r advocate of civil and religious liberty, and in his day the good
work of the Reformers had gained an encouraging foot hold in his native
land, but after the lapse of a century of cruel extermination, one
looks in vain to see the expected fruits of his great work. A century,
of Bible suppression and persecution of Bible readers, has left the
people in ignorance of the Word of God, which is the Light and Life of
the World, and in its place catholicism and infidelity, like hoar frosts
or destructive black clouds, have spread over the land. Oppressed with a
feeling of need and seeking something not clearly defined, the people
grope in darkness and stumble on events, as if playing blind-man's-buff.
The one hundred and forty-nine Roman clergy in the first assembly are so
lacking in intelligence and patriotism, they exert no special influence
worthy of note.

Very different were the scenes that Lafayette witnessed, during the
period he co-operated with the colonies of America, in their struggles
for liberty and independence. Here he met many of the descendants of the
very people, whom the bitter persecutions in France had driven to this
country. Many of them, as early settlers in New York, Pennsylvania,
Delaware and Virginia, exerted a considerable influence, in moulding the
character of the American people. He found all the people engaging
intelligently in the cause of freedom. Their leaders knew what they were
endeavoring to achieve, and every movement was characterized by good
order, patriotism and superior wisdom.

ROMANISM BEHIND THE TIMES

This historic contrast of the good fruits of the open Bible among the
people in America, with the sad and deplorable results of Romanism and
infidelity in France, previous to the great revolutions, that occurred
in both countries in the days of Lafayette, is certainly very
interesting and instructive.

Other countries in which Romanism has been dominant and the Bible
suppressed, as Ireland, Spain, Mexico, the Philippine Islands and the
states of Central and South America, show a similar unfavorable
contrast. In South America, where Romanism has suppressed the Bible for
centuries, only two percent of all the college students in 1913,
according to Bishop Kensolving of the Episcopal church in Brazil,
"affirm their allegiance to any religious faith."

In Spain, according to a recent issue of the Herald of Madrid, there are
30,000 towns and rural villages, that are yet without scho