A Mission Journey Into the Sierras de Puebla of Mexico. anywhere in the Eastern States to compare with the grandeur of the lofty mountains and deep valleys in Mexico. And one remarkable thing about these mountains is this, you can see a yoke of oxen plowing high up on the steep mountain side, thousands of feet above you, always a straight stick for a plow; and the crops of corn that are raised is perfectly astonishing. Once when I was in these mountains I had for a companion a colonel in the American army. He was a jolly fellow, and enjoyed these novel scenes immensely. He remarked, as he saw the corn grow ing, "I can't understand how in the world these fellows get that corn sowed on such high and steep mountain sides, unless they shoot it into the ground from the opposite mountain." But they don't do that. They plow, with oxen, sideways of the mountain, and then take an iron-pointed stick and punch a hole in the ground, drop the seed, and then let indulgent nature do the rest. It is said that these mountains are full of gold and silver, and in my opinion there is truth in the say. ing, for every where there are seams of ore; but woe betide the man who goes a-prospecting for it. He will follow the trail of others who have made the experiment, and, as the Irishman said, "wake up dead." The Indians have never acknowledged the authority of any government that has so far ruled Mexico, though I think that before long they will fall into line. Everything indicates that. Their old leaders are dying off very rapidly. One only remains of any great influence among them. Old General Francisco Lucas is the last remnant of the rulers of these people. They still appeal to him against any decision that they don't like in their courts, and his word is law with them. I had a long talk with him the other day, and he said that he was now so old that he should not take part in any other trouble that his people may have with the government. I think the present government will soon bring them into subjection, and without any war. At daylight next morning we were ready to start for Tetela. I showed the ladies the lay of the land between us and that point, and how they were ever to get there over those high mountains and through those deep valleys was a puzzle to them. Nevertheless they had to go. Our first descent was from three to four thousand feet down into the valley of the river. And, by the way, I ought to say that this valley is full of caves, where in times past these Indians hid in time of war, and where it is said that they still keep their arms and ammunition hid from the authorities. There is one where they put four hundred Frenchmen during the war of the French intervention, and it is said that so narrow is the mouth of the cave that but one man can pass at a time, and that during the confinement of these unlucky Frenchmen only a few Indians were detailed 159 to keep the four hundred prisoners. No doubt the prisoners supposed there was a large number of them, but as I learned the facts there were not more than ten men left to watch the cave. On reaching the valley we had to climb up the other side of the mountain, and then down the other side of that, then across a little plain, through a river, and up a long ravine in the mountains till we came to the foot of a mountain that stopped all further progress apparently. Here the road leads up the steep face of this rocky mountain. It winds in a zigzag manner straight up for three or four thou sand feet, over stones, out on the edge of the precipice, around trees, and at last when we reached the top we were going along the very edge of a precipice that was so high that the bottom of the valley was not visible. The sides were so steep and rough that the bottom could not be seen at all. On reaching this point the scene is indescribably grand. Across the valley you may see the snow-capped peak of Orizaba, distant at least a hundred miles. At the right is an immense rock, called "El Castillo," the castle. It is an immense rock, with turrets, pinnacles, and towers, and looks like a great castle painted white. The valley of Sautla is lying before you, but three thousand feet below. The view is a splendid one, with all its shades and sunshine. A little beyond we stopped for dinner, which we had to get from our own supply, for there was nothing to eat in all that distance. The place where we stopped was the little hut of an Indian, and he charged us eighteen cents for the glorious privilege of eating our dinner under the shade of his donkey shed. We reached Tetela at about five o'clock and were welcomed to the home of two missionary ladies, who have charge of the school there. They hail from Wisconsin and Michigan, and are two of the bravest girls in the world. Their school is a delight to all who visit it. We were there to attend the examinations of this and two other schools. I will not detain you with a description of these examinations, but I will say that they were in every respect first class. All the common branches are taught, and there were some branches that are never taught in any schools of the first grade. It was worth all the trouble to see how well those children had been drilled in the common branches and in the history and doctrines of the Bible. The answers were prompt and for the most part correct. After spending five or six days there we returned home, the ladies on the backs of their Indian carriers and myself on the back of a good horse. At Huitzizilapam we had for our hotel the same car, and as the night was unusually cold the ladies suffered much. Mrs. Green took a severe cold, and as I write this letter she is coughing to remind her of