Telegram-herald. ([Grand Rapids, Mich.) 18??-1892, 1888-04-15
PAGAAISN'S DECLINE
MHAT ooNTaIsOTs0 ro rs g
Areas Ia Which Purely P.<.a Forms 81
WORSHIP still Results
Of HFees4a kets- tsasnss-
o8aa DoSSriEss IA AlFtes

Of fuFeessa keis- ssshsmDe-
aiaa DSssriass IA AIRS.
We nay see on aBy nap sh0elag the -
tFioa11oa Il isioas, t1at the area ~1thla
"hich purely paSaa forms u WORSHIP stid
pre1oLaln2te + i3-ca l4rgsx thar any q to
srezs Ia ~aAgh oEnsF systems q religion Ple-
yaa- We md, however. thai tkis : - cay
beezEse tie sazr ba1 very ssarssiy s<ttist
n0-Eaern portions q SsberAz ami Aorfa
America arr IA shs Iaain inhabited - pagan
peoples A ltfle ss1ly III show Is tast. ex-
cspC IA equatorial Afrlea All snoEg few
considerable tribes IN South Alaer.cs. pure
laganlsn, by wish We Eleza r1ds and
wholly unclyiil1sd iiolaEry, nov PFesiogl--
hates IN 40 denssly populated parts q tie
world We may notice also On orr map
bands Il color ia thess pagan areas, indirect
ing that OsaeF forms OF religion are making
headWay there, ard II we co-npsrs the mEp
wiki Others Il earlier date. Ne wLl SO thai
thess hands have been augmented IN number
AMI size, indicating ths tendencies thar
justify the belief, now widely entertained.
that the dowafal Of psganism In every part
or the earth Is only question Of time.
IDoLArRY's BLOODY EIrEs.
Many agencies and influences are contrib
utIag to this result. Any man, be he mis-
sicnary, civil engineer or trader, who de-
stroys tho faith ~ tbs savage African in tho
power OF his medicine nan, or in the ELI
cacy OF his fetch, overthrows the fouOda-
ton on which his fimsy religious structure
rests. Physicians All over tie heather world
help 70 uudefnl,e pagsaisin by showing that
their healing art Is more eiiicaclouS than the
inyocatiOns and mumneries OF the fetch
maker Governments are stepping IN 10 de-
stroy superst ition and 70 put al end 10 the
bloody rites OF idolatry. England Is stamp
ing out on ths lower Niger the custom Of Of
feglng 10 human sacrifices for the sins Of the
people Wherever It's influence reaches, the
Congo State is endeavoring 10 stop the poison
ordeal prescribed by fetch Inen for the de-
lection OF witches, and IS treating As murder
the bu:chery OF slaves 70 be the comrades Of
their masters in the other world. On Bona
Plateau there IL a spot, regarded probably
FOR ages as fetch, which no one dare ap-
preach for fear OF incurring the fatal i'll
VIII Of the spirits. Two months ago the gov
ernor Of the Congo State received the nine
chiefs Of Bona on this very spot. THE in
eidcnt, says lie Movement Geographiqze,
twill, it Is believed, pat an end TO this super
stitioar
The whole az BoTneo, the second largest
island in the world, is now under European
domination. and the terrible custom OF head
hunting, abolished through European inau-
enccs II scores OF smaller islands, is falling
into dcsuetude il the great region where it
has chiefly fcurishsd The British North
/ Borroo company tr-ats head hunting as muir
t1e< 10 cf--
experience OF this company, says one OF its
agents, shows that some OF the most import
ant tribes have abandoned many harbarous
and idolat'ous customs. 1t is u noteworthy
1 fact in the history OF white en- .erprises in
I Borneo and in many other lands, that the
more hostile and savage a tribe may be in its
I benighted condition, the more faithful anG
I friendly it becomes after yielding to better
I influences
AFRIcAs NOCTURNAL ORGIES.
There is an old saying that ''all Africa
dances when night comes" Wherever pagan
ism reigns IA the Dark Continent, the ever
( recurring carous.l b. tie light OF the moon
or q bonfire Is the chief amusement OF life
But in WIDE areas the noisy pleasures Of the
nocturnal Orgy ere no longer witnessed.
/ Throughout the broad Soudan, stretching
from sea TO sea, are 6o,000,000 blacks who
now gather az nishtfai, not 20 dance ike
their fathers, but TO study the language Of
Mohammed and hear the Koran read in the
village mosques. The beating Of the tom
tom and the noise of revelry, so dear 70 every
savage African, cease wherever Islam adj
.arces, and the hum Of tho school room re-
| places the sounds OF rude festivity. Desirable
rs it is that the tenets of the prophet should
mako way for the more perfect teachings OF
/ Christianity, il IS still a great blessing TO
many millions in Africa that through the
Impulse which Islam has given them they
! have reached condition far preferable to
the sayagery 81 their fathers.
Among the hundreds Of islands that do.
| the western Pacific, Christianity Is winning
| en- uudoubted ascendancy over pagan forms
! Of religion. u is a melancholy fact that
! hare, as IN some other portions OF the world,
pogan!sm * dying out, partly because It's
! adherents, unable 10 live in tho presence Of
the stronger races, are rapidly periShing On
the borders OF ths northern ice zone, signal
| triumphs have been won for Christianity.
| The entire tribe OF Tnkudh Indians on the
| lower Mackenzie river are converts of the
missionaries, and 5000 people there profess
| the new faith that white pl,ilanthropists
have brought them Practically all the Is
| kincs Of Greenland have been evangelical
except the handfaI OF isolated Smith sound
natives and tia few hundreds OF east coaS;
sborizines who are cut OF from the world BY
en- almost impossible ice barrier.
Thus in every corner OF the earth variety
! Of Influences is destroying psgsnisT, and
though Christianity IS not everywhere TAX
ing the place of savage superstition, al the
! pagan world IS gradually accepting systems
q religion that possess some elements Of
/ progress and tend 70 benefit and uPiift th'
I aoss dosasod and uuiorsunass races view
/ York san.
PICKED PERSONALS.
Tur Poua Is q careful reader OF the dali,