a population of about 2,000,000. The Roman Catholic is the prevailing religion. The hierarchy consists of the Archbishop of La Plata, and the Bishops of La Paz, Santa Cruz, and Cochabaneb.

BRAZIL. The largest and most important of the South American States was discovered in 1500. The present empire was established in 1822. It now has a population of over 10,000,000 souls. The Roman Catholic is the established religion, though other religions have been tolerated since 1811. The number of Protestants is estimated at 25,000, mostly German settlers. The Catholic Church has 986 parishes and eleven dioceses, under the care of the archbishop of Bahia and eleven bishops.

CHILI.-The established religion is the Roman Catholic, and the clergy and theological seminaries are subsidized by the government. The Church has an archbishop at Santiago, and bishops at La Serena, Concepcion, and Ancud.

UNITED STATES OF COLOMBIA.-This is a republic consisting of nine States, in the northwestern part of South America, and includes the isthmus connecting the two continents. It has a population of nearly 3,000,000, and while the Roman Catholic is the predominating religion, there are no restrictions against other forms of worship.

ECUADOR.-This republic, constituted in 1830, has a population of about 1,000,000. With the exception of the uncivilized Indians, the entire population may be said to belong to the Roman Catholic Church. According to the Concordat of 1863, no other religion may be tolerated. The instruction of children and young people in the universities, colleges, and public and private schools, is entirely in the hands of the priesthood. All ecclesiastical causes are judged in ecclesiastical courts only. Criminals cannot be arrested if they take refuge in a church or any other holy place. The Church has one archdiocese, Quito, and six dioceses.

PARAGUAY.-This small State was discovered by Sebastian Cabot in 1526, and taken in possession by Spain. It was ruled as an independent State for nearly two centuries by the Jesuit missionaries, who were expelled in 1768. It

URUGUAY.-VENEZUELA.

39

secured its freedom from Spain in 1811. Owing to wars and local political tyranny its population has diminished to about 400,000. The religion of the country is nominally Roman Catholic; though under the presidency of the first and second Lopez, little, if any, respect or allegiance was shown to the Holy See. The bishops enjoyed no immunities by reason of their sacerdotal character. Under the younger Lopez nearly all of the most intelligent priests were arrested, tortured, and put to death.

URUGUAY.-The first European settlement was made by Spanish Jesuits in 1622. The republic is now naturally one of the very richest countries of the globe. The Constitution guarantees a republican form of government, with civil and religious freedom as the corner-stones of the political fabric. Like all the Central and South American States the Roman Catholic Church has there the largest number of communicants. Other creeds are professed without molestation, and in the admirable educational system of the country, in which a number of American ladies and gentlemen are employed, there is no apparent denominational bias.

VENEZUELA.-The Constitution of this republic, reformed in 1864, declared the Roman Catholic to be the religion of the State, and guaranteed freedom to all others. Notwithstanding the revolutions that have occurred, and the international difficulties into which the country has been frequently drawn, a handsome recognition of the importance of a pure ecclesiastical system and a progressive plan of education, has been manifested by successive administrations. The country is liberally dotted with churches. There are two grand universities, one at Caraccas, the other at Merida, twenty-eight colleges for intermediate instruction, and 1,000 primary schools, with an attendance of over 65,000 children, all more or less under the control of the Church. The clergy are strictly subordinate to the civil powers. The government exercises the patronage of the Church, and the Papal sanction, when required, is transmitted through it. The Archiepiscopal See is at Caraccas, and there are bishoprics at Merida and Ciudad Bolivar.

CHAPTER I.

THE PAGAN NATIONS.

The Ancient Greeks and Romans-Greek and Roman Deities-Priests and Sacrifices-Ancient Greek Marriages-Ancient Roman Marriages-Ancient Greek Funerals-Ancient Roman Funerals.

THE ANCIENT GREEKS AND ROMANS.

TH
Tde fretko at suppyptians,

HE Greeks are supposed to have derived many of their

deities from the Egyptians, as well as no small number of their religious ceremonies. They received from them the custom of building temples, which were erected, some in valleys, some in woods, and others by the brink of a river, or fountain, according to the deity who was destined to inhabit them; for the ancients ascribed the management of every particular affair to some particular god, and appropriated to each a peculiar form of building, according to his or her peculiar character and attributes.

It is supposed that the worship of idols was introduced among the Greeks in the time of Cecrops, the founder of Athens, in the year 1556 B.C. At first these idols were formed of rude blocks of wood or stone, until, when the art of graving, or carving, was invented, these rough masses were changed into figures resembling living creatures. Afterwards, marble, and ivory, or precious stones, were used in their formation, and lastly, gold, silver, brass, and other metals. At length, in the refined ages of Greece, all the genius of the sculptor was employed in the creation of these exquisite statues, which no modern workmanship has yet

surpassed. Chaos was considered the most ancient of all the gods, and Coelus, or heaven, followed him. Vesta, Prisca, or Terra, the earth, was the wife of Cœlus, and ranked as the first goddess.

GREEK AND ROMAN DEITIES.

The Greeks divided their deities into three classes-celestial, marine, and infernal, though there are many others not embraced in this classification:

JUPITER, the father of gods and men, is said to have been born in Crete, or to have been sent there in infancy for concealment. He was the son of Saturn, the god of Time, and of Cybele, otherwise called Rhea. He was the most powerful of all the gods, and everything was subservient to his will. His father, Saturn, had received the kingdom of the world from his brother, Titan, on condition of destroying all the sons who should be born to him. Saturn, therefore, devoured his children immediately after birth. As soon as he was a year old, Jupiter made war against the Titans, a race of giants, who had imprisoned his father, Saturn, and having conquered them, set his father at liberty. But Saturn having soon after conspired against him, was deposed by Jupiter, and sent into banishment. Being thus left sole master of the world, Jupiter divided his empire with his two brothers, Neptune and Pluto. For himself he reserved the kingdom of heaven; to Neptune he gave dominion over the sea, and to Pluto the infernal regions.

Poets describe him as a majestic personage, sitting upon a throne of gold or ivory, under a rich canopy, holding a thunderbolt in one hand, and in the other a sceptre of cypress. At his feet, or on his sceptre, sits an eagle with expanded wings. He has a flowing beard, and is generally represented with golden shoes, and an embroidered cloak. The Cretans depicted him without ears, to signify impartiality.

APOLLO was the son of Jupiter and Latona, and brother of the goddess Diana. He was born in the island of Delos, where his mother fled to avoid the jealousy of Juno. He