ninety miles from Guadalajara. Here he had a home and a welcome from a few sympathizing friends, and for several days he held meetings every evening in a room provided for him. It was decided that Mr. Stephens should take up his residence in this place, where the people were so much interested that they would sit for hours at a time to listen, and crowd about him afterward to buy Bibles and tracts. For three months he had great encouragement, and the majority of the people tolerated, and even favored, the Protestants. This success so exasperated the curate of the parish that he preached a most exciting sermon to his people, mostly Indians, in which he said, "It is necessary to cut down even to the roots the tree that bears bad fruit. You may interpret these words as you please." An extract from a Mexican paper gives the sad result of this appeal: "At two o'clock on the 2d of March the house of Mr. Stephens was assaulted by a mob crying, ('Long live the aura! Death to the Protestants!' They forced the doors and entered, destroying and stealing everything they found. Mr. Stephens was brutally assassinated, his head severed into several parts and his body very much mutilated." One of the Protestants was killed at the same time, and Mr. Watkins was threatened, but escaped, and others among the Protestants were assaulted and in danger from poison.
In 1876, in spite of bitter persecution—always traceable to the priests—the converts in Guadalajara numbered one hundred and fifty. The experience of the laborers here as elsewhere in Mexico proves that "in no portion of the unevangelized world is the preaching of the simple gospel of Christ likely to encounter more determined opposition than in countries decidedly Roman
