St. Paul daily globe., 1890-03-24
HEATHEN AFRICA.
Father Zimmerman's Heartrend-
ing Story Of the Dark COnti-

HEATHEN AFRICA.
Father Zimmerman's Heartrend-
ing Story Of the Dark Cont.
nent.
Father Zimmerman. a Catholic mis-
sionary from Africa, delivered sermon
at the cathedral yesterday, in which he
recounted, in an interesting way, the
trials and hardships of evangelists in
that benighted land. I'm Jesus Christ,
beloved brethren" said he, ''you are
happy people. You enjoy the kingdom
of God and the blessings of His holy re-
ligion. You live here in country
of freedom and abundance. l
come from country OF darkness
and sorrow, viz: Africa, where | was
missionary. In Africa the devil is
reigning instead of Jesus Christ. The
most cruel slavery there takes the place
of freedom. AS the devil came to our
first parents in the shape of serpent.
so he approaches the benighted people
of Africa. Their temples are erected
to snakes and serpentS, the latter being
their gods. At certain times Of the year
these Serpents are carried around in
pass the natives fall fiat to the earth in
alteration. When we ask why they do
this, they say: The serpent has opened
the eyes of mankind Other idols they
adore are gods of their own hand,
generally ridiculous and indecent fig
ures, the same as mentioned in the
psalms: Goods. with eyes that do not
see; ears, that do not hear; feet, that
do not walk" They have a god called
Shango, the idol of war; Worro, the god
OF riches; Ochun, master eff the seas
and water; UnZe, god ofjustice; Elecba,
god of the devil. Many temples are
built to this last named god. They
offer sacrifices, not to obtain anything,
but to appease the devil. The idol is
usually made of red clay with an enOr-
nous head, feathers of birds for hair,
and shells for the teeth. A big knotted
stick is placed before the idol to express
his power. A hideous figure, to be
consider that it is often saturated with
human blood. To all these idols human
sacrifice is offered. Often the victims
are hung from the limbs Of trees till
dead; at other times the victims are
burned or beheaded, and the heads
brought into the temple of the idols.
In one temple [ saw thirty-siX human
heads attached to four pillars. Father
BurkerO, who was once made captive
in Dahomey, says that often in his cap
tivity he heard the shrieks of the vic
tins. Upon his escape, he tells that IN
his fight he came over large fields
where he heard awful cries. 1t was
quite dark at the time, and, going to
see what the matter was, he saw
a large number of upright poles with
a man fastened to each pole, rending
the air with their agonizing screams.
This was a sacrifice to Shango, the idol
of war. fear to disgust your hearts
better you know, that you may appre-
ciate the more the blessings you enjoy
in this land of freedom. Remember,
too, in Europe, these barbarous customs
were practiced before the Gospel was
preached. In Alsatia are still to be
seen the remains of the altarS OH which
Druids offered human sacrifice,
but in Africa the people offer
human sacrifice, not only to
idols, but to the departed ones. They
still retain belief in future life-the
life to come. They believe the life
in the world to come is much
the same as the present life, and what
they like here they will like there. So
Wnen warrior QleS tney place III MS
grave knives, swords, shells, ETC.; when
a rich man, chief or king dies they put
to death number of slaves, and bury
them with him, so they the slaves) can
serve their masters again. When the
King of Dahomey died, sixty slaves
were put to death, and each anniversary
of the death new human sacrifices are
made. Before dispatching the victims
they are bound hand and foot, and the
new king tells them what to say to the
king in the other world. At one
time the king told of one Of his
ministers for the sacrifice, but the min-
lister sent as proxy one of his slaves,
whom he left in ignorance of his mis-
sion. When the slave arrived large
crowd surrounded him, and though he
defended himself bravely he was soon
overpowered and put to death. An un
happy girl, who was also to be Sacrl-
feed, made bold attempt to escape by
fleeing into the shrubbery, but she, too,
was apprehended and put to death. In
such way are affairs going on in
Africa"
The reverend father related num-
ber of instances where his compatriots
had been sacrificed by the cruel and
superStitious natives for their zeal and
devotion to the cause of Christ. After
the sermon a collection was taken up
for the benefit of the African missions
and handsome sum raised.