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X. THE MISSION 
at Lambarene, which serves as a church as well, I have 
been explaining the Sermon on the Mount, the parables 
of the Master, and the sayings of St. Paul about the new 
life in which we live. 
But now, how far does the negro, as a Christian, really 
become another man ? At his baptism he has re- 
nounced all superstition, but superstition is so woven 
into the texture of his own life and that of the society 
in which he lives, that it cannot be got rid of in twenty- 
four hours ; he falls again and again in big things as in 
small. I think, however, that we can take too seriously 
the customs and practices from which he cannot set 
himself entirely free ; the important thing is to make 
him understand that nothing — no evil spirit — really 
exists behind his heathenism. ^ - 
If a child enters the world in our hospital its mother 
and itself are both painted white all over face and body 
so as to make them look terrifying, a custom which is 
found in practice among almost all primitive peoples. 
The object is to either frighten or to deceive the evil 
spirits which on such an occasion have a special oppor- 
tunity of being dangerous. I do not worry myself 
about this usage ; I even say sometimes, as soon as the 
child is born : " Take care you don’t forget the paint- - 
ing ! ” There are times when a little friendly irony is 
more dangerous to the spirits and the fetishes than zeal 
expended on a direct attack upon them. I venture to 
remind my readers that we Europeans, ourselves, have 
many customs which, although we never think about it, 
had their origin in heathen ideas. 
The ethical conversion, also, is often incomplete with 
