mountains of Bolivia is La Paz. Out in Denver, Colorado, there is a mile-stone on a certain corner which indicates that at that point Denver is one mile above sea level, a mile up in the air. La Paz is two miles up in the air, and that is only the half- way house to the high peak, Aconcagua, in Chile, which is 22,868 feet high. On the whole coast line from Panama to Patagonia, of 4,500 miles there is only one large city, Valparaiso in Chile. Lima the capital of Peru is not right on the coast, but about six miles inland from its port, Callao. RIVERS: South America not only has the highest mountains in the Western Hemisphere, but the greatest rivers. We are proud of our beautiful Hudson and our splendid Columbia in the great northwest, but South America can boast rivers much mightier than these. The Amazon drains an area a million square miles larger than does the Mississippi. You can enter the mouth of the Ama- zon near the equator and travel on an ocean steam- er a distance equalling that from New York to Omaha. On a medium size steamer you can travel on the Amazon and its tributaries a distance equal- ly ling the circumference of the earth at the equator. Who can tell me how far that is? (Draw reply: 25,000 miles.) If you travel on a smaller boat you can go twice that distance. How far would that be? (50,000 miles.) You can enter the Amazon River in the tropics wearing a straw hat and summer clothes, travel west, then south, finally reaching the River Plate: pass by Buenos Aires, the greatest city in South America, and come again into the Atlantic Ocean below Montevideo, and be in the temperate zone where you will need warm clothing and even an overcoat to be comfortable from the chilly breezes. The River Plate at its mouth below Montevideo is 150 miles wide, a distance equalling that from the Hudson to the Susquehanna River. PRODUCTS : In the mountains, along the riv- ers, and on the great plains of South America there is untold wealth. In the mountains are tin, lead, iron, silver and gold. In the deserts of North Chile are the great nitrate deposits which are the chief source of wealth of that republic. How many of you have ever seen a flock of sheep or a herd of cattle? (Hands up.) About how many animals were in these flocks or herds? (Draw out replies.) On the plains of the Argentine in 1914 there were in pasture eighty million sheep and forty-three million cattle, horses, goats, hogs and other ani- mals. The Argentine is shipping to the United States and Europe millions of dollars’ worth of frozen meat. It is not uncommon for a vessel to 15 carry five million dollars’ worth of such meat on a single trip. Many of you have ridden in automobiles. What are the tires made of? Do you know where the rubber comes from? Half of the world’s supply comes from the Amazon Valley in Brazil. You have coffee on your table for breakfast. Do you know where most of the coffee of the world comes from? Four-fifths of it from Latin America. Brazil controls the coffee market of the world. Sugar, which sweetens your coffee, also comes from Latin America in large measure. Porto Rico is one big sugar plantation, 95 miles long and 45 miles wide. Druggists look to South America for some of their principal drugs. When you have a bad cold or chills and fever, the doctor gives you quinine. This comes from South America, as does also co- caine, which is used by the doctors to deaden pain. POPULATION : The people who live in South America are (1) the Indians, whose forefathers have been there the longest; then came (2) the Spanish and Portuguese conquerors. Maybe you would like to hear the story of one of the most fa- mous of them, Francisco Pizarro. Mr will tell us. Note: Some one before appointed will now come forward and tell In his own words the following: Down on the west coast of South America lies the country of Peru. Four hundred years ago it was in- habited wholly by Indians who had built up a high state of civilization and a great empire. They had great wealth in gold, and stories about it had reached the settlement of Spaniards on the Isthmus of Panama. Among these Spaniards was a hardy adventurer 16 named Francisco Pizarro. He was the chief lieutenant of Balboa and was with him when he discovered the Pacific Ocean. The tales of fabulous wealth that was to be found to the south fired Pizarro with the deter- mination to go after it. With a few followers he set out in 1524, but instead of finding sands sparkling with gems and golden nuggets as large as birds’ eggs on the shore, he encountered vast forests, dismal swamps and unfriendly Indians. The vessel on which he sailed had to return to Panama for more provisions and while it was gone, twenty-seven of his followers died of disease and starvation. But Pizarro was not daunted. He made another start and still others, never showing before his soldiers any sign of disappointment or dis- couragement. He was determined to succeed. Finally the governor of Panama, believing that it was all a wild goose chase, sent two ships, ordering every Spaniard with Pizarro to return. It was a crisis. Pizarro’s men were nearly dead with hunger and ex- posure, they had an opportunity to return to friends and comforts, they were even commanded to do so by the governor, but Pizarro had no intention of turning back. Drawing a line in the sand from east to west with his sword, he said: “Friends and comrades, on that side are toil, hunger, fatigue, the drenching storm, desertion and death; on this side ease and pleasure. There lies Peru with its riches; here, Panama and its poverty. Choose, each man, what best becomes a brave Castilian. For my part I go to the south.” He stepped across the line and thirteen others followed him. The rest sailed back to Panama. Can you imagine how those fourteen men felt as they saw the ships sailing away, leaving them with only the clothes on their backs ? We cannot but admire their resolution and their bravery. For seven months they got along as best they could, waiting for reinforcements which they hoped partners of Pizarro in Panama would be able to send. The little ship at last arrived, and Pizarro and his loyal band sailed to Tumbez on the Gulf of Guayaquil at a point where Ecuador and Peru now join. Pizarro found here abundance of gold and re- turned to Panama in triumph after an absence of nearly four years. He went on to Spain and convinced the King, Charles V, of the great treasure to be secured in Peru. Charles appointed Pizarro “Governor of Peru with 1 7 the title of marquis, and put into his capable hands the double duty of converting the Indians and stealing their empire.” He soon set out and within two years fulfilled his task of stealing the empire. It is a roman- tic, though tragic story. With only about 150 men, Pizarro dared to kidnap the person of the Inca or Emperor of the Indians. It was a bold plan, but Pizarro reasoned that if it were successful the Indians would be helpless-, for they had no idea, of organization or self-government, but yielded implicit obedience to their monarch, whom they re- garded as divine. On the day which had been agreed upon for the meeting of Pizarro and the Inca in the city of Caja- marca, Pizarro’s chaplain greeted him with Bible in one hand and a crucifix in the other, and stated the Pope had commissioned the King of Spain to conquer and convert Peru, and urged the Indians to be baptized then and there. The Inca was not convinced and asked where the priest had learned these things. “In this,” said the priest, handing him the Bible. The Inca held the book up to his ear eagerly. “This is silent,” he said. “It tells me nothing,” and he threw it to the ground. This enraged the priest and he called to the Spanish soldiers in hiding, “To arms, Christians, to arms ! Set on at once. I absolve you.” Then began the slaughter of the terrified Indians. In the confusion, Pizarro carried off the Inca to the Spanish camp. The Inca promised to pay as the price of his ransom, a pile of gold which would fill to a height of nine feet above the floor the room, 17x22 feet, in which they were. The gold was brought in from all parts of the empire, equal to fifteen and one-half million dollars, the largest ransom ever paid for a human life. But after Pizarro had gotten the gold, he trumped up a charge of con- spiracy against the Inca and killed him anyhow, for he feared if he allowed him to go free, his plans to steal the empire from the Indians might be balked. After the death of the Inca, there were a number of battles between the Spaniards and Indians, but the latter soon acknowledged the superiority of the white men and the conquest of Peru was complete. Pizarro, who had so unscrupulously killed the Inca Atahualpa, was destined himself to die a violent death. Conspiracies rose against him, and in June, 1541, he 18 was slain in his own home in Lima, the city which he had founded. Visitors to the cathedral in Lima to-day are shown what are reputed to be the bones of this bold and daring adventurer.* Leader now resumes. These early conquerors were brave but cruel men. Their successors brought to Brazil many ne- groes from Africa. The descendants of the foreign- ers, the original Indians, and the mixtures of the various races, together with immigrants from var- ious land, make up the population of South America to-day. Let’s put some arithmetic on the blackboard. These figures are the rough estimates of the present population of Latin America (1916).** Whites 18,000,000 Indians 17,000,000 Negroes 6,000,000 Mixed Whites and Indians 30,000,000 Mixed Whites and Negroes 8,000,000 Mixed Negroes and Indians 700,000 East Indians, Japanese and Chinese ______ 300,000 Now let’s total these figures and we get, how many? 80,000,000 As in North America, so the Indians in South America were very cruelly treated by their con- * Abridged from sketch found in “Makers of South America,” by Margarette Daniels. Published by Missionary Education Movement Prepaid price, 60 cents in cloth, 40 cents in paper. ** For latest statistics, consult current Reports. 19 querors, the Spanish and Portuguese, who enslaved them and kept them in ignorance. This is the prac- tical condition of most of them even to-day. Al- though slavery has been officially abolished, many of the Indians are in a condition little better than that of slavery. Most of them canont read or write. In the most advanced countries in South America, such as Brazil, Argentine and Chile, five people out of every ten cannot read or write their own names. In Ecuador, Bolivia, and Colombia, at least eight out of every ten cannot read or write. The upper classes are the richest and they hold most of the wealth of the land. It is said that in Chile 3 per cent, of the people own 93 per cent, of the wealth. We shall want to know more about these neigh- bors in the various countries where our Presby- terian Church is at work-— why the people are so ignorant, and why we are sending missionaries to South America. We shall see when we study more particularly the conditions in which they live. Next Sunday we shall visit our neighbors in Mexico. 20 Mexico By the map* we can see that one of the Latin American countries is our next door neighbor. Which one is it? (Draw reply, Mexico.) In what states of the United States would you have to be, to take just a step over into Mexico? (Draw reply, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California.) We all like to know who our neighbors are, in order to be neighborly. Our Mexican neighbors number about 16,000,000. Of these, a generous half are Indians, about 51 per cent. About one in ten, or 11 per cent., are pure Spanish. The rest, or about 38 per cent., are a mixture of the two, or Mexicans. The people are weavers, miners, farmers, or manu- facturers. They are either very rich or very poor, although there is developing now a middle class. The rich live very elegantly and have their homes furnished most luxuriously and extravagantly. It is not unusual to find twenty or thirty servants in one of these homes. The people of the middle class try to live comfortably. But we find the great mass of Mexicans live in grass or mud huts which are very miserable indeed. Let us visit one of these needy homes for a minute. Will one of the mem- bers of Miss Class tell us what we find there? * Use the large outline map of Latin America, size 40x48. Price 20 cents postpaid. See Key Map at end of book. 21 Note: Some member of the school comes to the platform and showing a picture of a Mexican hut tells the following: This little hut is only ten feet square and has but one room. There are no windows and we must bend low to squeeze in at the door. Oh ! how poor these peo- ple are! and yet they are glad to see us, and with true hospitality invite us to share their meal. Our eyes blink and water from the smoke from the miserable lit- tle pile of burning brush in the corner. Of course, there is neither fireplace nor chimney. The mother looks tired, and she is, for she works eight to ten hours every day, grinding com and kneading it and baking tortillas. (Pronounce tor-te-yas). We would call a tortilla a com cake. As we enter, the mother rises from her knees, offers us her wrist, because her hands are filled with meal in one of many stages. She then hastens to place her whole house at our disposal. It is all she has -—for there are no chairs, no beds, no tables,— but she means absolutely that the house is ours to such an ex- tent that it is not unusual for the family to move out, so that the stranger may occupy the shelter for the night, while they lie out in the open. The Leader now resumes. You have probably heard that the people of Mexico are all dirty. That is not true, although it is true that a great many are very, very dirty, and the reason is because water is very, very expensive and to most people a real luxury. They say the people are very lazy. That is true in part also, but they have never had a chance to learn to do anything but live as slaves. They say the people are all bandits. Let us find out the truth about this. We must remember that Mexico has a large Indian population. They can- not understand the laws oftentimes, and as it has 22 been their custom for hundreds of years to resist by force what they have thought was against their in- terests, they still continue to do so. When that same thing occurs amongst the Indian population of our own country, we say the Indians are on the “War Path” again. But when it occurs in Mexico we call them bandits ! Then, too, there are a great many people who are fighting to right wrongs that have been endured for hundreds of years, and in our revolution of 1776 we called such men patriots, and to-day we honor their memories; at the same time calling the same class of Mexicans, BANDITS ! It is however true that there is a great class of crimi- nals, running at large, who have banded themselves together to fight law and order of all sorts. These are bandits. With our splendidly organized police force in the United States, it is impossible for our criminals-at-large to band themselves together, but were it possible, what a fearful band of outlaws they would be ! They tell us the Mexicans are treacherous. Some may be, but when Mexicans come in touch with Christ’s Spirit they become new men. Over and over have they been tried and not found wanting. Our missionaries were ordered out of the country in 1913, and left the properties and their own personal belongings in the hands of the native Christians. Although there were times when money was scarce and those people went to bed nearly famished, they never touched an article belonging to the mission- ary, and when they returned they found everything intact and even the pins in the pin-cushions. Our 23 boys and girls from the Mission schools have been offered positions which would pay them more money than they were receiving in Mission work, but because they knew Jesus was counting on them, they have withstood the temptations and held their positions in the Mission. When Jesus gets into the heart He makes an American boy dr girl, man or woman, trustworthy, whether that person lives on this side of the Rio Grande or the other. And then they say that all Mexicans hate the United States. That is absolutely false. It would take too long to prove that, but it is the testimony of all our missionaries that they have never been