Brazilian Sketches

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After breakfast was over, and it was some time before it was over,
for the crowd had to be fed, we assembled for worship. The
congregation was too large for the little room, so the men built a
beautiful arbor out of bamboo cane. When Maddox told me we were to
hold services under an arbor I was dissappointed, for somehow
there had come over me a great desire to speak from that large
pulpit in the little room. My dissappointment was short-lived,
however, for when we reached the arbor there were the pulpit and
the lace-covered chairs! It was a gracious service. The Spirit of
the Lord was upon us. The sermon lost none of its effect from the
fact that it had to be interpreted, because Maddox interpreted it
with sympathy and power.

After preaching, four were received for baptism. They were not
converted at this service, but had been expecting to come for some
time. Maddox baptized them in the spring branch, which had been
deepened by a temporary dam being thrown across it. One of those
baptized was a woman ninety years of age.

Our time was growing short now. Maddox changed his clothes in a
hurry. We had to catch the four o'clock train. We did stop long
enough to drink a cup of Brazilian coffee. Such coffee! I will not
attempt to describe it, because our friends in the States can not
understand. There is nothing like it in this country. We took
time, too, to say good-bye. The whole crowd lined up and we went
the length of the line, bidding everyone a hearty godspeed. The
Brazilian not only shakes hands with you, but he embraces you
heartily. Yes, some of the good matrons embraced us. It was a
novel experience for me, but a mere custom with them, and the act
was performed with such modest restraint that any possible
objectionable features were eliminated. Having said good-bye to
them all we mounted our gray ponies, and, led by our barefooted
friend, rode away with thanks-giving in our hearts for the good
fellowship with the saints of Parahyba do Sul.

The tie of love for a common Lord had bound our affections to
them. Their simple-hearted sincerity and devotion had helped us.
Their zeal had contributed to our faith. One incident touched me
especially. Just before breakfast a little girl about four years
of age, led by her mother, brought to us a package containing some
Brazilian cakes. When we opened the package there lay on top a
piece of folded paper on Which was written: "How beautiful upon
the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that
publisheth peace, that bringeth good tidings of good, that
publisheth salvation, that saith unto Zion, thy God reigneth'
'(Isa. 52:7). Presented to our brother pastors, Maddox and Ray by
Archimina Nunes." Instantly there arose in my heart the prayer
that God would speed the day when his swift-footed messengers
shall publish the good tidings of peace to all this vast and needy
land.

CHAPTER IV.

TWO PRESIDENTS.

It was our good fortune while in Rio to be received by the
President of the Republic, Dr. Nilo Pecanha. Missionaries Shepard,
Langston and Ginsburg and Dr. Nogueira Paranagua escorted me. When
we started I suggested that we take a street car. Not so those
Brazilians! We must go in an automobile. We were very careful to
wear our Prince Albert coats, too; for, above all things, the
Brazilian is a master in punctilious ceremonies. We were ushered
into the waiting room by a doorkeeper, a finely-liveried mulatto
with a large chain around his shoulders to indicate his authority.
The waiting room was full of people, but we were not kept waiting
long. We sent in our cards and soon we heard our names announced
and we were led into the presence of the private secretary. After
a few words of explanation by Dr. Paranagua, the secretary retired
to ask the President if he would see us. He returned presently and
showed us into the audience chamber, which was a large and
tastefully decorated room. Around the walls were several groups of
chairs, placed in true Brazilian style somewhat as follows: A
cane-bottomed divan was set with its back to the wall, then
several cane-bottomed chairs were placed at right angles to it in
two rows facing each other, usually four in a row. The President
guided me between these chairs and took a seat on the divan and
motioned me to a seat by his side. He is a man of slight build,
with a mild expression which wins confidence. He was most informal
in his speech and spoke in a candid and unreserved manner which
quickly put us at ease.

