CHAPTER V.

THE GOSPEL WITHHELD.


When I went to South America I decided that I would spend little
time upon the material aspects of the trip, but would, on the
other hand, attempt to arrive at an understanding of the religious
conditions and needs of the people. I consider that the religious
needs are the abiding and vital interests of any people.

I knew also that Brazil is counted as being a Roman Catholic
country and the consideration at once arose in connection with
this fact as to whether this religion affected the life and
thought of the people sufficiently to satisfy their religious
needs. If it does, then let us be honest enough to recognize it,
and if it does not, let us be courageous enough to assume our
responsibility towards it for we must hold that the great
justification for missionary effort is the evangelical and not the
polemical one. If there is no greater reason for our entering a
country than for the purpose of fighting the Catholics, then I,
for one, am frank to say that I do not think we ought to spend our
energies in any such field. The question for us to settle is
whether there is a real call for the preaching of the gospel in a
given country. That question can be answered only by a candid
consideration of the facts in the case and not by the bigoted
notion that all who do not agree with us are to be driven from the