insulted Tecause they are American citizens. In all these years of revolution, not a cent’s worth of our property has been wantonly destroyed. There is some unkind feeling amongst the Mexicans toward some Americans residing in Mexico, yes. These are generally large American promoters who have received immense tracts of land, or mines or oil-fields in return for a pittance, and have treated the Mexican laborer as they would not dare treat the American laborer. Rev. John Howland, D.D., for thirty-five years a missionary of the American Board in Mexico, declares that “many of the atroci- ties which have been exploited in the American press were simple acts of vengeance for personal ill-treatment.” But Mexico as a whole, believes in our sincerity, boasts of our republican institutions, craving them for herself, and wants our continued friendship. And we dare not fail her because of her criminal subjects, who unfortunately have 24 managed to band themselves together against law and order. Now for our policy concerning Mexico. While thoughtful men from North and South America have been trying to decide how best to help Mexico, other thoughtful men and women, representing nearly all the denominations engaged in Mission Work, met in 1914 in Cincinnati, Ohio, to discuss the partitioning of the entire republic of Mexico. They drew up a wonderful policy that is already working in some parts. That sounds like imperial- ism* doesn’t it? But these men and women were not politicians, who might have selfish designs on Mexico’s territory. Yet they dared to divide Mexico into several parts and outline a policy, which might be called “The Co-operative Plan for the Evangeli- zation of Mexico.” Under this plan our friends, the Congregationalists, got the North Western States, the Baptists the North Central States, the Friends and the Disciple Church the North Eastern States, and the Methodists took the Central States, while our Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions, rep- resenting us who are here to-day, found in their hands the great Southern States of Mexico, eight States and one Territory. So you and T to-day have our share in this work and responsibility of leading and guiding nearly 5,000,000 of Mexico’s 16,000,000 into the paths of Peace and Righteousness. This is ours absolutely and no nation on earth can relieve us from it, and furthermore we have pledged ourselves to report to our King of Kings and tell Him what we have done 25 with this great tract of land. Therefore we must study its conditions, so we may wisely cultivate the soil and plant the Seed, so that when He comes we shall have a rich harvest to cast at His feet. By the “Co-operative Plan” we have given up all our work in the North which we have had for a number of years, and will open up some new sta- tions in the South. We find there are two large cities where we will be working, namely, Mexico City, the Capital of the Republic, and the City of Merida in the Peninsula, which city is the capital of Yucatan. For the latter city we are alone re- sponsible; in the first we share the responsibility with all of the other churches. Let us take a hur- ried survey of what we find in Mexico City and near by. — — — of Mr. ___ — ’s class, will tell us. Note: Some member of the school will now come to the platform and tell in his own words the following: Mexico City lies nestled in the hills, more than a mile above sea level (7,470 feet) and with lofty moun- tains on all sides, Popocatepetl rising nearly 10,000 feet higher. It has wide streets and beautiful buildings, and fine parks. Our Presbyterian mission work began here in 1872 and spread out to both north and south. We have in the city several Presbyterian churches, and the splendid Mission Press, the largest printing plant of any Mission in all Latin America ; also some day schools. After we have visited the city, we take the trolley car and in half an hour find ourselves in Co-yo- a-can, a suburb of the city. Here we have our large College for boys and in connection with it the Presby- terian Seminary. Two miles further on we find our- selves in the beautiful suburb of San Angel. Here is our fine large property used as a boarding school for girls. A great majority of these boys and girls are very, very poor, and if it were not for our Presbyterian Church here in the States, they would never have had a chance to know the Lord Jesus Christ. 26 Leader resumes. The large and very important state of Vera Cruz is ours to have and to hold for the Lord. It is east of Mexico City and borders on the Gulf of Mexico, which forms its eastern boundary. We hope to establish a station in the port of Vera Cruz itself, and to maintain the one we already have in Jalapa.* (Pronounced Hal-ap-a.) As yet we know very little about the states of O-ax-aca and Chi-ap-as, which lie south and south- east of Vera Cruz and border on the Pacific ocean. But we are exploring there now. We hope to have large and well-built schools in both these states. This brings us into the peninsula. You see it here on the map.* When we speak of Yucatan we mean the whole of the peninsula which includes three states and one territory. Do you know how this part of the country got its name? It is said that when the Spaniards landed there about four centuries ago, the natives exclaimed, “Ouyoucatan.” This sounded to the Spaniards like Yucatan, so they called the country by that name. As nearly as we can tell, there are about 617,000 people living in this peninsula. They are Indians, called Mayas; white people who are Spaniards; and Mestizas, a mixture of the two; but just as all folks who live in Pennsylvania are called Pennsylvanians so all these people who live here are called Yucatecans. Until very recently, they were either very, very rich; or very, very poor. They either owned the henniquin farms or they worked like slaves on them for some one else. The hennequin is what is * Locate these on the outline wall map. See Key Map at end of book. 27 used to make twine, and Yucatan furnishes nearly all that is used in the western hemisphere. Now, since the workman is being better paid, he doesn’t know what to do with his money, -—he doesn’t know how to spend it nor how to save it; and the consequence is, he squanders it and his life along with it. We must hurry in there with our schools and teach him how to live, how to learn, how to have a good time in the right way. To do this, we must give him just the things that we have had : — the Sunday School and the Church, the Bible and the Lord Jesus. In order that he may learn to read and think, we must give him the chance for an education with Christian surroundings, and to-day you can not find that in any corner of the peninsula of Yuca- tan. There are only a few Sunday Schools and in these the preacher doesn’t have time to teach read- ing and the consequence is, hardly anybody can read. And then too there isn’t any money to buy charts nor graded lessons nor quarterlies nor pic- tures nor even song books, and only four or five out of less than twenty Sunday Schools have tiny organs; the others have no instruments at all. Yet the people come and come, and listen and listen to the wonderful story of Jesus’ love, and they wish with an unutterable longing to know more about Him. Listen to the story, “A Mexican Woman’s Lament,”* as related by Miss Bonine, one of our missionaries in Mexico. will tell us. * See “Latin American Stories,” compiled by George H. Trull. 28 Leader resumes. And how these people have begged for a school where they might be able to send their sons and their daughters, that the boys might be taught car- pentry, masonry, etc., and the girls may learn to cook and sew and know how to wash and iron ! The richer people, too, are begging for our Christian schools where their girls can learn how to direct their own households, for the present mothers do not know. One mother, with tears in her voice said to Miss Bonine, “Senorita, open a school quick- ly where my little daughter may come in contact with something else besides black, black sin.” Merida is the principal city of the Peninsula. It has about 70,000 inhabitants. The streets are very wide ; that is, compared with the streets in other cities in Mexico ; and they are kept very clean. During the troublous times of Carranza’s rule, there was but one church open in all the city, and that was the Presbyterian church. All the Roman Cath- olic churches were closed by the government be- cause of their politcal activity. “In one state capital, a Catholic church was taken over for a Masonic Temple, and another was converted into a hall for the meetings of the state congress. The keys of other churches were in the hands of governmental authorities. The outstand- ing fact that accounts for all this is that the Catho- lic Church had aligned itself with the Huerta gov- ernment and had given millions of its treasure towards its success. * * * It seems that it may be a long time before the Catholic Church comes into 29 favor. In fact there seems to be no way for it to come into the public favor that it has long been losing, except to apply itself, as it has not in the past, to religious and social betterment of the con- ditions of the people.”* Our church is a little bit of a building, and when Sunday School is in session, half the children sit on the floor because there are not chairs enough. And then they stay for the Church service and either stand or sit on the floor again, for in Mexico all the Sunday School children stay and go to Church and put up with all kinds of inconveniences, be- cause they want to hear about this Jesus who not only died upon the cross, but rose again to give them an eternal Home with Him. If you could see their faces as you talk to them, every Sunday School in the land would have at least one mission- ary who would volunteer to go down into Mexico as a soldier of the King. It is planned to build a school for girls in Merida. In it we are going to train teachers, and then we will put them into our own mission schools throughout the states of the peninsula, or secure positions for them with the government where they will teach by their beautiful Christian lives the love of the Living Christ. One Yucatecan gentleman said to Miss Bonine, about the girls’ school to be built: “My daughter is enrolled now, you must keep a place for her, but when shall we hope for a similar chance for our sons?” That question I * Rev. Charles Petran quoted in leaflet “Opening Doors in Latin America,” p. 26. 30 leave with the boys of the Sabbath Schools of the Presbyterian Church. When shall it be? When too, shall we have sufficient volunteers not to fight Mex- ico, but to uplift her by schools and churches? In June, 1916, in response to the call of President Wil- son, more' than one hundred thousand men went down to the Mexican border to fight the Mexicans if need be. How many volunteers will there be to cross the Mexican border, not with guns and bayo- nets in their hands, but with a burning love for Christ in their hearts and a passionate desire to uplift Mexico by the gospel? Guatemala Just south of our Mexican neighbors in Central America lies the little country of Guatemala. It is about 900 to 1,000 miles north of the equator, so you will need your summer clothes if you are going for a visit. Better put some warmer clothes in your trunk, too, because you will not want to spend all of your time on the hot sea coast, but you will want to go up from the port of San Jose 60 miles to Guatemala City, the capital of the country, which is at an elevation of several thousand feet. Here you will want to sleep under blankets at night. The days are much like June in Central New York. If you have ever been in the mountains, you know that the higher up you go, the cooler it gets. Some very high mountains have snow on them all the year. Climate depends then not only on lati- tude but also on altitude. One mile high at the equator is the same temperature as 1,000 miles away from the equator at sea level. Guatemala’s mountains lie back about thirty miles from the Pacific coast, and many of them are either active or extinct volcanoes. One of these volcanoes, Santa Maria (10,535 feet high), in 1902 nearly ruined the city of Quez-al-te-nan-go, but it has been rebuilt since. “In former times the natives are said to have cast living maidens into the craters of the volca- 33 noes to appease the spirits or gods who were sup- posed to be angry. Later, after Christianity was introduced, the priests held masses and the people formed processions to calm the angry mountains, until finally the happy thought struck the priests of baptizing the volcanoes and formally receiving them into the church in order to make them good. This was finally done, but the 'goodness’ did not last, for even Santa Maria, supposed to be one of the ‘saintliest,’ went back to her old tricks, and her fall from grace was more disastrous than any of the other recorded instances of her uncertain disposi- tion.”* During the destruction wrought at Quezalte- nago by the eruption of Santa Maria one of our present Guatemalan workers was away from home. He was at that time not a Christian, but a thought- less, careless and godless man, more interested in gambling than in anything else. He was, however, a father and loved dearly his little baby girl. When the city began to shake and crumble, he thought of his home and child. He rushed back as quickly as he could, only to find that his home was in the dis- trict apparently destroyed. Pushing forward he discovered that while the roof and much of the walls had been thrown down, the floor of a room in the second story had been untouched and that his little child was asleep in her cradle. The saving of this little child so touched him that he determined to give up his evil ways. He became a Christian * Quoted from pages 5 and 6 of “Guatemala and Her People of To-day,” by Nevin O. Winter. 34 and is now one of the best workers we have in our Mission. Guatemala is a little smaller than Illinois, has 48,290 square miles, and a population slightly less than that of Chicago, which in 1915 was 2,447,875. Guatemala’s in 1915 was 2,003, 579 - More than half the Guatemalens are pure-blooded Indians, speak- ing 36 different languages and dialects. Only about one in ten can read or write and perhaps one in five of them understand Spanish. While the Roman Catholic Church claims most of these Indians as Catholics, the old pagan sun worship still exists among them, and the witch doctor is a familiar fig- ure. They have altars on high places where they offer fowls as sacrifices. “Their god is the god of thunder and the rain, the god of wrath and judg- ment.”* They will go to the Catholic churches and there kneel before the images, “and then go and consult their old wizards and follow whatever his instructions may be. The old and the new supersti- tions are wofully confused in their minds, but they want to be on the safe side by following both.”t Some of you are fond of history in school. I am sorry to tell you that all the ancient records of the early history of Guatemala before the coming of the Spaniards in 1523 were destroyed by the con- querors. We know this much, however, that in the early days, as in Mexico, there was a high state of civilization. Columbus discovered the Guatemalan coast in 1502. It was one of the soldiers of Cortez, * “Opening Doors in Latin America,” p. 6. t “Guatemala and Her People of To-day,” by Neyin O. Winter. Pages 207-208. 35 Pedro de Alvarado, who in 1523 invaded Guate- mala from Mexico and with great cruelty conquered the Indians. From then until 1821, or nearly 300 years, Guatemala was under the control of Spain. In 1821 the Spanish yoke was thrown off, and in 1823 Guatemala became a part of the Central American Federal Republic. In 1847, she declared her independence “as the Republic of Guatemala in- stead of a state within the confederation, by which designation it had formerly been known, although the confederation had been practically dissolved many years before.”* Suppose we put these dates on the blackboard where we can see them and thus fix them in our memories. GUATEMALA 1502 — Discovered by Columbus 1523— Invaded by Alvarado 1524- 1821 — A Spanish Colony 1821 — Revolution 1822 — National Congress convened 1823— 1847 — A part of Central American Federal Republic. 