80 
MISSIONAET LIFE 
They evince most clearly that man is a relig- 
ious animal/’ and, as might be supposed, in the 
absence of divine revelation or any guide to dh 
rect them, they are deeply sunken in idolatry, 
superstition, and selfishness. They demonstrate 
the declaration that the thoughts and the imagina- 
tions of men are evil continually. 
The only reason why our theological views are 
not as foolish and corrupting as theirs, and that we 
are not believers in witchcraft, devil-worship, and 
a thousand other foolish things, is simply because 
the light of Heaven shines upon us. How soon 
would all the impositions and cruelties found among 
heathens be practiced by us, were the restraints of 
Christianity removed. Without these, ours would 
be a more powerful and eflicient machinery for the 
promotion of all that is debasing and cruel. 
The time was when people were killed in this 
country for the imaginary crime of witchcraft, 
and by those, too, whom we are proud to call our 
forefathers. But as light increased belief in 
witches ceased, and with it the cruelties growing 
out of that belief. Witches and hobgoblins never 
flourish in the light of a pure gospel. Were the 
day and Sabbath schools in the United States 
closed, religions services discontinued, and Bibles 
removed from our midst, a half century would not 
pass before witchcraft and numerous other super- 
stitious practices would be common here. 
