The Dickinson press., 1888-04-07
PAGANISM'S DECLINE.
AGENCIES AND INFLUENCES CON-
TRlBuTlNa TO ITS DOWNFALL,

Areas in Which Purely Pagan Forms of
Worship still rrcdominate-Hcs,lt, of
European Rule - Mohamn,ctlun Doc
trines in Africa-Christianity.
We may SEQ on any map showing the dis
tl1hutlon of religions, that the area within
which purely pagan forms of worship still
prciominatc is much larger than any of the
areas i'll which other systems OF religion pre-
vail. We find. however, that this is So only
because the vast but very >parsclv settled
northern portions of Siberia and North
America are i'll the main inhabited by pagan
peoples. y little study will show lis that, en-
crpt in equatorial Africa and among Il few
considerable tribes in South America, pure
lnSanSm 10y which we mean rude and
wholly uncivilizcd idolatry, now pre,lom-
mates i'll II" d"n>cly populated parts of tho
world. we may notice also on our map
bands vi color i'll these pagan areas, intlicat-
ing that other forms of religion are making
he;ltway there, and ii we compare the map
With Others of earlier date, we will scc that
these bands have been augmented in number
and size, indicating the tendencies that
justify the belief, now widely entertained,
that the downfall of paganism in every part
of the earth is only Il question of time.
IDoLATRY'S BLOODY RITES.
Many agencies and Influences arc contrib
utins to this result. Any man, be he mis-
sionary, civil engineer or trader who de-
s1roys the faith of the savage African in tho
power of his medicine man, OF in the clli-
cary of his fetch, ovcrthrows the fouula-
tion on which his ilinlsy religious structure
,I1 L..
help to undermine paganism by showing that
their healing art is more cilicacous than the
lnvocations and mummerics of the fetch
maker. Governments are stepping in to de-
stroy superstition and to put un end to the
bloody rites of idolntry. England is stamp
me- out on the lower Niger the custom of Of
i"rins UP human sacrifices for the siilS of tho
people. Wherever its influence reaches, the
Gong" state Is endravoring to stop the poison
ordeal prescribed 10y fetch mca for the de-
lection of witches. and is treating Us murder
the bu:rhcry of slaves to be the comrades of
their masters in the other world. On Bona
llateau there is Il spot, regarded probably
for ages as "ictich,' which 10 one dare au-
iroarli for fear of incurring the fatal ill
VIII OF the spirits. Two months ago the gov
cinor OF the Congo State received the nine
chlelS oi Iona ON this very spot. The i'll
rhlent, says ln Movement Gcographnlrc,
will, il is believed, put all end TO this super
Sttion."
The whole of Bornco, the second largest
island in tile world, is now under European
domination, and the terrible custom of head
hunting, abolished through European inllu-
rnccs in scores of smaller islands, is falling
mt" 'csuetudc i'll tho great region where it
has chiefly ilourishcd The British North
Bornco company treats head hunting as mllr-
der and hangs the Offenders Tho six years,
experience of this company, says one of its
agents, shows that some of the most import
ant tribes have abandoned many barbarous
amt ldolatrouS customs. 1t is Il noteworthy
fact in the history of white enterprises in
Bornco and i'll many other lands, that tho
more hostile and savage a tribe may Ic in It's
bcniShtcd condition, tile more faithful and
friendly it becomes after yielding to better
Influences