that roughest night that she ever spent on earth. These two ladies went for the fun there was in this trip, and they got fun out of it, no doubt. This at least 160 Activity and Position of Buddhism in Japan. was part of their object. The main reason, perhaps, was to see these schools and by their presence help the ladies who have so faithfully worked in this remote field of labor. Activity and Position of Buddhism in Japan. BY REV. H. LOOMIS. As the numbers and influence of Christians in Japan increases so does the hostility and activity of opposing forces become more pronounced and definite. The greater part of the Japanese are Buddhists, and they have come to feel that their religion is fast losing ground, and something must be done to maintain their power and influence. Some three years ago they sent to India and obtained the services of Colonel Olcott. It was thought that a man of his notoriety and ability would bring terror and dismay into the hearts of his opponents and complete victory to his friends. His coming was heralded far and wide, and for a short time large crowds thronged to hear him. But his mission was a failure, and when he returned to Japan about one year ago he was so unpopular that he did not attempt to speak at all. Sir Edwin Arnold gave the Buddhists the benefit of his name and influence, but was not active in their support. Two graduates of Harvard (who were employed as teachers in the Tokio University) joined the Buddhists and helped to give strength to their cause. The first missionary to Japan of the Unitarian faith tried to affiliate with the followers of Sakya instead of the followers of Christ. As all these sources of encouragement and help have failed to sustain the dying cause there has been an effort to put Buddhism on a new and more substantial basis. It is evident to all thinking minds that the old and absurd doctrines hitherto taught in regard to the creation and other matters must be abandoned, and so new theories have been advanced that are more in harmony with modern science and the known facts of the universe. But Buddhism lacks the quickening power that there is in the religion of Jesus Christ, and is doomed to pass away. The frantic efforts made to prevent its extinction are like the last struggles of the dying. They are indications of death, and not of prosperity and vigor. The Shingon sect is one of the largest and most influential of the Buddhist sects in Japan, and has upward of thirteen thousand temples and monasteries. Its third General Assembly met recently, and it is reported that everything seemed favorable at first. Scores of letters were received, and there were many proposals looking toward the abandonment of a negative, defensive attitude, and taking a positive and progressive position. But when it came to the adop tion of a constitution there was such a wide diversity of opinion that part of the members withdrew, and the meeting was dissolved without any result. In the Nichiren sect there is a controversy over the election of the chief priest. In the Soto sect two temples have separated from the rest. Representatives from the other sects decided that the separation was desirable, but the home department of the government has the control of religious affairs and refuses to sanction the separation. In another sect the older and younger members are at war. Peacemakers protest earnestly against division of the forces of Buddhism at this time of danger, but in vain. The cause of division and strife is the matter of the education of the priests. It is asserted that they have not kept pace with the advanced state of education in the country, and as a class they are condemned on all sides as being ignorant and immoral. Seeing that they were losing ground very fast, about three years ago some priests of the Monto sect conceived the idea of entering into political life, and went so far as to send delegates to Tokio to memorialize the authorities on the subject of amending the constitution so as to allow their order to elect and be elected to the House of Representatives. It is also said that some of the priests were engaged in carrying on a secret and sometimes even an open canvass on behalf of some of the parliamentary candidates. An association was likewise formed, called the "Sovereign-revering and Buddha-believing Grand Combination." One of the leading members of this association was a candidate in Tokio for the Parliament, and another was on the editorial staff of one of the leading papers in the same city. But at a meeting of the chiefs of all the Buddhists held in Tokio in 1890 it was resolved: "First, That no priest be permitted to join any political party. Second, That no priest be allowed under any circumstances to labor for the benefit of any political party. Third, That every priest take care to warn his flock against the danger of allowing political differences to encroach upon the sphere of social intercourse, and against committing any breaches of the law in the excess of political zeal. Fourth, That under no circumstances shall any temple or building belonging thereto be lent for holding political meetings." In commenting upon the conduct of some of the priests in regard to political matters, one of the Buddhist papers says: "These Buddhists were origi. nally impelled to prefer such a request by zeal to increase the influence of their religion. They thought that their cause would gain materially by the presence in the Diet of a powerful contingent of men devoted to their creed. That they thought thus is natural, seeing into how deplorable a condition of ruin the whole fabric of Buddhist power has fallen in these latter