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It is true that a great many Mexicans, namely the Indians, do not 

 know much about religion and keep to their old idolatry, having changed 

 only their idols, that is, replaced their old deities with the images of the 

 Saints of the Catholic Church, but it would be difficult for the Protest- 

 ant missionaries to reach them. The Spaniards labored zealously to 

 make the natives adopt the Catholic religion, and although they suc- 

 ceeded wonderfully, it was a task too difficult to fully accomplish in the 

 three centuries of the Spanish domination in Mexico. 



I do not think that the American Protestant missionaries in Mexico 

 have made much progress, and I doubt very much whether Mexico is 

 a good field for them ; but they are satisfied with their work, and they 

 think that under the circumstances, they have made very good progress. 



The number of Catholic churches and chapels in the country was, 

 in 1889, 10,112, while the number of Protestant places of worship was 

 119. On August 12, 1890, there were in the municipality of Mexico 

 320,143 Catholics and 2623 Protestants. 



The American missionaries, and especially Dr. Riley, whom I con- 

 sider a very benevolent and unselfish man, have established Protestant 

 schools and asylums for children, spending considerable money in main- 

 taining such institutions. Of course poor parents were glad to send 

 their children to the Protestant schools and asylums when they could 

 not afford to keep them at home or send them to more desirable places, 

 and these Protestant institutions were of a very benevolent character 

 and worthy, therefore, to be encouraged. Parents in such cases de- 

 clared themselves to be partial to Protestantism, but only for the sake 

 of having their children accepted in the Protestant schools and asylums, 

 and this made the Protestants think they were making a great many 

 converts. 



Now and then a Catholic priest would renounce Catholicism and 

 accept Protestantism, and such occurrences were always considered as 

 great triumphs for the Protestant cause, but although in some instances 

 such changes have been made in good faith, in others they were made 

 for selfish purposes, and they never had any great weight with the 

 community. 



I have no prejudice against Protestantism ; on the contrary, I ad- 

 mire greatly many of its principles, and in speaking on this subject I 

 consider myself perfectly impartial and unbiassed. 



In February, 1888, the Evangelical Assembly, representing the vari- 

 ous Protestant denominations and Evangelical Societies conducting 

 missionary operations in the Republic of Mexico, was held in the City 

 of Mexico. They claimed that, notwithstanding the difficulties of 

 language and climate and the other obstacles with which they had to 

 contend, they found that they had over 600 congregations, 192 foreign 

 and 585 native workers, over 7000 in the day schools, and about 10,000 



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