1847 — Independent Republic Two other dates of great interest to us are 1873 and 1882. In 1873 religious liberty was granted. In 1882 our Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions was asked by President Barrios, who was dissatis- * Quoted from page 187 of “Guatemala and Her People of To-day,” by Nevin O. Winter. 36 fied with the dominant church in the country, to open a Mission in Guatemala City, the capital. The Guatemala Mission is the only one in Latin America which was started at the re- quest of those in authority in the Republic. To show his interest, the President paid the trav- eling expenses of the first missionaries, Rev. and Mrs. John C. Hill, provided them with a place to live, and sent his own children to the Mission School which was established. Work was carried on among the English speaking people and also among the Spanish. Before 1882, there was not a Protestant congregation in all Guatemala, in fact, not one Protestant believer. In 1884 a school for girls was opened, continued for seven years, and was then given up, as no proper building could be se- cured. In 1913 another school for girls was opened in a fine new building. In the same year a hospital was opened and since then a training school for nurses. Thirteen different nationalities were treated in our hospital last year.* We also have in the capi- tal a well-equipped Mission press which turned out last year* about two million pages of literature. We have two churches and 31 groups of believers.* Our new church building in the city seats 500 peo- ple. Every Sunday there are three preaching serv- ices in Spanish and one in English besides the Sun- day School. In 1898, our second Station was opened in Quez- al-te-nan-go. Here is where it is located on the * These figures are for the year ending March 31, 1916. For later statistics consult current reports. 37 map,t 125 miles northwest from Guatemala City. It is a long name for a city, isn’t it? and rather hard for us to pronounce. In English it means — Green- feather-town. It is high up in a valley in the moun- tains, 9,000 feet above the sea. It is in the coffee district and is a prosperous town of about 20,000. Last year,* our missionary in Green-feather-town, Mr. Burgess, preached 191 times, twice in English, five times in German, 14 times in Quichua through an interpreter to the Indians, and 170 times in Span- ish. Sixty-nine persons were received into the church which now has a membership of 262,* and 275 * are in the Sunday School. There is one central church in the town and sixteen groups of believers in the district. The gifts to the church have increased from 1,930 to 5,550 pesos. This sounds encouraging, doesn't it ? Particularly so when we remember that when it was proposed in 1912 to erect a new church building in Green-feather-town, there wasn’t a con- tractor who would take the job of building a Prot- estant church. The work had to be performed by day labor under the direction of our missionaries. The stone and lumber were bought from Indians and were brought in from the mountains, either on the backs of donkeys or of Indians, a distance of 15 miles. It is a common sight to see men and boys carry- ing in racks on their backs, trunks, bureaus, ward- robes and every other kind of load. What is that coming down the road? Is it a hay t Use the Outline Latin American Wall Map. Price 20 cents postpaid. See Key Map at end of book. * Statistics for 1916. For later ones, consult current Reports. 33 wagon? As it gets nearer we see an enormous load of hay, not on a wagon but balanced on a man’s back. The women, too, carry loads on their heads, anything from a small bundle to a basket a yard across and filled with plants. Then, in addition, you will often see them with a baby strapped on their backs. The people of Guatemala are burden bearers. Many of them carry loads that the strongest boy here could not lift. Did you ever hear of people carrying other than physical burdens? Sometimes you see people go- ing down the stret, not with any heavy load on their backs, but with worried faces and wrinkled brows. What sort of burden do you think they are carry- ing? (Draw out reply: The burdens of care and of sin upon the mind and heart.) Most of the people in Guatemala are carrying these burdens, whether they have any other loads on their backs or not. Do you remember anything Jesus said once about people who had heavy bur- dens? If you don’t recall it, whoever can first find Matthew, chapter eleven, verse twenty-eight, may read it for us. This invitation of Jesus to come to him and find rest, thousands of people in Guatemala know noth- ing about. Instead of being told about Jesus, they have been taught to worship the Virgin Mary. Be- side the door of one of the Catholic churches in Cuzco, Peru, this verse of Matthew has been changed in Spanish, to read, “Come to Mary all you who are laden with works, and weary beneath 39 the weight of your sins, and she will help you.”* This is just a sample of how the Catholic Church changes the teaching of the Scripture. It is a custom among many of the people, when a little child dies, to have brought to their homes a large statue of the Virgin Mary. In the arms of the image is placed the lifeless body of the child, where it is kept until the day of burial. In the meantime many prayers are offered to Mary for the baby’s soul. Though this church held sway in Guate- mala for three hundred years and more before re- ligious liberty was declared, it has done but little to uplift the people. Three out of four cannot even read or write. Bancroft, the historian, speaking of the thirty years when the Clerical party was in power, preced- ing the presidency of President Barrios, says “that the result of thirty years of conservative rule was two hundred lazy and stupid monks, two hundred almost useless nuns, one archbishop, two bishops, fifteen vicars and canons, a foreign debt of five mil- lion dollars. There were no schools, roads, bridges or telegraphs. The postal facilities were inade- quate, and immense tracts of unproductive land owned by the church brought no revenue for the support of the government.”! There is considerable fanaticsm and persecution of Protestants even to-day in Guatemala. Mrs. W. B. Allison of Guatemala City tells the story of Don * Latin America, The Land, The People, The Problems. W. E. Browning, p. 21. t Quoted from “Guatemala and Her People of To-day,” by Nevin O. Winter, page 189. 40 Remigio the Persecuted, who later became Mayor. will give us the story. Note: Some member of the school will now come forward and tell the following: “Just after we came here, Don Remigio, one of the members of our church, moved with his family to Santo Domingo, a little village down in the coast country. When the people there found that he did not join with them in their idolatrous worship and processions they persecuted him and his family unmer- cifully. They even tried to kill him in his bed while he slept. Through it all he stood firm in his faith and by his exemplary daily life he won the confidence and respect of the people of the village. Now there is quite a company of earnest believers in Christ in that village, and an organized church. The members are already doing good home missionary work and many of the villages near there are anxiously waiting a visit from a missionary. Of late Don Remigio has been made Mayor of the town, and now that the church is nearing completion the people are coming in great numbers to the meetings.” Leader now resumes. About thirty years ago there was only one cen- ter for our work in Guatemala and three native Christians. To-day you can travel by mule back clear across the country from north to south or from east to west, and stop every night at a place where the pure gospel truth is preached. Many of the people are losing faith in the Roman Catholic Church. You would be interested in hearing a trav- eler’s recent report : Note: Someone before appointed, now comes to the platform and tells in his own words the following: — “I found but two churches where there were any attempts at improvement in church structures, and with the Roman Catholic Church this is an infallible sign. Wherever she is alive she is building. But all over the 41 country are churches falling into decay from neglect, others injured by earthquakes, some more and some less, but no effort being made to repair them, and sel- dom visited by a priest, and very scantily attended. Churches that twenty-five years ago were well attended and well stocked with nicely clothed wooden saints are now almost abandoned, and we saw one with nearly all the saints stripped and huddled in a corner and covered with dust, where a family of screech owls had appropriated the niche back of the main altar. While the people are nominally Roman Catholic, they are far from being as Roman Catholic as they were twenty years ago, or even ten. It seems to be the blind work- ing out of their natural religious instinct in the only religious form they know. The duty of Protestant Christendom in this connection is obvious.”* Leader resumes. Yes, our duty is clear. The chief responsibility for evangelizing Guatemala rests with the Presby- terian Church. A generous Presbyterian elder in Brooklyn, N. Y., has recently greatly increased the equipment of our plant at Guatemala City. The outlook is brighter now than ever. In the past, be- cause of lack of funds and of workers, we have had to withdraw from fields that promised great fruit- fulness. This is not good missionary strategy. Rather should we strengthen the hands of our mis- sionaries, provide them with funds, equipment and reinforcements as from the front they report to us their needs. * Quoted on p. 12 of “Guatemala, the Land of the Burden Bearers.” 75th Anniversary Series. 42 Colombia As you look at the map, who can tell me which one of the countries in South America is nearest the United States? (Draw out answer, Colombia.) Yes, you will notice that a small section of it is the northernmost coast of South America. As you look again at the map, you see that Colombia lies within the tropics, and naturaly you expect it to be very hot. It is warm along the sea coast, but up in the mountains it is cool. It is a land of volcanoes which frequently burst forth, and a land of earth- quakes. Although nature is active the people are not. They are among the most backward of all in South America. It is not very much to our credit that our near- est South American neighbors are so lacking. What do you think it indicates? (Draw out among other replies, Neglect on our part.) Some years ago, some of you older folks will remember there was a great rush of men from all over the United States to the Klondike in Alaska. Why did they go? (Draw out reply, Gold had been discovered.) Do you suppose that if to-morrow morning your newspapers should tell that gold had been discov- ered within five miles of this town, any folks would hurry out there to see if it were so? (Doubtless they would.) 43 Gold, somehow or other, has generally proved attractive to most people. In fact, I suppose if somebody here to-day should offer a five-dollar gold piece to the boy who would be the first to reach this platform, there would be something of a rush right here. Well, once upon a time Colombia was known as “El-dorado,” which in Spanish means “the golden,” because far off in its mountains gold had been found in large quantities, and a story had been passed down from one tribe of Indians to another, until finally it reached the coast, the story of the Golden Man. Would you like to hear it? All right, then we shall ask to tell us. Note: Someone before appointed now comes forward and relates in bis own words the following story : Some years ago, before Columbus discovered either North or South America, there lived in the mountains of Colombia a tribe of Indians known as Guatavitas (Gwa-ta-ve-tas). Close by their village was a beautiful mountain lake, into which the wife of a chief of the tribe had thrown herself to escape pun- ishment. She had thus become the goddess of the lake and the people believed she had the power to make them victorious over their foes. It became a custom when- ever a new chief was chosen to honor the goddess in the following manner : A procession was . formed of the people bringing gifts of gold and precious stones. Among them was the new chief covered with sweet smelling gums, over which gold dust had been sprinkled, so that he shone and sparkled in the sun as a man with golden raiment. When the procession reached the lake, the new chief and some of his nobles entered a canoe and paddled out to the middle of the lake. Then the chief jumped in, washing the gold dust from his body as an offering to the goddess of the lake, and all the people cast in their gifts of gold and of precious stones. Then they returned to the village 44 where there was feasting and rejoicing for the rest of the day.”* Leader now resumes. This custom prevailed among the Guatavita Indians for a number of years, down until 1490. When the Spanish conquerors landed some years later, they heard this story of the gilded chief or golden man, and they were eager to visit his land in the hope of getting great wealth for themselves, just as years afterward men from the United States went to the Klondike. Their imaginations pictured a great palace of gold with pillars of gems. Quesada (Ka-sa-da) was the name of one of the Spanish generals who explored the mountains of Colombia in his search for gold. In 1538 he had reached the great high plateau, five hundred miles in from the coast, where he founded the city of Bogota. The Spanish spoke of the golden man as “El hombre dorado’' and his land as “El dorado,” that is, “the golden.” And so in English to-day we speak of Eldorado, meaning a place of fabulous wealth. This is really the origin of the term. Quesada had in reality reached Eldorado though he did not know it. No longer, however, was the custom of the gilded chief’s offering to the goddess observed, after the Guativita Indians were con- quered by their enemies, the Muyscas of Bogota. Do any of you know why so many men perished on their way to the Klondike? (Draw out reply, The difficulty of the trip.) * Condensed from “The Land of the Golden Man,” by Anita H. Ferris. 45 Exactly. Was there any railroad in the Klon- dike then? (Draw out reply, No.) Neither was there any railroad in 1538 in Colom- bia when Ouesada arrived in Bogota. But there is a railroad into the Klondike to-day running from Skagway to White Horse, 112 miles, and it was only in 1898 that gold was discovered there. There are in addition 307* miles of railway operated in other parts of Alaska. Down in Colombia, how- ever, if you want to go to Bogota, five hundred miles from the coast, it is a journey of several stages ; first, one of eight days by river steamer from Barranquilla, then a six-hour rail journey to the point where one takes steamer again on the upper Magdalena River. Then another train is taken for the climb up the mountains to Bogota, 8,600 feet above the sea and ten hours distant — the whole journey from coast to capital taking eleven days, counting in the time for stops and connections. In all Colombia with an area about equal to Minne- sota, North and South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas combined, there are to-day* just 708 miles of railroad. What connection is there between a railroad and progress? (Draw out the idea that when people have no means of communication with each other and the outside world, they lapse into ignorance.) Yes, we often use as an illustration of a pecu- liarly backward person, one who lives way off from a railroad, or who has never or seldom seen one. The progress of a nation depends on its means of * According to Statesman’s Year Book of 1916. 46 communication. A country with good highways and good railroads is a progressive country keep- ing in touch with the world. It is just here that Colombia has failed. Most of the roads of the country are just mule tracks, though on a few roads automobiles can travel. Think of a country with about 450,000 square miles, four times the size of California, rich in gold, silver and emeralds, rich in grain and fruits and timber, and yet with only 708 miles of railroad. “In 1911 the merchant shipping of Colombia consisted of one steamer of 457 tons and four sailing vessels of 1,121 tons.”