I told him, through an interpreter, that we had come from a visit
to the Minister of the Interior, with whom we had been in
conference about the status of Brazilian schools. The President
expressed his great pleasure over our coming to see him and said
that he had personal knowledge of what our denomination is doing
and of some of the workers. He was satisfied that our object was
altruistic and for the good of the country and people; that so far
as depended upon him, he was ready to give us the full benefit of
his official position. As proof of his wish to see absolute
religious freedom, he cited an instance of how he had protected
some monks in the Amazon Valley recently. These men were in
straits and he had sent soldiers to liberate them, and then
turning with a smile to Ginsburg, he said that he also never
abandoned his friend Solomon when he was attacked. He refreshed
our minds upon the fact that lately, when certain priests in the
city of Rio had attempted to resist the government over a disputed
piece of property which had been granted them under the old
regime, he gave them to understand that if they did not behave
themselves, the door was open and they could leave the country.
They soon came to terms. As to his successor, the President said
that the incoming President was of the same party and would carry
out the same policies, ideas and ideals. These policies meant
absolute liberty of thought, conscience and speech, which is
guaranteed by the constitution. Before the interview closed, he
again expressed his pleasure at receiving a representative of an
American institution, convinced as he was that the propaganda of
our schools, morals and ideals would draw the two nations closer
together, and that he was ready to encourage us to that end. "We
are following the ideals of the United States", he said, "which we
recognize as our elder sister." He expressed peculiar pleasure
over the prospect of our establishing a college and he assured us
that the Brazilian government would put no obstacle in the way of
our purpose, but that it would do all in its power, on the other
hand, to encourage us.

While we are meeting Presidents, I would like to introduce you to
another one upon whom the salvation of Brazil depends more largely
than it does upon any occupant of the chair of chief magistrate.
It is possible for the man who has been elevated by the ballots of
his people to serve in a large way the moral good of his people
and we thank God for all rulers who rule with justice and
liberality in the interest of liberty and the common good. But far
greater and far more serviceable than these are those choice
spirits who, by embracing the gospel of Christ, give themselves
devoutly to bringing in His reign in the hearts of men. Such
spirits, by the sheer force of their characters, wield a far more
abiding influence for the help of their fellows. The man I wish to
introduce is Dr. Nogueira Paranagua, the President of the
Brazilian Baptist Convention.

He belongs to one of the oldest and most aristocratic families of
the State of Piauhy. He was Governor of his state at the time of
the institution of the Republic. After the establishment of the
Republic, he was elected to the National Congress for a term of
four years. Then he was elected to the Senate and served nine
years. He is a skilled physician and is married to a Swiss lady of
fine family. His family connections occupy one quarter of the
State of Piauhy. He is, at the present time, Treasurer of the
National Printing Concern, which does not occupy all of his time.
The remainder of his time he devotes to the practice of his
profession and to the preaching of the gospel. He is a deacon in
the First church in Rio. He is not an ordained minister--he is
simply an humble man of God. He is an ardent patriot who believes
that the salvation of Brazil can be realized only through the
gospel of Christ, to which he gives his life and all.

Now I, for one, believe that the theory of Dr. Nogueira is the one
that will finally lead Brazil into the fullness of life and power
it is capable of attaining. It is well to have written in the
constitution the guarantee of religious and political liberty. It
is well to have Presidents who courageously carry into effect the
provisions of this constitution, but the highest good is not
attained until behind all documentary guarantees is a personal
righteousness in the people. Dr. Nogueira's insistent advocacy of
Christ for Brazil is the one thing that gives assurance of a
genuine righteousness that will exalt the nation.

He is the President of a remarkable body. It was our privilege to
attend the Brazilian Baptist Convention which met in Sao Paulo,
June, 1910. It was composed of sixty delegates, about one third of
whom were missionaries. The remainder were natives. They came from
all parts of Brazil. One man from the Madeira Valley traveled
three weeks on his journey to Sao Paulo. They represented 109
churches, which had a total membership of 7,000. These churches
increased by baptism twenty-five per cent, last year. They
maintain a boys' school and a theological school at Pernambuco, a
school for boys and girls at Bahia, a boys' school at Nova
Friburgo, a girls' school at Sao Paulo and the crown of the school
system, the Rio Baptist College and Seminary in the capital. They
have a Publication Board to produce Sunday School and other
literature, a Home Mission Board to develop the missionary work in
the bounds of Brazil, and a Foreign Mission Board, which conducts
foreign mission operations in Chill and Portugal. While their
country is so needy, they believe in the principle of foreign
missions so thoroughly that they gave last year for foreign
missions as much per capita as did the churches in the bounds of
the Southern Baptist Convention. One night during the Convention,
I addressed them upon the subject of foreign missions, and after I
had finished speaking one of the missionaries came forward and
said he had thought that in as much as he had given his life to
foreign mission work, he was not under any special obligation to
contribute money to this cause, but now he saw his error and
proposed to give as a means of grace and in order to discharge his
duty to the larger cause.

