The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1900-08-18

Nnlcn Heklng Is situated. 1t Will thus be |,
seen that the present persecution will
TALL heaviest upon the Lazarsts' order. Il
The order has been working in
China for hundred years apd has given
many martyrs to the faith The visitor
or superior over the Chinese Lazarists is I
Mgr. Alphonsus Favier, and he is also /
vicar apostolic of Picking. In the capital I
city he is assisted by fourteen foreign and /
six native priests, while in his entire
province of Pe-chi-li South he has forty
two foreign and sixteen native priests" i
The Roman Catholics claim about a |
million Chinese converts while the sew
Ell al Protestant bodies claim about a hun
ures. however, are only estimates, and !
their accuracy has frequently been called
in question.
THE RELIGION OF THE AMERICAN
INDIANS.
The Indian has been wholly misunder-
stood, says Mr.. II. Il. Burgess, who has
been lifelong and close friend of the
American aborigines, especially of the
PawneeS. The Indian, he asserts, is the
most religious of beings, and is constant
ly filled with sense of the Divine imma-
hence. Mr.. Burgess, who writes in The
Anglo-American Magazine Uune). en-
ployes unconsciously the rhythmic flow of
the Indian style of expression, and his ar
ticle is said to be a portrayal of the In
dams Indian-tbe redman as seen from
the native standpoint. OF the Pawnee
''Ti-ra-wa-hut," or ''the Gods Aborigi-
nal,'' he writes:
Where mammoth rocks rise toward in
fnity-a formidable barrier wallng the
West; where giant waterways flow to-
ward the rising sun, and grassy plains
extend in undulating reaches in seeming
boundlessness-here, in the center of Gre
ated things, Ti-ra-wa- hut placed the peo-
pie. On Missouri's banks, Or by the sill
YER shining Platte, or yet the Smoky Hill,
or bending Arkansaw, or by the great
southern Rio Grande, now here now
there, now rowing, again consolidating in
their ephemeral abodes, creatures of cir
cumstances, the people dwelt ever in the
overruling care of the gracious gods-Ti-
ra-wa-hut.
Great was the wisdom of Ti-ra-wa-hut
and great was their love for the people
in giving them existence, and thus plac-
ing them upon created portion at once
so wonderful and grand. Here in COM
fort and delight they might dwell, privi-
legged to roam at will and seek whatsoev-
er they might desire. When thunders
roar and vibrate throughout the heavens,
then Ti-ra-wa-hut are holding council
The lightnings flash their mandates The
storm Is but an expression of their pow
er. When the storm is under way the
savage places twigs of fragrant cedar
upon the burning Goals of his rude hearth,
and says smilingly to those assembled.
Thus will Ti-ra-wa-hut be pleased Lit
tie savage children play out in the storm.
No fear Is in their hearts-the gods will
rule. The warrior going into battle strips
himself to adorn his nude body with white
clay; then, darkening his face with
charred embers. and with the tail feath-
ers Of the white and black tailed eagle
streaming from his hair, he mounts his
painted horse. bids defiance to the fates
J chants his savage anthem Of praise to
the gods and singing, smiling, he plunges
. to his death. If he returns victorious
Ti-ra-wa-hut have preserved him."
Besides the Aboriginal Gods, the Paw
| nee, like other Indian tribes, deity GER
tain natural powers:
1.-THE sun (Sa-coo-ru) is to a degree del.
r fled. The moon is addressed Mother CA
tira) in sense of divinity. Powers re.
side in earth as we'll When the redstont
pipe is filled with aromatic sumac an6
: tobacco, and lighted. the first puffs Of
) smoke are blown skyward to Ti-ra-wa.
: hut with words of grace; then toward
the earth and the four points upon the
horizon-the region of cold, of the warn
: Winds, of the rising, and of the setting
: SIN. All wonders of creation are of di
t vine origin, and are possessed, in de
t gree. of divinity. The animals
{; Gods creatures, have their due share o
f the Indians devotion, religiously. To tn
v La rhu-ra-hki (animal kind Ti-ra
t walnut gave some secrets. The vol
o warns his human brother of impending
= danger. Spirits of the slain reappear up
e on the battle field to communicate wit
i; the living. Many men have foretold thei
d DEF th and have prophesied events. Thi
o power comes from living in closer touc
q than the common person with Ti-ra-wa
e hut. Man Chief the great chief of tn
l. Pawnees, heard his death announced /
Y the thunders of the sky
e Mr.. Burgess makes some astonishin
statements about the Indians religion
F, nature. 'Out in the Western wilds," h
says, God has chosen to place a peopl
of whom it We're but the solemn truth
: say: They are the most earnestly an
e naturally religious of the races :" TIL
. writer continues
:, HE Is the most religious of beings, or
- ~ 1t Is his own natural religion, not bo
:. rowed nor learned from books. His II
=. lstincts guide him. He has no formaliti'
:, of written law nor stated times for h
- wcrshiping. Divinity surrounds him,
= ever present, ever manifest. With a
:. his faults his life is one continuous pra.
err. This will be gainsaid; but go live h
'e life. share his joys and sorrows, dear cri
: ic. ere you brush aside this statement
p continuous prayer. Even in his gaiety
-, Sings of God-the gods (Ti-ra-wa-hut
the Father above. 1t is not all solemni
:, end there is no hypocrisy in sava,
=, worship. In all the Indians adversit
- and in all the pressure of an aggressi
: civilization that has surrounded him 4
:. notwithstanding it's evils upon hi
- mere gratuitously than its good exar
=. ples-notwithstanding our sprogressi
~ Christianity that engulfs him, he elm
=. to his simple faith, stands by his convi
- lions, and proclaims to the world that
- wants no better God than the Father
:, his people the beloved, Ti-ra-wa-h,
= whom his forefathers trusted and who
- believes are still in power"
-, IGROWING POWER OF THE HIGl
n eCHURCH PARTY IN ENGLAND.
id The dispute over ritual In the Chur
rk OF England shows few signs of coming
er a decisive issue, and since the rece
as opinion of the archbishops adverse
in reservation of the sacrament, the ace
en- bity of the controversy seems to have m
of terially subsidized The English peo]
of have had other things to think of duri
le. the past year than disputes about
ar minutiae of ecclesiastical ceremonies, a
hn as public attention is likely to be enga
of ed for some time to come upon the so