* Chile which is only about two- thirds the size of Colombia and with a smaller pop- ulation, and farther away from the great markets of the world, has a foreign trade nearly four and one- half times that of Colombia.* With all its wealth of gold and silver, Colombia is a country where the people are miserably poor. Beggars are on every hand. At one time or other, all of you have seen men working on the roads or digging trenches for pipes in the city streets. In Colombia women work on the highway with pick and shovel, and others as porters and as butchers. It is not uncommon to see a woman with a week- old baby on her bosom, staggering along under a sack of coffee weighing 150 pounds. If I should ask all in this audience over ten years of age who can read or write to hold up their hands, every hand would go up. But not so in an average audience in Colombia, for three people out * Statesman’s Year Book for 1916. 47 of every four in the republic can neither read nor write. Dont’ they have schools, you ask? Yes, but nine-tenths of the children never go to them. Then, too, the Roman Catholic Church has complete con- trol of all public schools. The Archbishop of Bogota says what books on religion and morals shall be used. It is not allowed to teach ideas in litera- ture and science that are in any wise contrary to the beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church.* Colombia is the country of South America where the Roman Catholic Church has had fullest sway for centuries. The Inquisition, a court to try people supposed to disagree with the Roman Cath- olic Church, was there and condemned four hun- dred thousand^ people to death. This is a greater number of people than in 1910 lived in any one of these states, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Utah or Vermont, and about twice as many as in 1910 lived in either Arizona or Delaware. While this court no longer exists, the Roman Catholic Church is still bitterly opposed to all Protestants. A letter sent out by the Archbishop of Bogota in 1909, to be read in all the churches, warned against Protestants and our Presbyterian schools in particular. Note: If desired, some senior or adult member of the school may at this point be asked to read the letter or in his own words to give extracts from it. “No Catholic may, without rendering himself liable to mortal sin, and without incurring the other penalties imposed by the Church, send his sons or * See “South American Problems,” by Speer, p. 99. f Ibid, p. 63. 48 daughters or dependents to or himself attend person- ally any of the institutions or schools founded in this city and known as the American School for Boys as well as that for Girls; nor may he give aid or favor to the aforesaid educational plants. “It is a most serious offence for any Catholic to co-operate in or attend the meetings for Protestant worship, funerals, etc., whether within or without the Church (Protestant). “Those of the faithful who receive or have in their possession leaflets, tracts, loose sheets, or peri- odicals such as the ‘Evangelista Colombiano/ ‘El Progress©/ of N. Y. City, Bibles or books of whatever other kind, whether printed within or without the Republic (Colombian), which are sold or distributed by the Protestant misionaries or by their agents or by other booksellers, are absolutely obligated to deliver such books to their parish priest or to surrender them to the ecclesiastical tribunal of the Archbishopric. “This circular shall be read in all churches during mass for three consecutive Sundays for the full under- standing of the faithful. (Signed) Bernardo, Archbishop of Bogota.” Leader now resumes. Many of the people, however, do not pay much attention to the priests and are glad to welcome our missionaries. In Barranquilla recently, as a result of Bible study classes held by Rev. W. S. Lee for a long time, a number of men have become earnest workers, winning others to Christ. One of them started in his own home a meeting for those who had lost interest in religion and succeeded in win- ning nearly all of them to Christ. They have gone into a neighboring village, started meetings and a school of twenty children has been gathered. This is something new for this village in which “parents and grandparents have never missed the school but 49 have just chopped wood, driven their donkeys and lived on the simplest products of the soil.” Good news comes also from the interior of San Lorenzo. One of the members of our church at Bogota went there selling Bibles. Many of the peo- ple urged him to remain and start a church and school. They promised to secure a room free of rent, to provide seats, desks, blackboard, etc., and pay a small salary to the teacher. He accepted the offer, started services, and a little later a school for men and boys. There were as many day pupils as one teacher could handle, and so a night school was started for some eight or ten men who wanted to learn to read and write. All the pupils, men and boys, offered to attend the church services which were held several times during the week. A visit was made by the missionaries from Bogota and large numbers attended the metings that were held, twenty persons publicly confessing Christ as their Lord and Master. Regular church and Sunday school services are held. What has been done in San Lorenzo might be done in many other places. Going up the Magdalena river, one of our mission- aries sends back this thrilling news, “A thousand towns await our coming.”* Missionary Work Now let us turn to the blackboard and our note- books and put down the names of our six stations in Colombia with the dates of their opening. * Rev. A. M. Allan quoted by Miss Martha B. Hunter in Quarterly Letter of Barranquilla Station, June 30, 1915. 50 Perhaps if we put them down in this way, we can remember them more easily. B ogota 1856 arranquilla 1888 ucaramanga 1912 c erete artagena M edellin 1889 19 1 1 reopened 1913 1914 For thirty-two years there was only one Sta- tion, and that at Bogota in the capital. Then came Barranquilla (Bar-ran-quil-ya) in 1888. A year later, 1889, Medellin (Me-del-lin) was opened, closed later on account of sickness, and reopened in 1911. The early history of the Colombia Mission has been one of struggle against ill health, for on the coast the climate is very enervating and in the mountains very stimulating, so that some persons cannot stand the strain of either kind very long. However, since 1911, when Medellin was re- opened the work has gone forward. Bucaramanga (Bu-car-a-manga) , two hundred miles northeast of Bogota, was opened in 1912. Cerete (Ce-re-te), about twenty-four hours’ sail on the Sinu River from the coast, was opened in 1913. Cartagena (Car-ta-hena), on the sea coast, about four hundred miles northwest of Bogota, was opened in 1914. Si Let us locate all these places on the map.* One date is doubly important and I should like to have you remember it, so we shall put it on the board and in note-books, thus : 1656 BKIMIOM OF P rotestant MIC CIAN C ]M Colombia resbyterian FIlOJlUIlO III South America Colombia, like Siam, is practically a Presby- terian mission field, as the Gospel Missionary Union is the only other mission* working there, and it has only one man, who is not ordained. We have a large responsibility in giving the gospel to this dark and needy land. Both the American and the British and Foreign Bible Societies have representatives in Colombia, and their efforts are a great aid to the missionaries. The urgent need is for the training of Colombian workers who will be fitted to go to their own people as ministers of the gospel. Just how needy this land is the story of “A Day in Bogota”** will show. * See key map at end of book, from which the Stations on the outline maps, wall and note-book size, should be marked. f Condition in 1916. For later statistics consult current reports. ** See “Latin American Stories” compiled by George H. Trull. Chile There is one country in South America which if one end were placed at Charleston, South Caro- lina, the other end would extend nearly to San Diego, California; or if one end were placed at Nova Scotia you could walk the length of it dry shod from Halifax to Liverpool. This same country while 2 , 627 * miles long has a width of from 100 to 248 miles.* Have you guessed its name? I think you have, as you look at our outline map.* It is CHILE. Now let’s put these figures on the blackboard. CHILE Length, 2,627 miles. Width, 100 to 248 miles. The length is very easy to remember, because 27 always follows 26. Perhaps you might think of Chile as a fine bou- levard, a suitable Lincoln Highway across the United States if placed upon our country. But it wouldn’t make a good highway at all, because you would encounter high mountain peaks, rainless des- erts and trackless forests in many sections along the way, if you brought Chilean conditions to America. t According to J. H. McLean in “The Living Christ For Latin America,” page 9. * Use Outline Latin American Wall Map. Price 20 cents pre- paid. See Key Map at end of book. 53 The proper pronunciation of the name of this country we are considering is Chee-le. It sounds a little bit as if it might be a cool place to live, doesn’t it, if we are to judge by the name? It is indeed not only chilly, but quite cold on the high moun- tains capped with perpetual snow, and in the far south. We in North America, think of our south land as hot, but South Americans think of their south land as cold, and what is the reason? (Draw out answer that nearness to the Equator means heat, and that the farther south one goes in South America the greater distance is he from the Equa- tor, and consequently the colder.) In fact, you can get many varieties of climate in Chile, because in round numbers, its northern end is within 1,250 (1,251) miles of the Equator, and its southern end within 2,400 (2,432) miles of the south pole. If Chile were in the northern hemi- sphere it would extend from Porto Rico to Labra- dor, or from Guatemala to the southernmost point of Alaska. There is considerable variety of climate between San Juan, Porto Rico and Labrador. So there is between northern and southern Chile. Chile is four times the length of California and about one-half its width. There are three distinct sections in this country : (1) The nitrate and mineral region in the north. Here an umbrella dealer would soon become bankrupt, for it never rains. 54 (2) The cold southland with its fog and forests, high plateaus and numerous islands. In the northern part of this section at Valdivia, it rains 172 days a year. (3) In between these two regions is the real garden spot of Chile, the central valley, in which are located Santiago, the capital ; Concepcion, and numerous smaller towns and villages. Four-fifths of all the people of Chile live in this section. It is a region about 500 miles long and about 100 miles wide. Perhaps one would not expect much from the products of a country, of whose land more than half is desert (57 per cent.) ; and more than one- quarter is forest (26^2 per cent.). Yet the richest part of Chile is its barren desert where not a blade of grass is ever seen. Here are the great deposits of nitrate which are the chief source of Chile’s wealth. Coming from barren regions these nitrates help to make other soil fertile. In a little more than 30 years the revenue of the Chilean govern- ment from the nitrates amounted to more than $425,000,000, or 69 per cent, of the government’s income. Having learned something about Chile’s geog- raphy, we want to know something of her history. We shall call on to tell us something of the early days, nearly one hundred years before the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock. Note: Some member of the school before appointed now tells in his own words the following: 55 After Francisco Pizarro had conquered Peru in I 53 2 by treacherously slaying the Emperor of the Incan Empire, and had taken more than fifteen million dollars worth of gold, he turned his attention to the regions lying south. Almagro, one of Pizarro’s officers, in- vaded Chile and defeated the Indians in the north, but finding no gold and only barren deserts he returned. Later another officer of Pizarro’s, Pedro Valdivia, in a campaign lasting five years, 1540-1545, subdued all the land, except the sturdy Araucanian Indians in the far south. These Indians are the only tribe either in North or South America that have never been conquered by their foes. There were frequent clashes between them and the Spanish settlers until in 1722, a treaty was signed which recognized the rights of the Araucanians, and the river Biobio was agreed to as the northern boundary of their territory. This river empties into the Pacific near Concepcion where we have one of our mission stations today. Leader resumes. We are glad to have heard of the early history of Chile, and should like to know more of what fol- lowed immediately after. will please tell us. Note: Another member of the school before appointed now relates the following in his own words: The Spaniards who settled Chile had little regard for the native Indians and treated them very cruelly. They took all the best part of the land for them- selves ; and the Indians, except the Araucanians, were their slaves. The Spanish officials soon showed that their chief aim was to get all they could for themselves, no matter how others fared. When, therefore, the spirit of revolution was aroused in other South Ameri- can colonies, there was a hearty response also in Chile. Leader resumes. There is one great name in the history of our own country which every school girl and boy 56 knows. His birthday was February 22nd. If you will tell me his name, I will put it on the black- board. (Draw reply.) GEORGE WASHINGTON Now there is another name in the history of South America’s struggle for independence from Spanish oppression that is worthy to stand beside Washington’s. If any of you have been reading or studying “Makers of South America,”* by Miss Margarette Daniels, you will know at once the name of this patriot which we shall now put on the board beside George Washington’s: George Washington — Jose de San Martin As all here to-day may not know what San Martin did to win Chilean independence, I am go- ing to ask to tell us. Note: Some member of the school now comes forward and relates In his own words the following: Just across the Andes Mountains from Chile on the Argentine side lay the town of Mendoza. Here, early in the nineteenth century were living a number of * Published by Missionary Education Movement, Price 60 cents cloth, 40 cents paper; prepaid. 57 patriots who had been exiled from Chile, by the Span- ish colonial government which had its headquarters in Peru. There came to Mendoza in 1813 an Argentine by the name of Jose de San Martin. He had been trained as a military man in Europe and in his heart was a great purpose— to free his own country and the rest of South America from the tyranny of Spain. He showed such ability as a leader that he was given com- mand of the patriot forces. He determined from Men- doza as a base to train an army, cross the passes of the Andes into Chile, free it from Spanish rule and then to push on by sea to the very stronghold of Spanish power in Peru. In January, 1817, his army in six divisions crossed the great peaks of the Andes, took the Spanish forces by surprise and defeated them. Later the Spanish troops secured reinforcements and won a victory over San Martin in March of the following year; but just seventeen days later, San Martin on April 5th crushed the Spanish forces so utterly that the independence of Chile was securely established. The true greatness of San Martin who effaced himself in the cause of liberty is told in the rest of the chapter in “Makers of South America.” Leader now resumes* Geography and history are interesting, but so are the people of to-day. I should like to have a twelve-year-old girl please come to the platform. Thank you. Will you please stand here beside me, on my left. Now, in imagination, I want you all to see another girl of twelve standing on the other side of me, who is not a member of this Sunday School, but a Chilean girl of the poorer, or “peon,” class, and we shall see what differences there are between these two girls, one from North America and the other from South America. * If it is desired to use two Sundays for this Talk, here is a good dividing point. 