Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1903-09-17

" SoiSloIuAdlo lu0 country Oh CulS
colossal and wicked blunder that has
brought such results in its train is
fine example of unconscious mockery."
MISSIONARIES IN PHILIPPINES.
Episcopal Clergyman Writes of Deep
1 Faith of Natives Under "constaIo-
ulary' Rule.
Rev. John A. Stanton, Jr., an Epis-
|copal missionary in the Philippines,
writes frankly of the native people, in
The Living Church. He does not sug-
gest the obvious conclusion, from his
own observation, that it is hardly
worth while for any denomination to
ccntinue futile attempt at convert
ing" these people from good Catholics
into Indifferent Professionals, but his
statements are as interesting as un-
usual.
\ have never heard sermon on tie
Passion which appealed SO forcibly to
the imagination or reused the mind so
actively to a sense of the physical re-
/ aiity of the events of Holy Week as
the procession | witnessed during the
solemnities of last Good Friday And
cannot conceive any more effective
method of teaching Christian truths.
among ignorant people than has been
ADOPTED by that branch of the Chris
tan church which has taught these
people in the past The scenes are ter
rible in their realism, but enduring i'll
their effect. | wish to express my de-
Hibernate conviction that the Filipino
people as a whole have a more init
mate knowledge of the facts of our
Savior's life today than they will have
fifty years hence, when religious pro-
Icessions have been practically prohib-
tied by law or abandoned through the
Influence of American Professionalism.
The Episcopal church can be in these
islands for no higher purpose than to
save souls from the shipwreck OF faith
which is bound to result. For many
different sects have already started
campaigns of proselytism with teach
ings varying as widely as the tenets
OF individual preachers.
| notice in the printed report of
secretary of prominent American
board of missions (not our OWN the
statement that of the inhabitants of
these islands NEARLY all are heather
with a thin veneer of Romanism of
the mediaeval-Spanish type"
OF course all depends upon the view
Ipoint; but from our point of view, is
the statement correct? There is but
one way of telling; one must live, at
least for time, among the people.
h On a recent trip to the west coast
of Cebu visited the native priest, VINO
has been a cure at Balamban for q
great many years. went to his house
in company with the school teacher,
now the only American in the place.
1.-THE old man had been turned out OF
4 his large and commodious residence
by the American soldiers, who had UNI
/ til lately occupied the town. The Of
4 ftcer, a lieutenant wanted the house
4 for the use of himself and his wife.
So the old priest was told to move
out, and he still occupied a neighbour
ling and very dilapidated casa. AL
/ drawn Padre Benito had not yet moved
back, for at his age. which was more
than seventy house-movlng was a for
midable task. The old man received
US kindly, and, according to the inva-
riable Filipino custom, had his servant
bring us wine and tobacco.
I We chatt for some minutes with
| ~ ob .l,> IA ;e.
pueblo and his people, and about his
books-for he had many in Spanish
and Latin on his desk and on his
: shelves-when the sound of music
drew us to the window to witness d
passing procession Long double lines
of men, women and children passed
slowly and with great reverence chant
: ing an antiphonal litnany. Every
night, Padre Benito told us, a process
sion perambulated the village praying
> God to avert the epidemic of cholera,
S from which neighboring towns were
suffering. For month, said the old
priest, the good Lord has spared us.
Perhaps he will hear our prayers and
will turn away the evil. | could not
help contrasting the dependence OF
these people, said to be fatalists-and
, heather" forsooth--upon the pity
of merciful God who hears prayer
: with the type Of American fatalism-
; and heathenism-whicb in similar
cases trusts wholly in disnfectants. II
seemed to me, too, that the native TEN
per was very much in accord with that
which our prayer book seeks to incul
{ cate in it's collects, its litany and It's
! penitential offices.
Would it not be just retort to the
! above mentioned secretary of missions
a for Filipino to say, after returning
7 from a hurried trip to the United
2 States, NEARLY all Americans are
J heather, with a thin veneer of Pro
+ testantsm of the modern Englisf
t type?
, If the Filipinos are heather, then
do not know the meaning of the word