Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

8 THE PRESBYTERS we visited this burying-ground we were shocked to see hundreds of bones and skulls of the dead thrown out in a corner of the enclosure. We were told that the priest would rent the same grave to as many as six different families. A short time after the burial of a body' the casket would be removed and opened, the body thrown aside, and another would be buried in the grave. This would be repeated over and over again. TllP f 11 <11" nrtrv.oi A C^ - *-1 ' ' yjt giuuuu mi me cemetery was strewn all over with broken coffins and bones of the dead. Tall grass, weeds and briers have grown up and densely cover the ground. The priest has a monopoly of the "holy ground"' around Placetas, and he forces the people to bury their dead where he will receive large revenues. As little respect is shown for the bodies of some of the dead as one would ordinarily show for the body of a dead dog. Can we wonder that the people of Placetas welcome the.Protestant missionaries when they come with the joyous message of the Gospel to bring relief to those who arc bound, and to set at liberty those who are captives of the Romish religion? Mr. and Mrs. Beaty and Mrs. J. G. Hall have won me Hearts ot the people here. Two Sunday schools and two places of worship have been established. It was our privilege on Sunday evening to baptize eight adults, some of whom were of the most prominent families of Placetas. If we, as a Church, will buy a lot and erect a modern church building, it is my judgment that within five years there will be a self-supporting congregation of at least two hundred members. The lot would cost about $3,000. We need at least $6,000 to aid the church here in erecting a building. The congregation is now worshipping in a rented residence. Our missionaries have done a marvelous wnrle pnnciH#r!n? .WS CI1V, fact that they have to labor without buildings and without the necessary material equipment to enable them to carry on the work. Shall we not speedily provide money' to establish a strong church in this progressive city, and reach its people with the message of salvation? As we traveled through the provinces of Santa Clara and Matanzas, where our mission stations are located, we saw a number of large towns of thousands of people where there are no Protestant missionaries. All through the country districts are hundreds of people dwelling in their little thatched-roof houses where the message of Christ never goes. These lands are rich; thousands of acres are covered with a luxuriant n-rowtb <->f o cane and tobacco. The pasture lands are covered with an abundant grass all through the year, well adapted for stock raising. The church, once established in these rapidly growing cities and in these wealthy country districts, wil speedily become self-supporting. This is our day of opportunity. It is a goodly land which the Lord our God hath given us in Cuba. Shall we not go forward at once and possess it for him? What we do must be done cjuickly. Cuba is in a state of transition. If we give the Gospel to the Cuban people now, the religion of the Lord Jesus Christ will dominate the lives of those who are to establish a new republic, and make Cuba free indeed, and enable it to fulfill its mission as a nation in the earth. y IN OF THE SOUTH. April 7, 1909. W'e left Cuba with the impression that the work our missionaries are doing is worth while. They are building upon solid foundations. We heard from missionaries of other denominations that the work our own Church is doing in Cuba has 110 superior on the island. VVe should feel grateful to God that he has given us these consecrated missionaries to so worthily represent us, and, as our substitutes, give the message of salvation to the five hundred thousand people in Cuba, who are looking to us in our generation for a knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, and an opportunity to become his true disciples. "ON EATH, PEACE." Ru r* ?? ^j uvMjaiiiui o. moomaw. Peace to the world; Peace, blooding over sea and land. Hushed every storm on every strand. The banners are unfurled Not now of desolating wars, But of the marching armies of the stars. Celestial peace! . J N.ot as the world gives, lest it be The craven price of liberty, And not the soul's release. A music in the welkin rings; And lo! the rushing of a myriad wings. For heaven sends j Her choicest thrones her miirhfioot f *- ? M..o*av?v0t ^/vn vi o, Iutb this 3tricktn world of ours, And all her glory lends, To greet the wondrous Babe, and fling His tidings to the ages listening. I "Good will to men"; And man to brother man when time Shall learn the litany sublime That echoed yet again As shepherds, hearkening to the skies, D.'&nk in the rapture of its melodies. Oh heavenly day! Heart of the weary ones, and sore, Well* may ye give your sorrows o'er, And put your griefs away, Since the Messiah comes your pain To hear, and bring in everlasting gain. And far along The flowing ages though we be Who sing this Easter melody, ?'TIs yet a mightier throng Shall celebrate that radiant moru, Of nations past, and nations yet unborn. . Ben, Va. In the Presbyterian churches of Great Britain, a minister without pastoral charge may be attached to a local congregation and be elected a ruling elder. He may sit as a ruling elder in the Presbytery and the General Assembly. The Columbar Presbyterian Church, at Cambridge, England, has a session of twelve, three or four of whom are distinguished ministers, the principal of Westminster College, a Reverend Professor, and others, aswidely known as the pastor, who is the Rev. Dr. Johnston Ross.