58 First, as to appearance. Mary (use the child’s real name), here at my left, has a fair skin, whik Elisa on the right, our Chilean friend, is swarthy. It is due to ancestry. Mary’s parents and grand- parents are Americans, all born in the United States (give the real facts in the case), while Elisa’s ancestors are a mixture of Indian and Span- ish. Mary will look me straight in the eye, but Elisa has a frightened look, due to her religious training. Elisa does not hesitate to tell lies, and sees no harm in it unless caught. Mary, here, you will notice, has a pretty white dress (or state color it happens to be), but Elisa has on a very shabby one. She has not had a new one in several years, and the reason is her father is an in-qui-lino, that is, he is a contract laborer. He is really attached to the soil. He does not own his own home, but lives in a small hut on the big estate of his employer. He has the use of six acres of ground, pasture for five animals, and wages of sixteen cents a day with food for himself, but not for Elisa or her brothers and sisters and her mother. Elisa’s father gets for breakfast a handful of parched wheat, for dinner a plate of boiled beans or stew, and for supper a pound of coarse bread. Elisa sometimes has similar food, but often she is hungry, for there are six or seven other mouths to feed in her humble home, and sixteen cents a day don’t allow many dainties. We won’t ask Mary here to tell us what she had for breakfast, but I don’t think it was parched wheat. Mary here, sometimes goes away from home to 59 the seashore or mountains or to visit friends or rel- atives, but Elisa has never been off of the big estate of her father’s employer. It contains 300,000 acres. Other estates nearby are even larger; 400,000 and even 500,000 acres; as large as whole counties in some of our States here in North America. It is not uncommon to find an estate three miles wide and more than one hundred miles long, extending clear across the country from the Andes Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. The owner of one large estate, or hac-i-enda, as they call them in Elisa’s country, told one of our missionaries that it would take a good horseman five days to ride from one end of his hacienda to the other.* Most of the people in Chile are poor like Elisa’s father, for 3 per cent, of the population has 93 per cent, of the wealth, and 7 per cent, of the population owns all the tillable land. Elisa’s father has lived for years on this one es- tate. He cannot leave even if he wants to, because he is in debt to his employer. With his small wages and his growing family he has been getting deeper into debt every year, and the law will not permit him to leave his employer as long as he is in debt to him. So you see Elisa’s father is little bet- ter than a slave. Mary here, can read and write. She is in the — grade in school (state which). But Elisa has never been to school and so she cannot read or write. Neither can her father or mother, or any of her sisters and brothers. She and the other children * “The Living Christ for Latin America,” McLean, p. 54. 6o of the family are not among the fortunate 250,000** for whom elementary schools are provided. They are among the 450,000** for whom there is no room. Even if there were room for Elisa in one of the public schools, her mother and father could hardly spare her from home, for there is always so much to do. She has to help cook, and wash, and look after the younger children and often she has to work hard in the fields. If there were room in the school for Elisa, and if she could be spared from home to go, she would have no table at home on which to write, and no lamp by which to study. The fleas in the hut are so bad that she would not have much comfort in studying even if there were a lamp and a table. Mary here, has a very pretty home, but Elisa’s is not attractive. No, it is not even clean, and how can it be when pigs and chickens and dogs are as welcome in it as the children? Elisa says her little baby brother is sick and no- body knows what is the matter with him. Her mother is worried, because five other children of the family all died before they were two years old. In fact, three-fourths of all the children in Chile die before they are two years of age, so we know that Elisa can hardly expect little brother Pedro to get well. Maybe some of that timid look in Elisa’s eyes is due to ill treatment from her father, for like many ** Report on Education to Santiago Regional Congress 1916, p. 19. 6l another in-qui-lino he often gets drunk. A Chilean writer has said that every Monday morning in Chile there are 23,000 workmen who are unable to go to work because of intemperance. Elisa says that she has uncles who live in the big cities of Valparaiso and Santiago, and that they told her that it is easy to get liquor in either place, as Valpa- raiso* has one saloon for every twenty-four men of its population, and that in Santiago* there are 6,000 places where liquor is sold. Mary here, tells me she has a Bible of her own. But Elisa has never seen one. The priests have told her it is a dreadful book and that she might better receive a rattlesnake into the house,* and that it is a book fit only to be burned. In fact, Elisa tells us that not long ago in the public square at Chilian (pronounce Chil-yan), not far from where she lives, Bibles were burned by the priest. Mary here, knows about Christ’s love for chil- dren and his words, “Suffer little children, and for- bid them not, to come unto me : for to such belong- eth the Kingdom of heaven.” But Elisa has never heard those words and thinks to get anywhere near Jesus at all, she must do it through prayers to the saints and to the Virgin Mary. Every day she bows before the image of Mary and prays to her as the Mother of God. When you hear how different is the life of Elisa from that of Mary you must want to ask me this t “South American Problems.” by R. E. Speer. Page 45. * A statement actually made by priests at S&o Ju&o de Para- guassu. State of Bahia, Brazil. Quoted in pamphlet “Does Brazil Need Protestant Missions?” by Rev. O. A. Landes, p. 4. 62 question, “What is being done for the needy people of Chile? Suppose we ask to tell us. Note: Some member of tbe school comes forward and in his own words relates tbe following: I am going to put on the blackboard just a few figures in reply to the question as to what is being done in Chile. First I shall put down CHRISTMAS DAY, 1845 You say that is back in the last century. That’s true, but we want to begin at the beginning, so beside what we have on the board I shall put CHRISTMAS DAY, 1845 First Protestant Missionary landed at Valparaiso, Rev. David Trumbull That was the best Christmas gift Valparaiso had ever gotten from North America, an earnest, splendid young man of 26 who came as a messenger of Jesus Christ, a missionary of the Foreign Evangelical Society. He built up a strong Union Church in Val- paraiso among the foreign residents and sought also to reach the Chileans. He was active in every kind of reform and spent forty-four years in missionary service. 63 Now another important date JULY 14, 1873 Beginning of Presbyterian Missionary Work This was by transfer to us of the work of the American and Foreign Christian Union. Leader now resumes. Since 1873, our work has grown, so that now in Valparaiso we have a splendid church and Sun- day School called the “San Martin Church/’ for Spanish speaking people. We have also the “Es- cuela Popular,” or Popular School, for girls and boys, with more than two hundred pupils ;* and some seven or eight smaller popular schools and preaching places in and near Valparaiso. All this work keeps our missionary force busy every week day and Sunday. One fine thing is that in the Escuela Popular we are training young women who are becoming teachers in our schools which we are establishing all over the city. On Sundays, preach- ing services and Sunday School are held in the buildings where day school is carried on during the week. Next we shall mark on our wall map,f Santiago, the capital. Here we have two large churches with Chilean pastors, and a number of chapels. Here too is our fine High School for boys known as the * 1916. For latest statistics consult current reports. f Use Outline Latin American Wall Map. Price 20 cents pre- paid. See Key Map at end of book. 64 Institute Ingles, which since its founding in 1876 has been sending its graduates all over South America. Many of them are occupying positions of honor and trust. The Bible is taught regularly in this school as in our other Mission schools. One day a lady interviewed the Principal of the school regarding entering her grandson as a pupil. She said that she wanted it arranged for him to have a certain brand of wine which he was accustomed to have at home. The Principal told her that no kind of wine was allowed in the school. Then the lady asked if beer were permitted and she was told that it was not, but jokingly the Principal told her the boy might have “Scott’s Emulsion” if he desired. The grandmother took it seriously, was satisfied, and entered the boy, sending along a supply of cod liver oil as a beverage. Here are some of the testi- monials which the graduates of the Tnstituto Ingles have given as to the influence of the school on their lives. Different members of our school will tell us. “At my old school I learned to appreciate the meaning of true manliness, courage, truthfulness, activity, and loyalty to duty; and I must frankly admit that I owe all these inspiring ideals to my Anglo- Saxon teachers. They taught me human fellowship, they counselled me to be always active. I was a poor boy, a very poor boy, while most of my schoolmates were wealthy and aristocratic, but as long as I kept the standing that was demanded of me, and did my utmost in my classes, my professors were my best friends and treated me accordingly. Of these experiences I could speak volumes.” “But the Instituto did not only lay the foundation stones for my profession; it as well gave me a firm base on which to build my moral life, and in whatever 65 way I may have gone wrong, I certainly could not blame it on the teaching of the Instituto Ingles. “I will never forget the farewell hymn we sang before breaking up school at the close of my senior year, — ‘God be with you till we meet again.’ A boy could not be sent off with better words ringing in his ears.” “I have to thank the Instituto Ingles for many good influences and ideas,— above all ' for the sound, clean, moral, and healthly ones which I hope to keep ever before me. “I do not believe there is a school in Chile where so much importance is given to the moral training of the boys as in Instituto Ingles, and the difference be- tween the average boy of other schools and of the Instituto Ingles is very noticeable. Business men have found this out long ago, and they have always pre- ferred an Instituto boy to any other.” “As the years go by, I have learned to consider that short period I spent at the Instituto as the time when the foundations of my moral character were laid. I was taught, indeed, one thing above all else,— to love honest work and to seek after righteousness.” Leader now resumes. In addition to the Instituto Ingles, we have at Santiago a Theological Seminary in which we unite with the Methodists and the Christian and Mission- ary Alliance. Here several young men are in train- ing for the ministry. Chile’s great need to-day is an increasing number of capable and trained men to go out into places of Christian leadership all over their own land. From Santiago, let us go south, down the beau- tiful central valley, lying between the high snow- capped peaks of the Andes on the west and the Coast Range on the east. In this valley we have work at San Fernando, Curico, Talca, Chilian and 66 Concepion. We shall mark them all on the map. Suppose we stop long enough at Curico to hear the story, “A Doorkeeper in the House of the Lord”* ___ will tell us. Note: Some member of the school now comes to the front and tells the story mentioned. Leader now resumes. Concepion is the center of our work in Southern Chile. We have a strong church here and a little school on the outskirts. You should hear the story, “Life in the Tenements of Chile,” as told by our mis- sionary, Mrs. Garvin. will relate it for us* Leader resumes. South of Concepion are three small outstations, the principal one of which is Traiguen. These places are near the region of the Araucanian Ind- ians, though we have no work among them. The Episcopal Church is laboring there very successfully. From southern Chile, we shall now hasten to our stations in the north and mark them on the map,t in quick succession; Taltal on the coast, Copiapo inland, Tocopilla our most northern port, and Chanaral in the interior. We shall leave um- brellas and raincoats behind, for we are in the ni- trate region, where you will remember, it never rains. It is indeed a parched and thirsty land and so are the people for the living water which Christ offers. Here is a page from our Mission Report: * See “Latin American Stories,” compiled by George H. Trull. f Use Outline Latin America Wall Map. Price 20 cents pre- paid. See Key Map at end of book. 6 7 “Opportunities in the north of Chile are limited only by lack of workers to adequately man the field. One’s heart goes out to these thousands of men and women and little children who live and work under such conditions. After twelve and often eighteen hours of the hardest physical labor, much of it under a broiling tropical sun, in the nitrate pits getting out the raw materials, loading it on cars, feeding the crushers, or tending the boiling vats, the only relaxa- tion the men know is the bar and the- gambling den, where they leave the most of their wages. The hor- rible little huts built of corrugated iron in interminable rows, with only a thin wall to separate families, many of them without windows, without ventilation, with the sand of the desert for a floor, without the most primitive sanitary arrangements, scorching under the mid-day sun, chilling in the wintry nights — what en- ticement do they afford from the grog-shop? And how the children swarm ! swarthy, half-naked, with no acquaintance with water since they entered the world, these are the fathers and mothers and the citizens of to-morrow. “What is being done for them? In some of the oficinas there is a Philharmonic provided at great ex- pense by the companies but of doubtful benefit to the people. Most of the companies try to have some sort of a school, but teachers are hard to get, and there is no compulsory education in Chile — hence the 60% illiteracy. The Gospel comes to these people as a breath from God’s own heaven.” Are we accomplishing anything in this desert land? Listen to this story, “The Conversion of a Chilean Terror.”* Note: Some member of the school now tells this story.* * See “Latin American Stories,” compiled by George H. Trull. 68 Brazil Here is a familiar object on the average break- fast table. Who can guess what it is? (Show a coffee pot, or picture of one from some advertise- ment.) Yes, it is a coffee pot. Now, who can tell me where most of the world’s coffee comes from? (Brazil is right.) Let’s look at this country on the map. Into it you could put all of the United States, excluding Alaska, and the Britsh Isles, Italy and the Netherlands. Brazil is nearly half as large as all of South America. It actually contains more than half of the farm land of the continent. Brazil was discovered eight years later than North America. Who can tell me the year? (1500.) It was on May 3rd, by Vincent Yanes Pingon, or Pinzon. Now I want to put on the blackboard the outline of a Brazilian nut,* and inside of it we BRAZILIAN HISTORY 1500 — Discovery by Pinzon 1531-1822 — Colony of Portugal 1822-1889 — Monarchy J Emperor Dom Pedro II Dethroned 1 ^(Republic Established * Draw such a rough outline if possible, otherwise indicate dates as above. 