The Destruction of the Caribs
Among the effects of the volcanic eruptions in the West Indies is the almost utter destruction of the last of that strong aboriginal race, the Caribs. When Las Casas came over in the sixteenth century, they were destroyed by the thousands. He himself tells us “of the killing of 7,000 children in three months, making no account of the dreadful slaughter of adults” (S. F. Examiner). This was done not by the Spain of the Mohammedan regime, but of Roman Catholicism. It was called Christianity, but it was not. Jesus said: “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I am come, that they may have life, and may have it more abundantly.” John 10:10, Douay Version. “The Son of Man came not to destroy souls, but to save.” Luke 9:56, Id. We condemn no Catholic for this, nor even the men of that time; but we do say that the religion that fostered that kind of work has been weighed in the balances, and found wanting, and men ought to see it.