days. Nevertheless, Buddhism is a force having deep foundations in the history, customs, and art of the country, and it can yet be made an influential factor, if only the work of its regenera Mohammedanism and Women. tion be carried out in a judicious and practical manner." Another Buddhist paper discusses the question of the degeneration of the Buddhist priests. It does not hesitate to denounce the whole order of the priesthood as being sunk in the depths of immoralities. There have been pretended reformers in later years who have caused a certain amount of excitement in religious circles for a short time, but they soon sank out of notice. A young scholar, named Enouye Enryo, is trying to arouse interest in the study of Buddhism as a system of philosophy, but his efforts have not the slightest influence in reviving the vitality of the religion. "Is there not," asks an author in one of the Buddhist papers, "a single true follower of Buddha among the two hundred thousand priests in Japan?" In a recent copy of the Japan Mail there appears an article in which it says: "The regeneration of Buddhism is a very popular topic in a certain circle of Japanese scholars, but to all appearances the writings on the subject have not yet produced any noteworthy results. Nobody appears to question that the time for reformation is nearly ripe. The difficulty seems to be that there does not exist at present any priest equal to the task of reformation. The present scarcity of able men is not likely to be remedied in a short space of years, as the requirements of other departments of life are absorbing virtually all the available talent, and will continue to do so for many years to come. The priesthood is now composed, for the most part, of the lowest dregs of society, bankrupt spendthrifts, knaves who have no other place of refuge left, and good for nothing fellows incapable of earning a livelihood in any sterner line of life." One of the severest blows that has been struck at Buddhism is the recent decision of the Tokio City Council that the cemeteries of the capital shall no longer be under the control of the various temples, but controlled by the district officials. The priests can thus no longer sell the ground, as heretofore, for burial purposes, and the great part of their income will thus be cut off. This action has caused great uneasiness among the priests, and it is reported that they are resolved to contest the matter by a lawsuit against the governor. Whatever may be the issue, it is evident that the superstitions of the past are steadily losing their hold upon the minds of the people and opening the way for the coming of the King of righteousness with healing in his wings. Professor Ladd, of Yale Theological Seminary, has recently visited Japan and writes in regard to the condition of things as follows: "Some of the most observing, thoughtful, and influential of the political leaders of Japan are coming to recognize the fact that they, the nation, need Christianity as a moral power to teach the people self-control; need it also to re 161 form evil customs, alleviate suffering, solace sadness, and cheer the fainting national heart. Some of the most reactionary of the Conservative Party,' in view of their inability to bring the nation back upon the Confucian ethics, are really glad of help from Christian ethical teaching and discipline. It is as a moral force that the statesmen of Japan are most inclined to welcome the work of Christian teachers." Yokohama, Japan, December 15, 1892. Mohammedanism and Women. BY REV. DR. ELLIOTT, OF GAZA. MOHAMMEDANISM is in its essence carnal; it is gross and sensual and panders to the worst of passions, and it does not inculcate holiness. Faith in God and in Christ are utterly unknown. It is a religion of works: "Do this, and thou shalt live" is its charac ter. Its principal requirements are: 1. A belief in the Unity of God. 2. Work of Prayer-this duty is performed five times a day. 3. Work of Fasting, in the great month of Ramadan, when they fast all day and feast in the night. 4 Work of Merit, that is, being kind and charitable and giving alms. 5. Work of Pilgrimage; or, the "Hag," once in a lifetime at least, with some every two or three years, a journey to Mecca. A real "Hag" is not performed by sea, but on foot. Mohammedanism is essentially monotheistic. "There is no God but one God, and Mohammed is his prophet" is repeated five times a day. It is essentially a system of cruelty; it is considered a blessed action to kill an infidel, a Kafir, or dog, as Christians are termed. Six years ago, in Damascus, there was a massacre, when not less than six or seven thousand lost their lives. It is a religion of grossness, sensuality, cruelty, and darkness. A Moslem can by law have four wives and as many female slaves as he pleases. Woman is utterly degraded, and it is no exaggeration to say she is treated as a beast of burden. Among the Fellahin the women are too often beasts of burden, and among the Bedouins they plow, reap, carry water, and chop wood, while the men smoke and drink coffee. In the upper classes a women's sole duty is to be the mother of sons. A little girl brought under our notice was named Bicafri, which signifies "enough," because she was the ninth daughter, and after her birth the father divorced his wife. The Moslem heaven is one of sensuality, where it is believed God provides seventy wives for each of the faithful. But in this age some men are becoming more enlightened; they are beginning to read and think, and can appreciate a good wife; this is still, however, the exception. Six years ago in Gaza, with a population of twenty-nine thousand, there was