69 shall put a few dates and then we shall have in a nutshell the outline of Brazil’s history. If you put these dates in your note-book in this way, they will be easy to remember. We think the United States is a great big coun- try, and it is. But remember that just one of the countries down in South America, Brazil, is even bigger. These are some of the things that come from that land. Please tell me what they are as I hold them up for you to see — coffee, sugar, raw cotton, rubber, cocoa, rice, oranges, bananas, lemons, figs, cocoa- nuts, iron, lead, silver, gold, diamonds. Now which of all of these is the most valuable? (Diamonds, you say.) Perhaps so, but the coffee and sugar sent out from Brazil in a single year re- cently was worth more than all the diamonds that were exported in ten years. You will remember in our first study we heard about the great rivers of Brazil. It has a sea coast of 4,000 miles. It has forty-two seaports into which the ships of the world come to trade. We haven’t time to-day to talk further of these. I want rather to ask you a question. What in Brazil is more valuable than its coffee and sugar crop, more valuable than its silver and gold and diamonds? (Draw out the answer. Its people.) Yes, the people of any country, are its most val- uable asset. Jesus evidently thought that one hu- man soul was worth more than the wealth of the whole world. Do you recall what he said? (Draw out the answer, “What shall it profit a man if he 70 gain the whole world and lose his own soul?”) First, let’s inquire how many people there are in Brazil. Does anyone know? (About 22,000,000 to 24,000,000.) How many people in the United States? (100,000,000.) How does Brazil compare in area with the United States? (245,000 square miles larger.) In population? (One-fourth as many.) What is the native language of most of the Bra- zilians? (Draw out the reply that it is Portuguese.) In all the other countries of South America Span- ishes the native language. To be exact, however, we should really speak of the various Indian lan- guages as the native languages of South America just as they are of North America. We shall now hear from who will tell us why the Brazilians speak Portuguese and the rest of South Americans Spanish. After discoveries of the New World were made by explorers sailing under the Spanish and under the Portuguese flags, a division line was agreed upon by the two powers in 1494, so that all land already dis- covered or yet to be discovered lying one side of this line was to be Spain’s and that lying on the other side Portugal’s. By this agreement, Brazil was allotted to Portugal and all the rest of South America to Spain. Portuguese colonists settled in Brazil and thus intro- duced the Portuguese language, which has been the prevailing language ever since. In all other parts of South America, the Spanish colonists settled and their language prevailed. Leader now resumes. Of the 22,000,000 or 24,000,000 who live in Bra- zil, there are about 1,000,000 Indians, mostly in the unexplored interior. It is said that there are three 7 1 hundred and seventy-three tribes, among whom there is no resident Protestant missionary whatsoever. These are the people who gather the rubber, much of which is made into tires for automobiles. Nearly one-half of the world’s rubber supply comes from Brazil. These people have been cruelly beaten and even maimed and killed by wicked overseers, as was done in Africa a few years ago by the overseers of the late King Leopold of Belgium. The Indians of Brazil need the gospel, and we Presbyterians have never sent a missionary to them. Now look at Bahia on the map. I will locate it for you.* If you walk along the streets of this city in northern Brazil, you will see more Negroes than wdiite persons. Bahia is the oldest city in Brazil, founded in 1549, and was the centre of the African slave trade. There are some 2,500,000 to 5,000,000 Negroes in Brazil and most of them are in the north. They were originally brought as slaves from Africa, but since 1888 slavery has been abolished. The Ne- groes have inter-married with the other peoples and you will find all shades of color among the Brazil- ian population. There are various classes of people in Brazil just as in the United States. In the large cities like Rio,* Sao Paulo,* and Santos, you will find much wealth and culture and evidences of modern life. In many of the rural sections and in the interior you will find much that is primitive. In other sections in * Locate these on the outline wall map. See Key Map at end of book. 72 the interior you will find great areas uninhabited and unexplored. Let us go with one of our missionaries to one of the simple country homes in the south, in the State of Santa Catharina. will tell us about it. It is too far from the railroad to walk, so if you can ride horseback, we will have a trot and gallop over some miles of country, until we reach our destination. See that square house on the hill built of pine slabs? That’s where we are going. As we dismount, we are given a cordial welcome by our host. He invites us to enter the sitting room which we find very dark. As soon as our eyes get accustomed to it, we glance around and see the rude partitions, the heavy benches, and the large hardwood table all show- ing the effects of use, smoke and age. Now look on the walls. There hang saddles, bridles, a Winchester magazine rifle, a couple of Smith and Wesson revolvers of heavy calibre, and two or three short, wide bladed swords. With these our host cuts his way through the thick tangle of forest undergrowth. Over there in the corner is a pile of pack-saddles and thrown on top several large sheep skins. A beautiful black and yellow puma skin hangs from a rafter. I wonder if you would like to have met that skin when it was walking around on all fours, and ready to spring at you, in the forest? Perhaps you feel hungry. If so, we will go into the kitchen. You see there isn’t a coal range or a gas stove on which to cook the meals. But there is a fire, all right. It is in the middle of the floor, but as this floor is the bare ground, it doesn’t matter. There is no chimney, a hole in the roof lets out the smoke. A kettle of water is boiling merrily on the bright coals, so we may have a cup of coffee. Everybody in Brazil drinks coffee, you know, even the young children. Over in the far corner is a huge wooden pestle and mo»tar in which the roasted coffee is pulverized. Now, let us step into the two bed rooms for a mo- ment. Three of the beds are narrow and without springs. One is wider, built of heavy two by three joists. Over them are stretched strips of tightly drawn raw hide interlaced. The mattresses are sacks of hay pr cornhusks. Not very comfortable you think, but 73 that depends how tired you are when you go to bed. Look at those oblong trunks made of raw hide, stretched hair side out over a strong box frame. They don’t look at all like our wooden or fibre trunks, but they are much better than ours for loading on pack animals. In an emergency a family of this class can pack all its possessions, excepting furniture, and be ready to travel within a very few hours. Let’s step outside now and see the farm. Look at those charred stumps in the field. A few months ago this was forest land. It all had to be cut down and burned. Between the blackened stumps and heavier logs that still remain, without even hoeing the land, the crop was planted. The afternoon meal is now ready, so we must hurry back to the house. The table is covered by a long towel in our honor. At one end is a bowl of man- dioc flour and at the other a dish of boiled black beans. Another dish contains boiled sundried beef and slices of fat pork, and a larger platter is heaped with vege- tables. Help yourself to beans, and sprinkle over them a couple of spoons full of madioc flour. Have some vegetables and a chunk of meat. There is plenty for all, so don’t be afraid to take your share. For dessert we have squash baked in honey and served with milk. It is really delicious. Last of all comes the inevitable cup of coffee. This home is typical. In none of the country houses do we find what an American calls comforts. The house may be larger, may have a floor and be better built; the furniture may be more carefully made and the food more varied, but in them all we find the same simplicity and lack of comfort and orna- ment. Many a rich man lives in a house no better than the one we have entered, and the extremely poor live in hovels that would not serve as cattle sheds in the central and northern parts of the United States* Leader now resumes. You will now be interested to hear what the gos- pel did for one of these Brazilian homes* will tell us. * Adapted from material furnished by Rev. Ashmun C. Salley. t See “Why a Man of Sixty Learned to Read” in “Latin American Stories,” compiled by George H, Trull, 74 Leader now resumes. Before we leave Brazil we want to know about the beginning of Protestant Missions and the growth of our own Presbyterian missionary work there. Suppose we put these dates on the blackboard in this way. PROTESTANTISM IN BRAZIL 1555 — Huguenots land in Rio 1859 — Northern Presbyterians enter 1869 — Southern Presbyterians enter 1888 — Northern and Southern Presbyterians unite in Synod of Brazil 1903 — Independent Presbyterian Church founded 1910 — First General Assembly of National Brazilian Presbyterian Church held As you sail into the harbor of Rio you will no- tice a small rocky island. On this there landed in 1555 the first Protestants, some Huguenots from France. They held a prayer meeting and settled near by. They were persecuted by the Roman Catholics and scattered. Now 7 let's locate on the map* our Stations in Brazil in the order of their founding, first in the Southern Brazil Mission and then in Central Brazil. In Brazil there are 36 Presbyterian missionaries. We have two principal Missions, Southern Brazil and Central Brazil, in each of which there are 7 Stations and many mission outstations.t * Use large Outline Latin American Wall Map. Price 20 cents, prepaid. See Key Map at end of book. t These figures are for 1916. Consult later Keports for cur- rent statistics. 75 Southern Brazil Mission Sao Paulo (1863), a thriving city in the state of the same name, 300 miles S. W. of Rio de Janeiro. Here is located Mackenzie College and the prepara- tory school, and strong National and Independent Presbyterian Churches. Curityba (1885), i* 1 the state of Parana where is our splendid Eschola Americana and strong Na- tional and Independent Presbyterian Churches. Castro (1895) in the state of Parana. Here is our industrial school for girls and boys, opened in 1915. We have also a flourishing church here. Guar-a-pu-ava (1908), a far interior town in the state of Parana, way off from modern civilization. Campinas (1910), in the state of Sao Paulo, in the centre of the coffee district, about 50 miles from Sao Paulo. Here is located the theological semi- nary in which we unite with the Southern Presby- terian and the National Presbyterian Churches. Matto Grosso Field (1912). This state is the great forest region of interior Brazil and conditions are very primitive. Ponta Grossa (1913), a railroad centre about 50 miles south of Castro. Central Brazil Mission Bahia (1871), the oldest city in Brazil and the residence of the Roman Catholic Archbishop. Villa Nova (1900), 250 miles N. E. of Bahia. Estancia (1902), a port 180 miles N. E. of Bahia. Ponte Nova (1906). Here is located our indus- trial farm school. 76 Caetete (1909), 400 miles in the interior from Bahia. Here we have a school for boys and girls. There has been much opposition from the Roman Catholic Church, but in spite of it, encouraging growth. This field covers an area of 50,000 square miles. Some one may ask, “Why do we send Protestant missionaries to Brazil ?” If we had any one of our missionaries with us to-day, I am sure he or she would be glad to answer that question. The next best thing to a missionary is a message directly from him. So here it is from Rev. R. F. Lening- ton of our South Brazil Mission. Maybe it will help answer the question. Note: Someone before appointed now comes to the platform and tells in his own words the following: There are many shrines of favorite miracle-work- ing saints in Brazil, and in all of them you will find a chamber of horrors. People go to the shrines, afflicted with various maladies. They make a vow to the image that if they are healed, they will have made a waxen figure of the part of the body cured and give it to the saint. So you will find a room lined with shelves, and on these rows and rows of waxen heads, feet, ears, eyes, limbs or any other part of the body, arrayed to contribute to the prestige of the great miracle-worker. Some of these images are absolutely shapeless figures, which are reported to have fallen from heaven, and hence are treated with the greatest respect and visited by the highest dignitaries of the church, who grace the idolatrous worship given these images. Some of the most famous life-size images, after standing in the dust of the great church during an entire year, are carefully washed at the time of the annual festival. This water, used for the bath, is very carefully saved, and retailed to the pilgrims at twenty- five cents a bottle. They carry away the bottles, and 77 when there is sickness in the home, a spoonful is given to the afflicted, to cure them, or the bottle is laid on the breast of the dying, that the soul may have a bless- ing as it wings its flight. Leader now resumes. The story of “The Scare Crow Image”* is one you might like to hear in this connection. will tell us. Leader resumes. As a further answer to the question why we send missionaries to Brazil, listen to statements by Rev. George Landes, who has spent many years in Brazil, and by Miss Nannie Henderson: “Not long ago a Roman Catholic priest was in a drinking place in a village near the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Here he met a young man, an Englishman, whom he knew. This young man takes no interest in any religion, but he said he was shocked and disgusted at the procedure of this priest. “He had invited the priest to take a drink of some sort, which the priest accepted, and then said: ‘I can’t reciprocate this until I go and baptize some children nearby/ He excused himself and went out. In about half an hour he returned, and as he entered the saloon he held up his hand, filled with bank notes amounting to about thirty-five dollars, remarking: ‘A pretty easy and quick way of making money, by giving souls to ten or twelve children/ “They tell the ignorant people that a child has no soul until it is baptized.” “Babies are usually brought for baptism on the eighth day. They are sprinkled with holy water, signed by the cross, salt and spittle from the priest’s lips is put into the mouth and his breath breathed into their nostrils to give them a living soul. If they die before this ceremony takes place, their little bodies are buried in an unconsecrated comer of the cemetery, and their souls supposed to be in limbo. When death ap- * See “Latin American Stories,” compiled by George H. Trull. 78 proaches, the ignorant people frequently take the dying from their rude beds and lay them on a rude mat or on the ground, to breathe their last, placing candles in their hands to light their way through the dark valley ” Leader resumes. Our missionaries in fourteen Stations and in more than one hundred out-stations are preaching the gospel faithfully to the people of Brazil. Some of them are in the great cities, some of them are far off in the interior, hundreds of miles from the coast. One of them located at Caetete, returning recently from furlough traveled during nine months 2,100 miles on horseback and preached in fifty different places. In some twelve of these, Sunday School or other services are regularly held. Our missionaries are seeking in our schools to train girls and boys, and young men and women to become true follow- ers of Jesus Christ. How well they are succeeding, the large poster* on the wall, which gives some sta- tistics of our work in Brazil, will show. But you want to know some things that these figures do not reveal. So I shall tell you about two of our schools, the American School in Curityba and the Christian Institute of Practical Arts at Castro. The American School was organized in 1892, and started in a building that had been used formerly as a beer factory, a soap factory and a ball room. It was here that Dom Pedro II, the Emperor of Brazil, the Empress and their daughter the Princess Isabel, held a grand reception, and Enlarge to poster size the statistics found on page 102. 