Through Five Republics on Horseback | Page 3

the rest
were for physical, joined hands with the heathenism of the Indians,
accepted their gods of wood and stone as saints, set up the crucifix side
by side with the images of the sun and moon, formerly worshipped; and
while in Europe the sun of the Reformation arose and dispelled the
terrible night of religious error and superstition, South America sank
from bad to worse. Thus the anomaly presented itself of the old, effete
lands throwing off the yoke of religious domination while the younger
ones were for centuries to be content with sinking lower and lower.
[Footnote: History is repeating itself, for here in Canada we see Quebec
more Catholic and intolerant than Italy. The Mayor of Rome dared to
criticize the Pope in 1910, but in the same year at the Eucharistic
Congress at Montreal his emissaries receive reverent "homage" from
those in authority. No wonder, therefore, that, while the Romans are
being more enlightened every year, a Quebec young man, who is now a
theological student in McMaster University, Toronto, declared, while
staying in the writer's home, that, as a child he was always taught that
Protestants grew horns on their heads, and that he attained the age of 15
before ever he discovered that such was not the case. Even backward
Portugal has had its eyes opened to see that Rome and progress cannot
walk together, but the President of Brazil is so "faithful" that the Pope,
in 1910, made him a "Knight of the Golden Spur."]
If the religious emancipation of the old world did not find its echo in
South America, ideas of freedom from kingly oppression began to take
root in the hearts of the people, and before the year 1825 the Spanish
colonies had risen against the mother country and had formed
themselves into several independent republics, while three years before
that the independence of Brazil from Portugal had been declared. At the
present day no part of the vast continent is ruled by either Spain or
Portugal, but ten independent republics have their different flags and
governments.
Since its early discovery South America has been pre-eminently a

country of bloodshed. Revolution has succeeded revolution and
hundreds of thousands of the bravest have been slain, but, phoenix- like,
the country rises from its ashes.
Fifty millions of people now dwell beneath the Southern Cross and
speak the Portuguese and Spanish languages, and it is estimated that,
with the present rate of increase, 180 millions of people will speak
these languages by 1920.
South America is, pre-eminently, the coming continent. It is more
thinly settled than any other part of the world. At least six million miles
of its territory are suitable for immigrants--double the available
territory of the United States. "No other tract of good land exists that is
so large and so unoccupied as South America." [Footnote: Dr. Wood,
Lima, Peru, in "Protestant Missions in South America."] "One of the
most marvellous of activities in the development of virgin lands is in
progress. It is greater than that of Siberia, of Australia, or the Canadian
North-West." [Footnote: The Outlook, March, 1908.] Emigrants are
pouring into the continent from crowded Europe, the old order of things
is quickly passing away, and docks and railroads are being built.
Bolivia is spending more than fifty million dollars in new work.
Argentina and Chile are pushing lines in all directions. Brazil is
preparing to penetrate her vast jungles, and all this means enormous
expense, for the highest points and most difficult construction that have
ever been encountered are found in Peru, and between Chile and
Argentina there has been constructed the longest tunnel in the world.
[Footnote: One railway ascends to the height of 12,800 feet.]
Most important of all, the old medieval Romanism of the Dark Ages is
losing its grip upon the masses, and slowly, but surely, the leaven is
working which will, before another decade, bring South America to the
forefront of the nations.
The economic possibilities of South America cannot be overestimated.
It is a continent of vast and varied possibilities. There are still districts
as large as the German Empire entirely unexplored, and tribes of
Indians who do not yet know that America has been "discovered."
This is a continent of spiritual need. The Roman Catholic Church has
been a miserable failure. "Nearly 7,000,000 of people in South America
still adhere, more or less openly, to the fetishisms of their ancestors,
while perhaps double that number live altogether beyond the reach of

Christian influence, even if we take the word Christian in its widest
meaning." [Footnote: Report of Senor F. de Castello] The Rev. W. B.
Grubb, a missionary in Paraguay, says: "The greatest unexplored region
at present known on earth is there. It contains, as far as we know, 300