no school for giris, nor has there yet been any attempt 162 Roman Catholic Prayers in Mexico. to educate them. They cannot read, they have no employment for their fingers, they cannot sew nor do work of any kind. Respectable women are supposed to do nothing; their lives are useless; they become gossips, busybodies, running about from house to house, talking about their neighbor's affairs, and comparing husbands. The gossip shop is the Turkish bath. Family feuds run high, dissensions, jealousy, deep strife, and hatred abound and lead to worse results. The presence of four wives brings trouble to a household. For instance, a doctor was called in one day to see a man who could not be roused from the state of coma in which he lay. Suspicion led to inquiry among the servants, and the fact that six weeks before he had married his third wife confirmed the fear that poison had been administered. This mode of life not only affects the moral state of the women, but the bodily health also suffers. Hysteria is a common disease among the women, and is called by the natives "possession of the devil." To cure it a shalrur, or native doctor, is called in. He asks for a plate, and with his pen and ink writes the name of God all round the disk. He then washes it off with a little water, which the patient is made to drink. The supposed evil spirit is sometimes exorcised. The laxity of divorce laws also adds to the degraded condition of the women. A man will divorce his wife for bad cooking or for any pretext. He simply says, "I leave her" three times, and she is then discarded.-India's Women. Roman Catholic Offerings and Prayers in Mexico. A GLIMPSE of missionary work in Mexico is obtained from the following in The Missionary. The worker says: "A few days ago a member of our Church here told me that when her mother died several years ago in Linares she was absent with her husband in Laredo, Tex. She was in the depths of grief that her mother should have died when she was away from home, and directed a prayer to an image in her home in Linares called the 'Virgin of the Impossible,' saying, 'O, thou virgin that doest the impossible, grant, in thy mercy, that when I return to Linares I may see my mother restored to life, and I will give thee many presents.' She said she fondly hoped tha the virgin would do it, but on returning home and not seeing her mother alive, but assured that she was in the silent grave, she said she stood up before the virgin and cursed her to her face. "I notice that although the devotees have unshaken faith in the power of the image, they have no reverence when it fails to grant their request. There is no resignation, but wrath, as in this case. This woman is a Christian now, and that which distinguishes her piety is an ardent love to Christ, and gratitude to him that he delivered her from the do minion of this horrid idolatry and gave to her the knowledge of his love and great salvation. "More than two years ago I received a Macedonian cry that came to me from away over in the fastnesses of the Sierra Madre Mountains. I immediately responded. After I had preached several sermons on that trip, in the house of an old lady who then heard the Gospel for the first time, she said to me, 'I have had a quarrel with the Virgin of the Falls.' The Virgin of the Falls is an image in the mouth of a cave where there is a beautiful waterfall. Thousands of people go every year to visit this image, to be cured of their diseases and to pay votive offerings to her for cures that they imagine they have received from her. "She said, "I have a quarrel with the Virgin of the Falls; for I have had sore eyes for five years, and, although I have offered frequently to her in my prayers, that if she would cure my eyes I would have two little silver eyes [images of eyes] made for her, and send them to her, yet she has given me no help. I know she has cured thousands in that time, but she has passed me by. That is my quarrel with her.' I told her to put her faith in the Saviour of Bartimeus, of whom I had preached to her, that he would cure her eyes if he thought it best. If not, he would give her spiritual eyes to behold him as the Light of her soul forever. She said she believed she would. She is now an earnest Christian and delights in the Gospel of Christ, and is a light in these dark mountain regions." The Laws of Manu. IN the laws of Manu, which were written seven hundred or eight hundred years before Christ, and which form the most complete system of Hindu law, social, moral, and religious, now known, it says: "When a Brahman springs to light he is born above the world, the chief of creatures; whatever exists in the universe is all, in effect, the wealth of the Brahman, since he is entitled to it all by eminence of birth; Brahmans must be invariably honored, for they are transcendently divine." Of the sudra caste we read: "Servile attendance on Brahmans is of itself the highest duty of a sudra, and leads him to future beatitude." Of the outcasts it says: "Let no man who regards his civil and religious duty hold any intercourse with them; their abode must be without the town, and they must roam from place to place." These laws, though not so binding now because of changes brought by Western civilization, are yet strong in their hold on the people of all castes. They embrace the whole duty of man and of men, religious, political, social, domestic, and private. The duties of monarchs are laid down with as little ceremony as those of the humblest. They inculcate the worship of gods and goddesses, of the elements, and of the heavenly bodies. MONTHLY MISSIONARY CONCERT.