79 gave presents to a number of children. Some of these same children grown to manhood and womanhood were among those to enter their chil- dren in the American School when it first started. It was not long before 170 pupils were enrolled, twenty of them as boarders. One of the finest things about the school is the fact that so many of its pupils have become Christian teachers. The Report for 1915 says that one of the classes has been “banner class” for three years, and that only a very severe tropical storm or illness will keep the girls and boys away. These pupils add, subtract, multiply and divide so rapidly that it is difficult to keep up with them. I wonder if they could beat any of you at men- tal arithmetic? Two of the former pupils of the school are now preaching the gospel, one the son of one of our missionaries, and the other the son of a man who was once a priest but was converted to Protestantism and became a Presbyterian minister. Literally hundreds of pupils have come under the influence of this school, the largest number in any one year being 462. You will be glad to know that plans are now well under way for its enlargement and improvement. Keep your ears open for future news from the American School at Curityba. From Curityba, let us go to Castro, a few hours’ ride by rail to the north. Here we find a school in the making. It is on a ranch of six hundred acres. It w*as started only in 1915 and the boys have put up practically all of the buildings, made all of the furniture, have cut down the trees and planted the 80 crops. At first, dry goods boxes and patent spring boards served as beds. The school at Castro is a character builder and pupils are put on their honor. This is a new idea to Brazilian girls and boys. If discipline is neces- sary, punishment is related to the offence. Study and work are treated as privileges. If a pupil is unfaithful at his work, he is denied the privilege of work. If he is careless in his studies, he is not allowed to go to the class room. Sincerity and hon- esty are demanded and it is very encouraging to see the way all respond to the trust that is put in them. .Soon after the school started, practically every boy, without any suggestion from the missionary, bought a Bible. Two of the boys who had known almost nothing of the gospel before coming to the school, wrote, after two months, compositions in which you would be interested. This is what one said : “A good friend should be a Christian.. He should not harbor in his heart any vice. He should be neither a hypocrite nor a deceiver. When he errs he should repent and ask that God forgive him and strengthen him that he may not be a stumubling block to his fellows.” The son of the rich ex-May or of Castro is a pupil. Before coming to the school, he had never done a stroke of work in his life, but had servants at his beck and call. He, with the son of another well-to-do-man, went out in the woods, cut down timber, hauled it in with an ox-team and raised it up for the workshop. This boy writes: 81 “I have now worked at many different things and come to know that work is useful and later will be of great value to us I know many who get married and don’t even know how to split wood till the wife teaches them.” Another fifteen-year-old lad, who has a sense of humor, wrote thus on the subject “Why I should get an education” : “The first thing I have to say is they sent me to school that I might not be like that animal with long ears, I forget his name. It is the one that when you ask for his head, he gives you his heels. The first day I went to school, I arrived, sat myself down and said to my buttons, ‘What do they come here to do?’ Why should I educate myself? That I may be a man some day. But it is necessary to note well this phrase — be a man. To be grown up, have a beard, is also to be a man. But to be a good man, to be honest and sincere, this does not come from knowing how to read. This depends upon the character of the person. How many know how to read and are yet rascals worse than cats after rats ?” The School of Practical Arts at Castro is the only one of its kind in all southern Brazil. Already it has become so popular that many applicants for admission have to be turned away for lack of room. There is urgent need for more teachers and more buildings. It is a Christian school, two-thirds* of the pupils are Christians, and four* of them are planning to become ministers of the gospel. We have at Ponte Nova in the north, another industrial school and in all Brazil nine schools with more than five hundred pupils, in addition to Mac- Kenzie College at Sao Paulo in which we have a deep interest. There are thousands of girls and * 1915. For latest statistics, see current Reports. 82 boys within the regions where we are working who need Christian education. They need to learn too of the Living Christ. Far off in the interior are those scores of tribes of Indians among whom dwells no messenger of Christ. Who, in the Sunday Schools of the home land, will accept the challenge of their ignorance and their need, and take to them the message of the gospel ? 83 VENEZUELA Every girl and boy here knows who discovered America, don’t you? (Christopher Columbus.) Where did he first land on American soil? (On the island of San Salvador in the West Indies.) Who knows who discovered South America? (Yes, Christopher Columbus, too. It was on his third voyage.) Do you know what part of South America he first sighted? (Draw out reply, Venezuela.) It was on August i, 1498. In the following year, Ojeda, a Spanish ex- plorer, sailed along more of the coast and into the gulf of Maracaibo. He named the country Venez- uela — Little Venice — because the houses of the Indians, built on piles along the shore, reminded him of Venice in Italy. As you see by the map, Venezuela lies on the northern coast of South America, its shores washed by the Caribbean Sea. It has good sea ports, splen- did fertile soil, dense forests and rich mines. Its area is 398,594 square miles, almost the combined area of France and Spain in 1915. In Venezuela you could place all of the New England, Middle Atlantic, and Southern Atlantic States, excluding Virginia, and still have almost enough land left over to locate another Massachusetts. The popu- lation in 1910, of the states mentioned, was nearly thirteen times greater than that of Venezuela’s. 85 The eye needs to catch these facts as well as the ear, so here is a chart which may help us.* There is plenty of room in Venezuela, only seven people to the square mile. If Venezuela’s population were as dense as that of Rhode Island in 1910, it would have 202,685,049 inhabitants, or more than double the population of the whole United States in 1915. Venezuela is of interest not only because its shores were those first discovered in South Ameri- ca, but also because it was the first of the South American colonies to declare its independence of Spain. Suppose we put these facts upon the black- board and in our note-books in some such way as this: VENEZUELA First Country of South America To Be Discovered To Declare Independence Why do you suppose Venezuela wanted to be independent? (Draw out replies, commending all you can, and then enumerate on the blackboard.) 1st. Spain’s cruel and despotic treatment. Her policy was to keep her colonies in complete sub- jection, give them no voice in their government, and to exploit them for her own enrichment. Do you wonder they rebelled? * Show an enlargement of the chart on page 104, which gives the comparative areas and population of Venezuela and the states mentioned. 86 Then up in North America there had been a tea party to which the Venezuelans had not been in- vited, but about which they heard later, and I think you have heard of it too. Can you tell me where it was held? (Draw out reply: The Boston Tea Party.) This Boston Tea Party led to what on July 4 , 1 776? (Draw out reply: The Declaration of Independence.) And this Declaration of Inde- pendence led to what? (Draw reply: The Revolu- tionary War.) Which was successful for the col- onies. So let us put on the blackboard the second thing that influenced the Venezuelan patriots. 2d. The Success of the American Revolution of 1776. Those of you who are studying European history will remember that closely following the American Revolution there was another, in Europe. Can you tell me in what country? (Draw reply: France.) So let us put on the blackboard a third thing which influenced the Venezuelan patriots. 3d. The success following the French Revolu- tion of 1789. Then there was a fourth thing that happened in Spain that helped the cause of liberty in Venezuela. 4th. The dethronement of Ferdinand VII, King of Spain, by Napoleon, in 1808, It was on April 19, 1810, that Simon Bolivar and others forming the Council of Caracas, declared that they would no longer recognize the regency of Spain, and that Venezuela “in virtue of its nat- ural and political right, would proceed to the for- mation of a government of its own.” Their thought was that they would exercise independent govern- 87 ment until the restoration of Ferdinand to the throne of Spain, when they hoped to receive from him some recognition of rights which before had been denied. But in this they were disappointed, for Ferdinand attempted to restore the same old policy of repression and cruelty. This led there- fore on July 5, 1811, to Venezuela’s complete and formal declaration of independence. Notice the date. How close is the day of the month to our own national birthday? (Draw out reply: the next day, July 5th.) And 1811 is how many years after 1776? (Draw reply: 35.) Let’s put it on the blackboard and in note-books in this way: NATIONAL BIRTHDAYS U. S. A., July 4, 1776 Venezuela, July 5, 1811 This declaration of independence by Venezuela is important not only because of what it meant to that one land, but to all the other countries of South America as well. It was the kindling of a fire which swept over the whole continent. Every one here knows the name of our great Revolutionary hero, George Washington. How many of you know the name of Venezuela’s great hero? It is Simon Bolivar. He was a native Venezuelan, born in Car- acas in 1783. You will want to know something more about Bolivar and so will now tell us. 88 Note: Some one before appointed will now come to the plat- form and give a brief sketch of Bolivar. One of the foremost names connected with the struggle for independence in South America is that of Simon Bolivar. He was born at Caracas, in Vene- zuela in 1783, just seven years after the declaration of independence on the part of the colonies in North America. Spain had been very tyrannical in her treat- ment of her colonies in South America. The result was dissatisfaction and finally rebellion. It was in 1810 that the patriots in Venezuela de- manded that the Spanish officials resign, asserting “the right of the provinces of America to rule themselves.” In the following year, on July 5, the flag of the United Provinces of Venezuela was first flung to the breeze. Bolivar was the leading spirit among the patriots. He had two great ambitions, one to free his country, and the other to get for himself all the glory of doing it. He loved to picture himself as a popular hero, as it fed his vanity. After some reverses in battle with the Spanish troops, he entered Caracas on August 6, 1813, and was hailed as ’’Liberator” and “Savior of Venezuela.” He ordered that over the entrance to all the public offices this inscription should be placed, “Bolivar, Lib- erator of Venezuela.” But the Spanish power was not yet completely broken, and within a year it had scat- tered the forces of the patriots. Bolivar, who a few months before had been hailed as liberator, was now conspired against and denounced as traitor. At just such a crisis, he showed his determination and con- fidence. In an address to the people he said, “I swear to you that this title (Liberator), which your gratitude bestowed upon me when I broke your chains shall not be in vain. I swear to you that Liberator or dead, I shall ever merit the honor you have done me ; no human power can turn me from my course.” His faith in his cause led him to declare in 1816, “The day of America has come. No human power can stay the course of Nature guided by Providence. Before the sun has again run its annual course, altars to Liberty will arise throughout your land.” As a general, he inspired his soldiers to heroic labors by his own example. Wherever there were dif- ficulties to be overcome, he was there to meet them with a resolution that did not falter. After varying fortunes, Bolivar won a decisive victory over the Span- 89 ish arms and secured the independence of what is now Colombia, then known as New Granada. His ambition was to unite in one republic all the northern part of South America and to hold the presidency of it for life. “Strange paradox of a patriot fighting for political lib- erty and representative government, and at the same time coveting for himself all the privileges of a king.”* In 1821 Bolivar was able to fulfil his pledge to his countrymen of Venezuela to deserve the title of “The Liberator” or to die in the attempt. He entered Cara- cas in triumph. He continued his struggle against the Spanish power in Venezuela, Colombia and Peru. Dur- ing a period of twenty years he engaged in four hun- dred battles and won the freedom of the northern part of South America. Referring to his inability to unite in one the northern republics, he said : “I have plowed in the sand.” “Independence is the only good thing we have gained by the sacrifice of all else,” was his statement in his last public address. Pensioned by the govern- ment, he spent his last days in the country, and died in 1830 at the age of forty-seven.f Leader now resumes. Though Venezuela started well in being the first to declare her independence, she has not continued to be a leader of progress in South America. In fact she shares with Colombia, Ecuador and Bo- livia the distinction of being among the most back- ward of all the countries of the southern continent. Though near our own shores of North America, there has been little contact with us. Immigration has largely passed her by, which in large measure, in connection with the influence of the Roman Catholic Church, accounts for her lack of progress. It is said that Venezuela’s popu- lation is decreasing instead of increasing. Its death * “Makers of South America,” by Margarette Daniels. t Abridged account of Bolivar based on sketch in “Makers of South America.” 90 rate is about the maximum of any other civilized state and its birth rate is the lowest. “Venezuela loses annually 14,000 inhabitants whose lives might be saved by wise sanitary legislation.”* In view of these conditions in V enezuela do you think it is a proper field for Protestant missions? If you are doubtful, suppose we listen to a state- ment from the Archbishop of Caracas, as to the character of the priests who for so long have been the only spiritual guides the people of Venezuela have had. (A choice of statements is given below according to what is best adapted to your school.) Note: Some adult member of the school now reads: “Why does ignorance of religion continue to brutal- ize and degrade more and more these people? Why exist so many parishes which are true cemeteries of souls dead to God, in despite of the fact that there stands the church edifice, there is Jesus Christ in the Sacrament Adorable, there is the priest with his mar- velous powers to sanctify the soul? The only reason is that the parish priest does not faithfully perform his duties, he does not lay hold upon and generously shoulder the charge he has accepted, and, as many Christians who take of the Gospel only so much as suits them, so he takes up only those duties which do not trouble him much, — more than all, those that produce most income. They do not preach, or, if so, it is only to tire and annoy the few hearers. What living word could come from a sacerdotal soul dead to the palpita- tions of the grace and the activity of pastoral zeal? There is no catechism class — and if there is, it is in this sense : that this work is for the priest, a dis- agreeable task, for which he has neither intelligence nor heart, and which he ends by handing it over to the school or to the women ! Service, attention and care and frequent visiting of the sick, in order to lead them as by the hand to the gates of eternity, is an unknown * Dr. Razetti, Rector of Central University of Caracas quoted by Mrs. T. S. Pond in leaflet “Venezuela and Its Needs,” page 6. 