THE BIBLE. THE Bible I should venerate The Bible I should value, too, The Bible I should further prize, The Bible I should hold more dear Than silver, or than gold, Whose words my youthful days can cheer, The Bible I should try to send The Bible I should pray may be Heavitree. E. B. A STORY ABOUT PERU. I AM going to tell you a story about some strange people who lived in a far-off country long ago. Get your book of maps. Find out the map of South America. Do you see that narrow strip of land bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean, hemmed in on the opposite side by a vast range of mountains? That country used to be called the empire of Peru. Those mountains are the Andes. Volcanoes flame up here and there; frightful rents are in their sides; but high above all the smoke and noise, even above the clouds, the loftier peaks lift their heads in a veil of dazzling snow, and the great bird called the condor looks down at them No. 213. SEPTEMBER, 1862. K as his broad wing bears him where scarcely any other bird would dare to soar. People say that the name Andes means "copper;" but these old mountains deserve to be called "gold mountains" instead. For many a mine of gold lies, no doubt, hidden in their dark depths, and the very streams that rush down their sides carry golden sands. Three hundred and fifty years ago the Peruvian Indians lived in the shadow of the Andes under the rule of their Inca, or king. In some places the gold lay so near the surface that a shrub accidentally pulled from the mountain side by some active climber, as he tried to scale the rugged steps of splintered rock, was enough to reveal the precious ore beneath. The finder would, of course, like to enrich himself; but if the Inca heard of the treasure he would claim it all. The entire gold of the country was considered the Inca's property, which he might use in ornamenting his palace, or present to the Temple of the Sun; for the Peruvians worshipped the sun, moon, and stars. You are very much shocked at this idolatry, I am sure. It is indeed a dreadful thing to be ignorant of the true God. But the Indians in Peru had no Bible. They saw that the sun was gloriously bright; that it gave light and warmth to everything, woke up the flowers and ripened the waving fields of corn; so, not knowing God, who made the sun and calls himself "the Father of lights," they vainly prayed to the works of his hands. They built temples, and adorned them with precious stones and masses of pure gold, to which they gave the pretty name of "sun tears." There were temples of the moon, also; but they were not so large or grand as those of the sun, and all the ornaments in them were made of silver. The stars and the rainbow, the thunder, lightning, and the planet Venus were also honoured with incense and prayers. A great number of priests lived near these temples, ever ready to offer sacrifices of animals, grain, flowers, and sweetscented gums, or join in one of the many feasts which were celebrated every month in honour of the sun. But this was not all; for on grand occasions, such as the crowning of their Inca, the birth of an heir to the throne, or a great victory, a little child or a lovely young girl was cruelly chosen as the victim. So you see the hearts of those sunworshippers were cold, and dark, and wicked. Yours and mine are cold, and dark, and wicked too, except the love of Jesus has shone into them. Instead, however, of wondering at the ignorance of the Peruvians, we are rather surprised that they made so many guesses at truth. Perhaps they faintly remembered what their fathers had learned ages before, when the sons of Noah began to people. the world a second time. They had some notion of heaven and hell, and knew that the soul lives for ever, and that the body will rise again. But instead of laying their friends' bodies in the dust, as we do, to sleep until the resurrection morning, they made many efforts to preserve them from decay. So successful were these attempts, that if we had been in Cuzco, their greatest city, and had been allowed to walk through the Sun Temple there, we might have seen long rows of dead kings and queens, not in their coffins, but sitting in golden chairs, dressed in royal robes, with their heads bent forward, their hands crossed on their bosoms, and their dusky faces wearing the wrinkles or the smile they had borne in life. And still sadder and stranger it would have been to see hundreds of the friends and servants of the dead Inca murdered near his tomb, that they might go to keep him company in another world. On some of the grand festivals invitations used to be sent out in the dead king's name, and a great party gathered at his house. Then the embalmed king was carried there, and placed at the head of his own table, and the guests ate their feast in presence of the ghastly host. Would you like, now, to hear about the schools in Peru, and how the children managed to learn their lessons without books? Every child was obliged to be busy: idleness was punished as a crime. The little girls learned to spin and weave. The boys were taught to be masons, or stonecutters, or road-makers, or miners. Some of them learned to make the gold and silver articles that adorned the palaces and temples, and many were trained to be soldiers; for the Peruvians were ever ready to fight with their neighbours. Doubtless, the little boys thought it would be very grand to carry a sword, and shield, and bow, and wear gay |