some account of which may be seen in the following extracts from his correspondence:

In my last report to the American Bible Society I gave an account of the difficulties encountered and the opposition met in my work in Bahia Honda. No colporteur had ever visited that important town before my arrival, and the people were slow in understanding the object of our visit except that of selling books to get money. A few, however, comprehended our design and opposed us from the beginning, seeking to drive us from that field. The parish priest and a Jesuit father were conspicuous in these petty persecutions, which, however, were of no avail; for the difficulties were surmounted and the opposition gradually lost its power and influence, so that I was allowed to sell the word of God without restraint. Friends were found to encourage and help me in various ways, but especially with counsel and sympathy. But there still remained the sad fact that only one person in five was able to read, and that morality was equally neglected; the Sabbath being spent in drinking, dancing, cock-fighting, and other wickedness. Nevertheless, my sales there were quite satisfactory, and I look upon Bahia Honda as a hopeful field. If all of those Bibles should find favor with their owners, no doubt that a rich and precious harvest of spiritual fruits would be gathered. I trust that some of the good seed may have fallen upon good ground!

On the 3d of March I went to Havana in order to receive an invoice of books from the American Bible Society, and the month was spent in looking after our work in that capital. Quite a number of Bibles was sold, mostly to members of the churches established there; so that the probability of their doing good is, I think, very great.

Early in April I went to the city of Guanajay, taking a good supply of books, as I had heard that there were many liberals there, and that the priest was in trouble through excessive indulgence. However, he was gone when I arrived, and a student from the seminary was supplying the Church of Rome, the only secular church in Guanajay. He could make little opposition, and so my sales were quite equal to those in Bahia Honda, and the work was much easier and more pleasant. Still, the apparent effect was not nearly so great as that of the latter place. I hope that my work may not have been in vain.

The months of September and October were spent in Havana, and that I was able to do some work there was mostly owing to the kindness and assistance of Rev. Mr. Porta, of the Neptune Street Baptist Church, and of Felipe Serrano, of the Methodist Church South. You will rightly infer that all of the churches of Havana are missionary churches, and they are glad to help in our work which they make their own by labor and by supplication.

November and December were spent in Bejucal and vicinity, where a new difficulty arose. I expected to have great success in this place; but almost immediately upon my arrival the financial crisis occurred, and our paper-money changed value every week. While I

endeavored to lose as little as possible, by turning my paper into gold as soon as sales were made, I found it hard to induce people to part with their paper-money, when they had nothing else for their support. My business and all others are affected by these violent fluctuations; but matters are now improving as the sugar harvest progresses, and we expect the year 1892 to be a prosperous one.

Notwithstanding these difficulties and others which I omit in order to avoid repetitions, I am glad to be able to report the sale of 465 Bibles, 480 Testaments, and 1,740 Portions of Scriptures, for which I have received $731 23, being the largest amount received by me during any single year, and representing no small sacrifice on the part of an oppressed and neglected, but intelligent and interesting people. May the Lord prosper his work among them!

MEXICO.

The States of this republic are becoming more and more accessible to Bible colporteurs, and their work now holds a recognized place among the agencies by which the underlying truths of religion are to be most widely made known. Mr. Hamilton's full report shows the results of an immense amount of faithful labor and a gratifying advance over previous years:

Passing west through the beautiful Alameda of the City of Mexico, one's attention is arrested by the quaint old church of San Diego, before which in days gone by, was held periodically the Auto de fé of the Inquisition. Facing what was the stone-paved court where those fierce fires burned, stands a fine old palace, over whose huge door, in an arched recess, is a curious group of sculpture. A Pope, representing the Church, stands holding a money-bag in his left hand. The right arm is stretched out and down, presumably for the purpose of dropping money into the uplifted palms of two kneeling, pleading figures at his feet. But for many years the hand from that arm has been broken off, while the left grasping the money is well preserved.

As I passed the spot during the last fourteen years, that sculptured group has become to me, more and more, typical of the attitude of the Romish Church to the poor of Mexico. The grasping hand is there, while the hand that should give is lost in some pile of ruins.

During these years the American Bible Society, through its Mexico Agency, has given 165,410 copies of the Sacred Scriptures into the hands of these poor people. I say given, because even when sold at cost they are better than given, as nearly every worker in the field will agree, even some who formerly practised indiscriminate giving. All Mexican preachers agree that a Bible sold is far better appreciated thau a Bible given.

During the year 1891 the Sacred Scriptures have been distributed in

As compared with previous years, this table shows an advance of 4,815 volumes, and $580 45 in receipts over 1890; and of 12,533 volumes, and $1,448 57 in receipts over 1889.

These are statistical results, that give the reader an idea of the progress of the Society's work, and recall to the workers days and nights of labor. But many people ask us, “What are the spiritual results?" The veteran colporteur would reply: "We have sown on the plains, in the sierras, by the rivers, but we have gone from field to field, and to some indeed we have not returned for the space of twelve years; there you will find the seed. The sun shines, and the rains fall, but no man can measure the fruit in all these valleys." Yet from the letter-leaves that fall into our hands we gather that there are spiritual fruits; that men are changed, lives are renewed, even by the reading alone of God's word.