91 thing to him. Poor sick ones that fall into the hands of such priests! And this, when they do not abandon the sufferers entirely under any mere pretext to escape going to their aid in their extremity supreme. And we will not say more, for we should be interminable, if we were to enumerate everything. “We have now completed a grave duty; we have said what was necessary in view of the spiritual dis- asters which here and there too often appear in our clergy; we feel the relief of one who has lightened his shoulders of a heavy load ; this load was the necessity of pointing out the sins which undermine our Church and weaken the power of the priesthood. Easily may our words meet with hardness and blindness, which form the most formidable judgment that God exercises, even in this world, against the priest who goes astray; we have thought this over well, and our prayer before the Lord has been intense and prolonged that He w’ould penetrate this darkness with His light, and that where sin has long abounded, grace may much more abound to salvation.” — El Constitutional, Dec. 7, 1908. Quoted by E. E. Speer in South American Problems, pp 161, 162. Alternative Statement Note: Someone before appointed now comes to the platform and says : I could read you the exact words of the arch- bishop, for they are here before me, but I believe you do not care to listen to a long letter, so I am just going to pick out some extracts and tell you in my own words what he says. First, he is very much disgusted with the priests, because instead of helping the needy people of their parishes as true ministers of Christ, they seek to do as little as they can and only the things that will bring them money. Second, the failure of the priests to instruct the people leaves them ignorant and degraded. Third, the Archbishop declares that he is praying earnestly that God would send light into Venezuela’s darkness. 92 Leader now resumes. How the prayer of the Archbishop for light to penetrate this darkness is being partially answered, we shall now hear. Beginning of Protestant Mission Work In 1897 two of our Presbyterian missionaries, who had been laboring in Colombia, Rev. and Mrs. T. S. Pond, went to Caracas, the capital of Ven- ezuela, to begin work in this centre of 75,000 popu- lation. These devoted missionaries have been there ever since.* At the time Mr. and Mrs. Pond en- tered Venezuela, there was no other Mission Board doing any work in the entire country. An agent of the American Bible Society had held services more or less regularly, and the Methodist Church South had done some work previously but had abandoned it. Much opposition was encountered at first and it was very difficult to rent any place in which to hold services, for landlords are chary of Protestants. In the first thirteen years, Mr. and Mrs. Pond were obliged to move six different times. “No one who has not had the same experience,” she says, “can imagine the hopeless feeling when one sets out to hunt for a place m which to preach the gospel. We have walked the streets for weeks — I might say months — in search of a hall suitable for a chapel.” After three years’ work a small group of believ- ers was organized into a church. A Sunday School and a day school were organized, the latter develop- * Written in 1916. For latest statistics of the work, see cur- rent Keports. 93 ing later into a High School for Girls and Young Women. Boys are admitted into the elementary department. In 1912 the work at Caracas was recognized as a regular Mission Station. At present we have in all of Venezuela with a territory as big as France and Spain in 1915, just four missionaries, Rev. and Mrs. Pond, who have seen 48 years of missionary service; Rev. and Mrs. Frederick F. Darley, who were appointed in 1912, and two others who are under appointment to go out early in 1917.* We have just one station in the whole country, located at Caracas with one group of 67 communi- cants meeting in our little church. Associated with them is one ordained Venezuelan worker and one un- ordained, four women teachers and four Bible women or other workers, — a Venezuelan force of ten altogether.* There are 200 adherents reported and two Sun- day Schools with a membership of 75. In the school last year* there were 46 day pupils and 5 boarders. Twenty-one were added to the church roll during the year.* These are the statistics of the Venezuela Mis- sion. It is the smallest Mission of our Presbyterian Church in all the world. The only other Mission Boards besides ours at work in Venezuela are the Christian and Missionary Alliance, and a British so- ciety, known as Christian Missions in Many Lands. In the recent Report for 1915 is this challeng- * Figures for fiscal year closing March 31, 1916. For later statistics consult current Reports. 94 ing statement of our Missionaries: “We like to call it the Venezuelan Mission although it is really not more than a Station, because we are always living in hopes that we may spread out some day.” Can you shut your eyes and see those four repre- sentatives of ours in Caracas? the aged servants of the Lord who have spent nearly half a century in missionary service, and the young servants of the same Lord who are just beginning their mission- ary career? How do you think they felt when “Padre” Maldonado proved faithless? This is the story as they recount it” Mr. will tell us. “We had great hopes of ‘Padre’ Malonado as he is called, who left the Catholic Church some time ago, and really seemed to believe, for he wrote out a very fine confession of faith, and preached very evangelical sermons. He was put into jail for not taking off his hat when the dead Archbishop passed by sitting up in his coffin. He was very badly treated. Then the Ponds did about everything they could think of for him when he got out. Then Maldonado began to ask for about everything that he wanted, and not finding a gold mine in the Mission, went out to a small coun- try place, and stayed with a priest there. Just at the time when a religious paper in Maracaibo was pub- lishing his picture and confession of faith, Maldonado was putting on his priest’s clothes again. May the Lord have pity on his soul. Well, Satan got a good slam in on us in Maldonado, but we know that our Lord will make it all work out for the best in the end. Agreeing according to Matthew 18:19, we are all praying for a revival such as this place has never seen, and that the Chapels may be full of true believ- ers, and that the work will have to spread, and that we may be fit instruments to be used for this thing. Here is where you can all help us, by agreeing with us and praying for us. May the Lord give us this more than all things else.” Leader resumes. Let us pray! 95 HOW TO USE THE MAP, MOTTO AND CHART MATERIAL In order to get the best results from the use of Talks on Latin America, impressions should be presented not only through the ear, but through the eye. A Key Map, locating all our Presbyterian Mission Stations in the countries studied, furnishes the information which is to be transferred to the Outline Latin American Wall Map, as the Talks are developed. This gives the geographical back- ground, essential to the thorough grasp of the facts, presented in the Talks. Pupils should be encour- aged to use small outline maps in note-books upon which they will locate the Mission Stations as they are indicated from the platform on the large outline wall map. The blackboard work suggested in the Talks for the Leader will greatly reinforce the truths that are being presented. The pupils should record this material as well in their note-books. The mottoes and charts found on the following pages should be enlarged to poster size by the older pupils. It will offer them an activity profitable both to them and to the school at large. Select each week those posters which seem best adapted for the particular Talk. The statistics of each Mis- sion should be used in connection with the country studied. The map and general posters after being 97 first shown should be in use constantly throughout the course. The posters on a particular country should be used only for a single Sunday, but kept, so that at the close of the course all may be dis- played together. It will be profitable, in connec- tion with the course, to use on week nights the ster- eopticon lectures of the Foreign Board on Mexico, on Guatemala, on South America, and Journeying from Panama to Parana, which is a new lecture (1916) on South America. These can be rented from the Foreign Missions Library, 156 Fifth Ave- nue, New York City, or from Mr. James M. Patter- son, 1 1 17 Wright Building, St. Louis, Mo.; Rev. Charles E. Bradt, D.D., 509 S. Wabash Ave., Chi- cago, 111 . ; Rev. Ernest F. Hall, D.D., 920 Sacramento St., San Francisco, Cal.; Miss Abby Lamberson, 454 Alder St., Portland, Oregon. Rental $1,00 and ex- press charges both ways. MEXICO MISSION, 1916 Established 1872 Stations 4 Out-stations 14 Missionaries 20 Mexican Workers _ 12 Churches Organized 8 Unorganized 12 Communicants _ _ 659 Adherents 1,005 Sunday School Membership _ _ 389 Schools ______ 2 Pupils 77 Other Societies at Work in Mexico American Bible Society Christian and Mission- ary Alliance Congregationalists Disciples of Christ Episcopalians Friends International Commit- tee, Y. M. C. A. Northern Baptists Northern Methodists Seventh-Day Adventists Southern Baptists Southern Methodists Southern Presbyter- ians 99 GUATEMALA MISSION, 1916 Established 1882 Stations _ 2 Churches Out-stations o Organized 3 Missionaries 11 Unorganized _ _ 47 Guatemalan Work- Communicants 685 ers 7 Adherents 4,000 Sunday School Membership _ 1,010 Schools 2 Pupils 45 Other Society at Work in Guatemala Moravians COLOMBIA MISSION, 1916 Established 1856 Stations _ 6 Churches Out-stations 5 Organized _ _ _ _ 4 Missionaries _ _ _ 26 Unorganized _ _ 10 Colombian Work- Communicants 398 ers 38 Adherents _ _ _ 1,435 Sunday School Membership _ 733 Schools _ _ _ _ 8 Pupils - 74 i Other Societies at Work in Colombia American Bible Society British and Foreign Bible Society Gospel Missionary Union CHILE MISSION, 1916 Established 1868 Stations _ _ 4 Communicants _ - 946 Out-stations _ _ _ 15 Adherents _ _ _ 6,030 Missionaries _ _ _ 21 Sunday School Chilean Workers _ 50 Churches Membership _ 2,986 Organized 17 Schools _ 10 Unorganized _ _ 17 Pupils _ - _ . - 952 Other Societies at Work in Chile American Bible Society Northern Methodists j British and Foreign Salvation Army Bible Society Seventh Day Christian and Mission- Adventists ary Alliance South American Mis- International Com- sionary Society mittee, Y. M. C. A. 101 BRAZIL MISSION, 1916 Established 1863 Stations 14 Communicants _ 6,265 Out-stations — - 122 Missionaries 36 Brazilian Workers 80 Churches Organized 21 Unorganized 118 Other Societies American Bible Society British and Foreign Bible Society Christian Missions in Many Lands Episcopalians Evangelical Union of South America Inland South America Missionary Union Adherents 5,205 Sunday School Membership _ 1,963 Schools 9 Pupils 5°4 at Work in Brazil International Commit- tee Y. M. C. A. Mackenzie College, Sao Paulo Seventh Day Adventists Southern Methodists Southern Baptists Southern Presbyter- ians 102 VENEZUELA MISSION, 1916 Established 1897 Stations 1 Communicants .67 Out-stations 0 Adherents 200 Missionaries _4 Venezuelan Workers 10 Churches Sunday School Membership - 75 Organized 1 Schools - _ 2 Unorganized 1 Pupils _ . - 5 i Other Societies at Work in Venezuela American Bible Society Christian and Mission- British and Foreign ary Alliance Bible Society Christian Missions in Many Lands VENEZUELA The First Country in South America To be Discovered 1498 1 To Have a Monastery 1513 ! To Celebrate Mass 1513 To Declare Its Independence 1811 ' 103 Area of Venezuela about Equals that of id States and District of Columbia New England States Venezuela Middle Atlantic Stales 398,394 Sq. Mi. South At! antic States exctudiqg Viigirria 540,785 Sq. Mi. Population of Same States and District nearly 13 times greater than that of Venezuela 1 2,S16,484 | 3 6 , 001,856 104 THE LIVING CHRIST FOR LATIN AMERICA LATIN AMERICA Discovered by Columbus in the 15th century Rediscovered by North Americans in the 20th century — J. H. McLean HOW urify a erverted Christianity rotestant roblem of Latin America 105 LATIN AMERICA CONTAINS One-fifth of the earth’s surface One-twentieth of the earth’s population Less than two persons to the square mile More unexplored territory than all the rest of the world LATIN AMERICA OFFERS Unexplored areas to the pioneer Unoccupied acres to the immigrant Inexhaustible mines to the miner Immense forests to the lumberman A baptized paganism to the Missionary GREAT BRITAIN’S Monthly Dividends from Investments— in South America Total More Than All Spent on Evangelical Missions in South America in One Hundred Years 106 “D OM ANISM has given South America neither the religion, the ethics, nor the politics of the N e w Testa- ment” — R. E. Speer NORTH AMERICA’S IDEA OF LATIN AMERICA Revolutions Earthquakes Bankruptcy IS THIS YOUR IDEA? 107 W £ William 1 ■\enn had settled in 1 ■\eru Francisco J [ izarro had settled inj ennsylvania WOULD HISTORY BE DIFFERENT? HOW? JTli i^T a cr a kTTli Cf a lT j iT a lT a CT a u LTld ^Yli k^T ^ lTj pj^ n? rr jT rn rr ^x^ pi^ rp pj^ * * * * * * * « /CROSSES there are ^ in abundance, but when shall the doctrine of the cross be held ?” up —Henry Martyn’s Statement Regarding Brazil * * * * * * * k^T a CTLa lTj ^Tld k^TLi kTTj k^Tli k^Tj k^Tld iTld iYj ^Tj wY^ PJ^ r|^ PJ^ PJ^ P^ PJ^ rj^ rj^ rj^ rj^ rji rj^ Pj^ PJ^ 108 BIBLIOGRAPHY ON LATIN AMERICA General Beach — Popular History and Report of the Con- gress on Christian Work in Latin America. Missionary Education Movement, $1.00. Blakeslee — Latin America. Stechert, $2.50 Bryce — South America. Macmillan, $2.50 Calderon— -Latin America: Its Rise and Progress. Scribner, $3.00 Clark — The Continent of Opportunity. Revell, $^50 Daniels — Makers of South America. Missionary Education Movement, 60 cents Dawson — South American Republics, 2 vols. Put- nam, $3.00 Enock — Republics of Central and South America. Scribner, $3.00 Ferris- — Land of the Golden Man. Missionary Edu- cation Movement, 50 cents Hale— -The South Americans. Bobbs-Merrill, $2.50 Halsey and Trull — Panama to Parana. Presby- terian Board of Foreign Missions, 10 cents Holt — South America. Holt, 50 cents Koebel — The South Americans. Dodd, Mead, $3.00 McLean- — The Living Christ for Latin America. Presbyterian Board of Publication and Sabbath School Work. 55 cents Pepper-— Panama to Patagonia. McClurg, $2.50 Report of Regional Congresses in Latin Amer- ica. Missionary Education Movement, $1.00 Ross — South of Panama. Century Company, $2.40 Speer — South American Problems. Student Volun- teer Movement, 75 cents The Unity of the Americas. Missionary Edu- cation Movement, 25 cents. 109 Stuntz — South American Neighbors. Missionary Education Movement, 60 cents The Panama Congress on Christian Work in Latin America, 3 vols. Missionary Education Movement, $2.50 Trull — Latin American Stories. Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions, 25 cents, postpaid. Mexico MacHugh— Modern Mexico. Dodd, Mead, $3.50 Winter— -Mexico and Her People of To-day. L. C. Page, $3.00 Winton — Mexico To-day. Missionary Education Movement, 60 cents Guatemala Franck— -Tramping Through Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras. Century Company, $2.00 Winter. — Guatemala and Her People of To-day. L. C. Page, $3.00 Colombia Scruggs — Colombian and Venezuelan Republics. Little, Brown & Co., $1.75 net Chile Winter— Chile. L. C. Page, $3.00 Brazil Fenn — Horacio, A Tale of Brazil. American Tract Society, $1.00 Gammon — The Evangelical Invasion of Brazil. Presbyterian Committee of Publication, 75c. Tucker— The Bible in Brazil. Revell, $1.25. V enezuela Scruggs— Colombian and Venezuelan Republics. Little, Brown & Co., $1.75 net no