MUERA! VIVA LA VIRGEN CON TODOS LOS SANTOS!
"Die! Live the Virgin and all the Saints!" That paper I took from
the door and keep as a souvenir of fanaticism.
The Bible is an utterly unknown book, except to the priests, who
forbid its entrance to the houses. It, however, could do little good
or harm, for the masses of the people are utterly unlettered. All
Protestant literature stolen into the town is invariably gathered and
burned by the priest, who would not hesitate also to burn the bringer
if he could without fear of some after-enquiry into the matter.
[Illustration: THE WORLD'S LARGFST ROCKING STONE, TANDIL, ARGENTINA.
This immense stone is so evenly poised that the wind or the slightest
touch of the hand sets it in motion but the storms of the centuries
have failed to dislodge it.]
Rome is to-day just what she always was. Her own claim and motto is:
Semper idem (Always the same). But for this age of enlightenment
her inquisitorial fires would still burn. "Rome's contention is, not
that she does not persecute, but only that she does not persecute
saints. She punishes heretics - a very different thing. In the
Rhemish New Testament there is a note on the words, 'drunken with the
blood of saints,' which runs as follows: 'Protestants foolishly
expound this of Rome because heretics are there put to death. But
their blood is not called the blood of saints, any more than the
blood of thieves or man-killers, or other malefactors; and for the
shedding of it no commonwealth shall give account.'"
During my residence in Argentina a Jesuit priest in Cordoba publicly
stated that if he had his way he would burn to death every Protestant
in the country.
The following statements are from authorized documents, laws and
decrees of the Papacy:
"The papacy teaches all her adherents that it is a sacred duty to
exterminate heresy.
"Urban II. issued a decree that the murder of heretics was excusable.
'We do not count them murderers who, burning with the zeal of their
Catholic mother against the excommunicate, may happen to have slain
some of them.'" [Footnote: "Romanism and Reformation."]
In Argentine life the almanac plays an important part; in that each
day is dedicated to the commemoration of some saint, and the child
born must of necessity be named after the saint on whose day he or
she arrives into the world. The first question is, "What name does it
bring?" The baby may have chosen to come at a time when the calendar
shows an undesirable name, still the parents grumble not, for a saint
is a saint, and whatever names they bear must be good. The child is,
therefore, christened "Caraciollo," or "John Baptist," when, instead
of growing up to be a forerunner of Christ, he or she may, with more
likelihood, be a forerunner of the devil. Whatever name a child
brings, however, has Mary tacked on to it.
All names serve equally well for male or female children, as a
concluding "o" or "a" serves to distinguish the sex. Many men bear
the name of Joseph Mary. Numbers, also, both male and female, have
been baptized by the name of "Jesus," "Saviour," or "Redeemer." If I
were asked the old question, "What's in a name?" I should answer,
"Very little," for in South America the most insolent thief will
often boast in the appellation of Don Justice, and the lowest girl
in the village may be Senorita Celestial. Don Jesus may be found
incarcerated for riotous conduct, and I have known Don Saviour
throw his unfortunate wife and children down a well; Don Destroyer
would have been a more appropriate name for him. Mrs. Angel her
husband sometimes finds not such an angel after all, when she puts
poison into his mate cup, a not infrequent occurrence. Let none be
deceived in thinking that the appellation is any index to a man's
character.
Dark, needy people - Rome's true children!
The school-books read: Which is the greatest country? Ans., Spain.
Who is the greatest man? Ans., The Pope. Why? Because he is
infallible.
It is his wish, and the priest's duty, to keep them in this darkness.
Yet, - One came from God, "a light to lighten the Gentiles," and He
said, "I am the Light of the world." Some day they may hear of Him
and themselves see the Light.
Already the day is breaking, and superstition must prepare to hide
itself. The uneducated native no longer pursues the railway train at
thundering pace to lasso it because the priest raved against its
being built. He even in some cases doubts if it is "an invention of
hell," as he was taught.
The educated native, Alberdi, a publicist and an advocate of freedom,
in the discussion over religious rights of foreigners in the
Argentine, wrote: "Spanish America reduced to Catholicism, with the
exclusion of any other cult, represents a solitary and silent convent
of monks. The dilemma is fatal, - either Catholics and unpopulated, or
populated and prosperous and tolerant in the matter of religion."
CHAPTER IV.
TEE PRAIRIE AND ITS INHABITANTS.
The Pampas, or prairie lands of the Argentine, stretch to the south
and west of Buenos Ayres, and cover some 800,000 square miles. On
this vast level plain, watered by sluggish streams or shallow lakes,
boundless as the ocean, seemingly limitless in extent, there is an
exhilarating air and a rich herbage on which browse countless herds
of cattle, horses, and flocks of sheep. The grass grows tall, and
miles upon miles of rich scarlet, white, or yellow flowers mingle
with or overtop it. Beds of thistles, in which the cattle completely
hide themselves, stretch away for leagues and leagues, and present an
almost unbroken sheet of purple flowers. So vast are these thistle-
beds that a day's ride through them only leaves the traveller with
the same purple forest stretching away to the horizon.
