The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1888-02-12
Tho Decline OF Paganism.

agricultural humbugs live on the state, CIV
ing nothing In return for their living.
Tho Decline OF Paganism.
We may see on any map showing the dis
tribution OF religions, that the area within
which purely pagan forms Of worship still
predominant Is much larger than any OF the
areas in which other systems Of religion
prevail. We find, however, that this Is 80
only because the vast but very sparsely set
tied northern portions Of Siberia and North
America are in the main inhabited by pagan
peoples. A little study will show US that, ex-
cept in Equatorial Africa and among a few
considerable tribes in South America, pure
paganism. by which we mean rude and
wholly uncivilized idolatry, NOW predomi-
mates in no densely populated parts Of the
world. We may notice also Oh u map
bands OF color in these pagan areas, indicat-
ing that other forms Of religionare making
Roadway there, and II we compare the map
with others Of earlier date. we will see that
these bands have been a%ugmentng in num-
ber and size, indicating the tendencies that
justify the belief, o widely entertained.
that the downfall Of paganism IN every part
Of the earth is only a question Of time.
Many agencies and influences are con-
~tributing to this result. Any man, be he
missionary, civil officer, or trader, who de-
stroys the faith Of the savage African in the
power Of his medicine man. or In tho efficacy
of his fetch, overthrows tho foundation on
which his fiimsy religious structure rests.
Physicians all over the heather world help
to undermine paganism by showing that
their healing art is more ef1caclous than
the invocations and mummeries Of the
fetich-maker. Governments are stepping
In to destroy superstition. and to put an end
to the bloody rites of idolatry. England is
stamping out on tho lower Niger the custom
Of offering up human sacrifices for the sins
of the people. Wherever its influence
reaches, the Congo State Ia endeavoring to
stop the poison ordeal prescribed by fetch
men for the detection Of witches. and Is
treating as murder the butchery of slaves
to be the comrades Of their masters In the
other world. On Bona Plateau there is a
spot, regarded probably for ages as "fetioh,"
which no native dare approach for fear Of
mourning the fatal Ill will Of the spirits.
Two months g the Governor OF the Congo
State received the nino chiefs Of Bona on
this very spot. The incident" says lie
Movement Gto0raphique, will, 1t Is be-
lieved, put an end to the superstition"
The whole Of Borneo, the second largest
island in tho world. is now under European
domination, and the terrible custom Of head
hunting, abolished through European inlu-
ences in scores Of smaller islands, Is falling
into desuetude In the great region where 1t
has chiefly fourished. The British North
Borneo Company treats head hunting as
murder and hangs tho offenders. The six
years experience Of this company, says one
Of its agents, shows that some OF tho most
important tribes nave abandoned many bar
barous and idolatrous customs. 1t Is a note
worthy fact in the history Of white enter
prises in Borneo and in many other lands,
that the more hostile and savage q tribe
may be in its benighted condition, the more
faithful and friendly 1t becomes after Yield
ing to better influences.
There is an old saying that AL Africa
dances when night comes" Wherever pa
ganism reigns in the Dark Continent, the
overcoming carousal by tho light of tho
moon or a bonfire is the chief amusement Of
life. But In wide areas the noisy pleasures
Of the nocturnal orgy are no longer wit
messed. Throughout the broad Soudan.
stretching from sea to sea, are 6o.OOO,OOO
blncks who now gather at nightfall, not to
dance like their fathers, but to study the
language Of MoHAMMED and hear the Koran
read in the village mosques. The beating Of
the tam-tam and the noise Of revelry, SO dear
to every savage African, cease wherever
Islam advances, and tho hum Of tho school
room replaces the sounds Of rude festivity.
Desirable as 1t Is that the tenets OF the
Prophet should make way for the moro per-
feet teachings Of Christianity, it is still q
great blessing to many millions In Africa
that through the impulse which Islam has
given them they have reached a condition far
preferable to the savagery Of their fathers.
Among the hundreds OF islands that dot
the Western Pacific. Christianity Is winning
an undoubted a~scendancy over pagan forms
OF religion. 1t is a melancholy fact that
here, as in some other portions Of the world,
paganism Is dying out, partly because its
adEerents, unable to live in the presence OF
tho stronger races, are rapidly perishing. On
the borders OF the northern Ice zone. signal
trlumphs have been won for Oh Instantly.
The entire tribe Of Tukudh Indians O the
lower Mackenzie River are converts Of the
missionaries, and 5000 people there profess
the new faith that white p~hilanthropists
have brought them. Practically all the Es-
KINDS OF Greenland have been evan elized.
except the handful of isolated Smith Sound
natives and the few hundreds Of East Coast
aborigines who are cut of from the world by
an almost impossible ice barrier.
Thus In every corner of the earth q variety
OF influences is destroying paganlsm, and.
though Christianity Is not everywhere TAX
Ing the place Of savage superstition. all the
pagan world is gradually accepting systems
OF religion that possess some elements of
progress and tend to benefit and uplift the
most debased and unfortunate races.
A New Nsme for . Church.
In 1867 the name of the Dutch Reformed
Church was changed by its General Synod
to the Reformed Church. on the ground that