Mr. Scoggins wrote, July 9th: "We are at the foot of the Sierra Madre in the territory of the Huichole Indians. So far we have sold twenty dollars' worth of Bibles, have baptized twenty persons, and received thirty candidates; all these are the conquest of the printed word—the first evangelical church in all this region, forty leagues northwest from Guadalajara.”

Colporteur Moreno, writing August 26th, says: "I visited Anetstitlan, and sold nothing because of the extreme fanaticism; but I turned aside and distributed three hundred tracts in the prison, sold. two Bibles and three Testaments to prisoners, and secured permission to have the gospel preached to them." On October 17th, Dr. Butler reported having held most interesting services in that prison, and more Bibles are called for.

Mr. Josue Bustamante, preacher of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Alamos, a new field, writes: "On the 10th of August the Bible colporteur arrived. He has distributed many Bibles and we already have a number of friends reading the good news of our Lord with eagerness; I have heard some exclaim, 'Why have the priests forbidden us the word of God all these years?'"'

The colporteurs help the missions at the start and all along. Mr. Corbin writes, October 8th, proposing transfer of colporteur's care, saying: "I do not mind the work; it is the same cause as our mission work, a part of it, and we could not make much progress without it."

Mr. Powell, of the Baptist Mission at Saltillo, says of Colporteur Ramirez, November 3d: “I have never yet seen a more industrious canvasser. He goes to all the neighboring towns and to every house." He also says: "I appreciate most heartily the work done by your noble Society in this republic. It has been the foundation and bulwark of all other evangelical effort. I have often been where the people had never seen a missionary of any other denomination; but I have never been where the colporteur of the American Bible Society was unknown. Visiting a new community I soon hear of some one who has a Bible, and on investigation I learn that fifteen or twenty years ago a 'Bible seller,' as they call the colporteur, passed through the community and supplied such and such families with the word of God. Some have been burned by the fanatical priest, but others continue to testify to the only way of life and salvation."

Mr. F. Aguilar, Presiding Elder of the Puebla District, reporting to

the "Evangelista," says: "The Bible Agency has sent to the district two colporteurs who have sold two hundred dollars' worth of Bibles and Testaments. The Lord abundantly bless the £ible Society!"

José Oliva, former colporteur, now a preacher, reporting to his mission, adds, "and the whole field is sown with the Divine word."

A Mexican layman having heard the gospel preached a few times in Jerez, State of Zacatecas, at the Presbyterian mission, purchased a Bible and returned to Mesquitic, State of Jalisco, and soon gathered a large number of listeners to the truth and secured more Bibles; then a number were baptized by a Baptist missionary who visited them, and recently a church was organized with twenty-three members, by a missionary of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, who says, "These were all converted by the pure word and Holy Spirit, without other preacher than one of their own number." Yes, the Bible alone has power to change the lives of men. A Mexican who travels, purchasing grain and doing Bible work on his own account, related at the Agency in October, the following: 'I frequently visit a certain plantation, whose manager was so noted for cruel and evil deeds that when a crime of any sort was committed in the district, the neighboring village authorities turned at once to him as the author. I knew that this man professed to be religious, but that his religion consisted solely in giving a share of his ill-gotten gains to the priest to make amends for his crimes. This fact suggested that, as he had refused to look at a Bible which I offered him, I might begin with a certain tract called, "The Religion of Money,' but he would not touch it. I said, 'Will you listen while I read?' 'No!' But as we sat down on the stone bench at the side of the stone-paved court, I read aloud while the manager rattled his spurs on the stones to drown my voice; little by little the noise grew less and ceased, as I persisted, until almost impatiently he cried, 'Give it to me, I'll read it.' I left it with him and on my next visit found him anxious for explanations regarding references to the Bible. I found them for him and left him the only Bible I had with me. Some time later I found a great change had taken place in the character of the man and his reputation. Robberies have ceased in the vicinity, and the police never come to the plantation. Every morning at five o'clock all the workmen assemble to hear the reading of a chapter from that same Bible—the day is at least well begun."

It is not true that mere curiosity assists in selling very many of the Bibles distributed; the people are forewarned against the purchase of the book, and patience and persistent effort are needed.

In a town not far south of this city, in October last, Colporteur Gonzalez had this experience: The mayor sent for him and requested him to depart with his books. "I cannot protect you against the fanatics," he said. "You will be killed and I will have to pay for your burial.” “Well,” replied Gonzalez, "let them kill me; they cannot kill my soul, that is Christ's and he will take care of it." The mayor looked at him a moment and said: "My friend, I see you are not after gain; your religion seems to be your governing force. Go on, sell your books and I will protect you." As he con