Publisher's Synopsis
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1921 edition. Excerpt: ...a systematic propaganda against Protestantism in the island. 1 A small green snake, common in Haiti and bearing the name of ' Voodoo, ' is idolized as a symbol of the hidden nature-powers which are worshipped by the devotees of this creed. Nowhere in the world was there a greater need for the Gospel of the grace of God; scarcely anywhere was the attempt to convey it more adventurous and doubtful in the issue. The attempt began in 1816, but not till eighteen years later did the Methodist Missionary come to stay in Haiti. The date of the British Emancipation happens therefore to form an era for Methodism in the island, though the French Revolution had brought freedom to the Haitian Negroes forty years earlier. A certain Methodist, Captain Reynolds, who on his voyages looked out for opportunities to serve Christ's kingdom, turned the attention of the Missionary Committee toward Haiti. This indication came at the moment when the Missionary Society had been started in England to take up and extend Thomas Coke's work; larger funds were becoming available for foreign enterprise, and the missionary leaders were in quest of fresh fields. Haiti stood in the forefront of Negrodom--the first Black Republic in history; it lay near to islands in which the Mission was successfully planted. While its liberal form of government promised freedom of operation, the spiritual condition of the people was pitiable; to win them for Christ would mean much for Christianity amongst the black race. Captain Reynolds reported his interview with President Petion, from whom he brought a virtual invitation to the Wesleyan Mission, producing at the same time a written assurance given by the Haitian Secretary of State that no hindrance would be put in the way of a..