What a privilege it was to attend this Convention! All of us took
our meals at the Girls' College and by this arrangement we had a
most delightful time socially. It is a fine body full of good
cheer, hope, faith, courage, consecration. To come to know them--
missionaries and native Christians alike--is to enter into
fellowship with some of the choicest and most indomitable spirits
that have ever adorned the Kingdom of our Lord.

CHAPTER V.

THE GOSPEL WITHHELD.

When I went to South America I decided that I would spend little
time upon the material aspects of the trip, but would, on the
other hand, attempt to arrive at an understanding of the religious
conditions and needs of the people. I consider that the religious
needs are the abiding and vital interests of any people.

I knew also that Brazil is counted as being a Roman Catholic
country and the consideration at once arose in connection with
this fact as to whether this religion affected the life and
thought of the people sufficiently to satisfy their religious
needs. If it does, then let us be honest enough to recognize it,
and if it does not, let us be courageous enough to assume our
responsibility towards it for we must hold that the great
justification for missionary effort is the evangelical and not the
polemical one. If there is no greater reason for our entering a
country than for the purpose of fighting the Catholics, then I,
for one, am frank to say that I do not think we ought to spend our
energies in any such field. The question for us to settle is
whether there is a real call for the preaching of the gospel in a
given country. That question can be answered only by a candid
consideration of the facts in the case and not by the bigoted
notion that all who do not agree with us are to be driven from the
face of the earth.

What is the religious status of Brazil? Is there any call for
Protestant effort? I answer after giving serious study to this
question, and after personal observation of the effects of the
religious practices upon the people, that there is the same
imperative call for missionary effort in Brazil that comes from
China or any other heathen country, viz., the gospel is not
preached to the people.

The priests hold services, to be sure, in the churches, but there
are many churches in Brazil in which there has been no pretense of
preaching a sermon within five years. The priests do not preach.
They say mass, read prayers and sing songs in Latin, a language
which is not understood by the people. Occasionally, a Catholic
fraternity will invite a special orator to preach a sermon upon
some great feast day. This visiting brother does not preach. His
theme upon such an occasion would either be a discussion of the
special saint whose day is being celebrated, or he would speak
upon some civic question which had more or less to do with the
moral or political life of the people. In the interior these
special occasions occur only once every two to five years, so that
even this semblance of a sermon comes rarely. In the cities these
special addresses are made on one saint's day each year or on some
special anniversary, or when some dignitary is making a visit.
Usually this dignitary will say a mass and not preach. When one of
these special days occurs the preaching is not heard very
extensively for the reason that the noise and commotion about the
stalls for gambling, drinking and other attractions is sufficient
to drown the voice of the speaker. These side-show attractions
fill all available space about the building, giving it the
appearance of a circus more than anything else. They are run by
individuals who pay a tax to the church for the privilege. The
preaching is not the feature of the day, the chief object seeming
to be to furnish amusement for the people and money for the
church. It cannot be said that on such days the gospel can
possibly be preached successfully.

Occasionally there is held in the church what is called a special
mission. This is conducted by visiting monks. We would expect that
on such occasions the gospel would be preached, but such is not
the case. They hear confessions in the morning. A special premium
is placed upon the celebration of marriages during the mission,
because these visiting monks will make a cheaper rate than the
resident priests. For this reason the majority of the priests do
not like to have these monks come in for special missions, and
would not conduct them but for the fact that the bishop compels
them to do so. The addresses delivered by the monks in these
special missions are not sermons. They either upbraid the
Protestants, speak against civil marriage (the only legal marriage
in Brazil is that performed by a civil officer), inveigh against
the Republic, discourse upon the lives of the saints, assail
Luther and other reformers, or urge confession, penance and
submission to the Pope.

