ed, they were incompetent to perform,--and in
many instances, were no better than miscreants in disguise, teaching the
people vice instead of virtue.

"Foremost among the priests who opposed advancement, was a descendant of
the `man of fire.' Padre Caramuru dwelt for some years with an English
merchant in the capital of Brazil, Rio de Janeiro. The padre was not an
immoral man, but he was a fiery bigot and fiercely opposed everything
that tended to advance the education of the people. This he did, firmly
believing that education was dangerous to the lower orders. His church
taught him, too, that the Bible was a dangerous book; and whenever a
copy fell into his hands he immediately destroyed it. During the
disturbances that took place after the time of King John's departure for
Portugal, and just before Brazil became an independent state under his
son, the Emperor Don Pedro the First, Padre Caramuru lost a beloved and
only brother. He was quite a youth, and had joined the army only a few
months previously, at the desire of his elder brother the padre, who was
so overwhelmed by the blow that he ceased to take an active part in
church or political affairs and buried himself in a retired part of his
native valley. Here he sought relief and comfort in the study of the
beauties of Nature, by which he was surrounded, but found none.

"Then he turned his mind to the doctrines of his church, and took
pleasure in verifying them from the Bible. But, as he proceeded, he
found, to his great surprise, that these doctrines were, many of them,
not to be found there; nay, further, that some of them were absolutely
contradicted by the word of God.

"Padre Caramuru had been in the habit of commanding his people not to
listen to the Bible when any one offered to read it; but in the Bible
itself he found these words, `Search the Scriptures.' He had been in
the habit of praying to the Virgin Mary, and begging her to intercede
with God for him; but in the Bible he found these words: `There is one
mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.' These things
perplexed him much. But while he was thus searching, as it were, for
silver, the ignorant padre found gold! He found that he did not require
to _work_ for salvation, but to _ask_ for it. He discovered that the
atonement had been made once for all by Jesus Christ the Lamb of God;
and he read with a thrilling heart these words: `God so loved the world,
that he gave his only