--INDIA. A Day Among Devil Worshipers in Trichinopoly. BY REV. J. M. THOMPSON. TOWARD the end of February or early in March every year, a great festival is held at Puttûr, a suburb of Trichinopoly, in honor of Kulamayee, a female demon, a sort of South India representative of the bloody Kali of Calcutta. She has her temple in a lonely spot on the banks of the River Uyakundân, a branch of the sacred Cauvery, but on the occasion of the annual festival she is brought down to a branch temple in Puttûr. Her devotees are principally either members of the thief caste, or cultivators, and low caste people living in out-of-the-way villages and hamlets, and their worship is inspired by fear of her anger. Her desire for blood is very great, and, unless this is met and amply satisfied, her worshipers fear that during the year she will visit them with all manner of dreadful calamities. Hence on the occasion of the great annual festival these poor people crowd into Puttûr in their thousands from all points of the compass. The day before the usually quiet neighborhood is all astir. Merry-go-rounds, swings, etc., are being erected, favorable positions for peep-shows are secured, and also stands, where the gambler may ply his nefarious calling. Booths and tents of all shapes, sizes, and colors are set up, and in these on the great day of the feast a busy trade will be carried on. During the night previous to, or very early in the morning of the feast day, Kulamayee's chief priest takes up his abode in the Puttûr temple and there awaits the orgies which will begin with the dawn. One thousand goats are demanded in sacrifice, and he, as representing the authority of the demon, receives the victims and professes to drink their blood! He is omewhat fastidious in his tastes and rigid in exacting compliance with his conditions. One of these is that each goat presented shall be perfectly black. A single white or colored hair will disqualify it, and it is ruthlessly rejected. As it is not so easy to find goats in large numbers fulfilling this condition, rigid insistance upon it has the twofold effect of considerably limiting the quantity of blood the man has to drink, and also of stirring up the zeal of the devotees by making their task more difficult; for so greatly do they dread the anger of the demon that they spare neither trouble nor expense in trying to find an acceptable offering. All night long the crowds have been gathering, and daybreak shows every road and street leading to Puttûr a stream of men, women, and children dressed in their picturesque holiday attire. Little black kids are wriggling in the arms of some, and full grown black goats are struggling upon the shoulders of others. The streams converge at the point where the temple stands, where sits the priest side by side with the hideous representation of his demon deity. No preparatory rites or ceremonies are necessary as an introduction to the bloody scene. The first goat that arrives fu filling the required conditions is promptly beheaded, and the priest receiving the reeking blood proceeds to drink it. For long, weary hours the disgusting scene continues. The surging crowd ever grows through the morning hours, and as the sun rises high in the heavens the scorching heat and the dust make the scene well-nigh unendurable. The noise is deafening. The din of the crowd, the cries of the showmen, the yells and shouts of those whose victims have been accepted, the blare of huge trumpets, and the almost childlike bleat of the goats and kids as they are being hurried to the place of sacrifice, make a conglomerate of sound that has to be heard before it can be understood. As the priest can only deal with one victim at a time the afternoon is far advanced, and the sun is sinking down into the west before the end of the bloody scene is reached. When at length it is reached a move is made to a spot across the rice fields, a quarter of a mile away. Here, during the year, under a tree by the side of a small irrigation channel, stand four granite pillars, without ornamentation or anything to suggest that they have any religious signifi. cance But on the day of Kulamayee's feast their existence and purpose are explained. They are the support of a temporary hut of plaited palm leaves, which for an hour or so on the evening of Kulamayee's festival becomes the abode of her image. the occasion of this visit, the priest with his idol is ensconced in a gorgeous pyramidal car which is carried on men's shoulders, preceded by an elephant lent for the occasion by the authorities of the great Vishnuvite Temple at Seringapatam, and accompanied by the music of many tom-toms and huge brazen trumpets, and by many thousands of people. On Arriving at the improvised temple the object of the visit is explained. The priest has drunk so much warm blood during the day that his body needs to be cooled. The water in the irrigation channel has been previously dammed up, and now forms a pool two or three feet deep and several yards in width. The priest descends from his car of state and plunges into the water, not to bathe, but to drink, and the task he sets himself is that of drinking till the level of the water has fallen one span! When this is done the festival is over, and Kulamayee is taken back to the Puttûr temple to spend the night; and the following morning she is taken back in state to the loneliness of her own temple on the river bank, where in comparative neg. lect and congenial darkness she remains, till the lapse of another year brings round her festival again. The Puttûr temple is within five hundred yards of our mission house and chief mission premises in Warriore, Trichinopoly, and the festival is a field day for |