Furthermore, the Bible is withheld from the people. The
circulation of no book is so bitterly opposed as that of the
Bible. It is true that the Franciscan monks are trying to
introduce an edition of the New Testament which contains special
comments attacking Protestants. These special editions are very
expensive and difficult to secure. The person who wishes to buy
one of these Bibles must get permission from the vicar of his
parish, and if the would-be purchaser is inclined towards
Protestantism, the vicar will refuse to grant permission. The
priests are not very much in sympathy with the idea of circulating
even this annotated edition of the New Testament.

In Armagoza, near Bahia, the Franciscan monks held, three or four
years ago, a mission and sold about 1,000 of these Catholic
Scriptures. It seems that the Protestants had also been
circulating a Testament which had the same general appearance as
that sold by the Franciscan monks. When the monks had sold out
their supplies, they heard of what the Protestants had done and
inasmuch as the people could not distinguish between the true book
and the false, they ordered the people to bring back all of the
books to the monks, under the promise that they would examine
them, eliminate the Protestant book and return to the owners the
authorized Bible. The people brought back their books in good
faith. The monks took them, but never returned them. Neither did
they return the money.

On the 22nd of February, 1903, there occurred a public burning of
Bibles in Pernambuco. This was done in defiance of the Protestant
work with the evident purpose of intimidating the Protestant
workers and arousing a public sentiment against them.

But having failed in this, their first effort, they decided to try
another even more ostentatious.

Although it is illegal to burn any religious document publicly,
yet the first burning passed unnoticed by the officials of the
law. But not so the second.

Having incurred the censure and ill-will of many of the most
thoughtful and liberal-minded, even of the Catholics themselves,
by the disgrace of February 22nd, the directors of the Anti-
Protestant League decided to make a grand rally on the occasion of
the league's first anniversary, September 27th. And to realize
this, they published about two weeks beforehand a very extensive
program. The program said that "there will be burned 26 Bibles, 42
Testaments, 45 copies of the Gospel of Matthew, Luke 9, John 12,
Mark 4 and Acts 9", besides a great many other useful books. In
the list also there were some three hundred copies of different
religious Protestant papers.

According to the program the bishop was to preside. The public
burning, however, was not performed. Such pressure was brought to
bear upon the officials that they interfered. It was even
discussed in the National House of Congress. But in spite of all
opposition, not to be completely defeated, they burned the Bibles
in the back yard of the church.

These examples are sufficient to demonstrate the attitude of the
priests towards the Scriptures, and we must concede that any
church or set of men who by such methods withhold from the people
the Word of God cannot be said to preach the gospel. He is an
enemy of the gospel who puts any restraint upon the circulation of
the Scriptures. It is wise indeed for the sake of their cause that
these opponents of Protestantism should oppose the circulation of
the Scriptures, for we shall cite numerous instances of how the
Bible unaided has broken down Romish superstition and turned men
from dark error into the light of the glorious gospel of Jesus.

CHAPTER VI.

SAINT WORSHIP.

What is the real religion of the Brazilians? It is more a saint
worship than anything else. Saint worship is at its core. Mary is
the chief saint. All prayers are made to her. She is the
intercessor. The Litany is all addressed to Mary. It runs, "Oh
Mary, hear us, etc." She is worshiped under different aspects--
Mary of the Sailors, Mary of the Conception, Mary of the Candles,
Mary of the Rosary, ad infinitum. Even Christ is worshiped as a
saint. The patron saint of Campos, for instance, is called Sao
Salvador (St. Savior). The city of Bahia is called Sao Salvador.
Its patron saint is Jesus.

A saint is an intercessor between man and God. Because of his
holiness, he has favor with God, and therefore the people pray to
him. Very few consider the saint lower than God. They offer
sacrifices, make prayers and burn candles to the saint.

