part of the country, where great danger was to be feared from brigands. As he walked along he saw in the distance a clump of trees, and in the little space among them, sitting in a circle on the ground, were several men. He feared that he had run into the very danger he was trying to avoid, but put on a bold face and pushed on. As he drew nearer he saw an old man reading aloud to the others from a book. The men rose as he came up to them and received him politely, and, making room in their circle, invited him to sit down on the ground with them. Seeing that they meant no harm, he accepted their invitation. Taking his seat next the old man, he asked to see what he was reading. To his surprise and joy he found that the circle had a copy of the New Testament published by the American Bible Society.
Another story is to be referred, probably, to a still earlier date. Many years ago, when Mexico was almost wholly without the Bible, a Mexican gentleman who owned a large hacienda in one of the northern provinces became acquainted in a very remarkable manner with the saving truth of the gospel. He was wealthy, and employed so many to serve him that he might be said to own a village. He was proud of his Spanish ancestry, and delighted to tell of the time when those of his family who first came from Spain to America became the fortunate possessors of an image of wood called San Roman, said to have been found floating in the water in mid-ocean. His ancestors named their estate in New Spain after this image; they built a chapel for it, and worshiped it. When the season was dry, as it often was, they brought San Roman out and carried him in solemn procession about the place, hoping in this way to bring