St. Anthony of Padua is a very hard-worked saint. He has placed
upon him the double duty of furnishing suitors for all the young
women and of leading the armies of the Republic to victory. No
wonder this overworked saint gets into trouble. Young women place
him in their rooms, burn candles and offer prayers before him. He
is dressed up in the finest toggery and is given great honor. If,
however, after awhile he does not bring along the suitor, he is
given a sound beating, or he may be hung head downwards in a well
or stood on his head under a table. These indignities are heaped
upon him in order to force him to produce the suitor which the
young lady very much desires. He is also the military saint. In
the time of the Empire, he was carried at the head of the army and
had the rank of a colonel. Even after the Empire was abolished, he
retained his rank for many years and received from the government
the salary of a colonel. Such an idol was in Bahia and his salary
was discontinued only five years ago. The money went, of course,
to the priest in the church where the image was kept.

Every town, village and country seat has its protecting saint. In
time of drouth they in many places carry the saint through the
streets in procession. He is taken from his place in the church to
some hut, maybe, where he is placed beneath the altar. This is
done in order to cause him to bring rain. After the rain comes he
is taken out and with great distinction is replaced in his
original niche. They do this sometimes in the case of a scourge of
insects or disease.

Late one evening, after Missionary Ginsburg and I had returned
from a trip into the interior of the State of Bahia, we arrived in
the city of Nazareth. It is a town of about 10,000 inhabitants. We
were to wait here until the following morning for the boat which
was to take us to Bahia.

As we went down the street we saw a great throng of people surging
about an image which was being carried upon the shoulders of some
men. Two priests walked in front to direct the movements of the
procession. More than half of the people in the city must have
been in the procession. They paraded far out into the country,
crossed to the opposite side of the river, wound themselves back
and forth through the narrow streets until a late hour at night.
At eleven o'clock just before we retired, we stood for some time
watching the procession pass the hotel where we were stopping. It
was a miserably ugly little image, gaudily decorated. It was being
paraded through the streets for the purpose of staying the plague
of smallpox, which at that time was scourging the town. When we
saw the procession last it had been augmented by such numbers that
it appeared as if the entire city was following this image. They
seemed to believe that it could really charm away the smallpox.

This is not an isolated case. It is typical. Every patron saint
has laid upon him at times the responsibility of breaking a drouth
or the effects of a dreadful scourge which may be afflicting the
people. It is the veriest sort of idolatry.

One of the most pitiful exhibitions of superstition to be found in
Brazil is that in connection with the many shrines to which
pilgrimages are made by thousands of people and at which places
great miracles are supposed to be performed. In Bahia there is a
famous shrine called Bom Fim (Good End). It is located on a hill
in the suburbs of the city. Years ago tradition has it, the image
of San Salvador was found on the summit of this hill. A priest
took charge of the image and removed it to a church. On the
following morning the image was missing, and upon going to the
spot where he first found it, he discovered the image. Again he
took it to the church, and again on the following day, he found
the image at the original place. The tradition was, therefore,
started that the image had fallen from Heaven to the top of the
hill, and every time it was removed from this spot it, of itself,
returned. So it was taken for granted that the image desired its
shrine built on this spot. At first there was a little shrine
constructed, and afterward was built the magnificent edifice which
now shelters the image.

To this place the thousands go annually upon pilgrimages. One of
the most gruesome spectacles to be found anywhere is in a side
room near the altar. From the ceiling are suspended wax and
plaster of paris reproductions called ex-votos of literally every
portion of the body--feet, hands, limbs, heads, all portions--the
ceiling space is completely covered with these uncanny figures.
The wall is hung with pictures, which portray all sorts of scenes,
such as a man in shipwreck, a carpenter falling down a ladder, a
child falling out of a second-story window, death chambers of
various people, etc. These figures and pictures are intended to
represent miracles. When these people were in their afflictions
they prayed to the image of the Good End and made a promise that
if they should recover they would bring one of these votive
offerings of the part affected, whether of man or beast, to the
shrine. Some of them came before the cure was effected, and with a
prayer, left the image behind and the cures of their disease or
afflictions were attributed to the image of Bom Fim. It is said
that when this church is given its annual cleaning, just before
the celebration of the saint's day, thousands of people congregate
here, roll in the waters which are used to wash out the building,
and drink the filthy stuff, deeming it to be holy. There is hardly
a more revolting scene to be found anywhere, and all in the name
of religion. Until recently, when the police put an end to it, a
most disgusting species of holy dance was observed on this annual
day in which the most sensual practices were indulged.

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