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have been impossible in the life of any organization less continuous than its own; but there is not the least probability that the life of the Papacy will be long enough to witness a return to its old position of temporal sovereignty and the transfer of the House of Savoy back to its old kingdom of Sardinia. There may come radical changes in the political organization of Italy, but such changes are likely to be more unfavorable to the political ambitions of the Pope than the attitude of the House of Savoy. The Catholic Powers to which the Pope appeals have dwindled to Spain, Portugal, Belgium, and Austria-Hungary; three of them Powers of the third class, while Austria-Hungary is held together only by the tact and devotion of its ruler. Catholic Europe has become as much a dream as the temporal power of the Papacy.

In a Church Court

A case in the Consistory Court of London, which we find reported in the "Birmingham Post," illustrates the electrical state and unstable equilibrium of the ecclesiastical atmosphere of England. The Vicar of St. Anselm's Church desired to set up a rood screen at the entrance to the chancel. On this screen were to be figures of Christ on the Cross, his mother, and St. John, all of life size. Objection being made by the Chancellor of the diocese when applied to for permission, the Vicar's counsel replied to the objection that the proposed representation of a historic scene. was "a partial representation," that the petitioner was willing either to add to or to take away from the figures designed for the screen, so as to bring it "within the terms of Scriptural exactness approved by the Court. He also urged that there was no evidence to show that such a representation might tend to superstition. The Chancellor said that he felt bound by previous decisions to refuse the application, as had been done in the dioceses of Norwich and Rochester. St. Anselm's was a parish church, for the use of all the surrounding inhabitants. Nothing, therefore, could be put up or done therein which would be likely to offend any one attending the service. The proposed screen "might be made an object of superstitious reverence," and he would

not authorize it. Appeal has been taken from this decision to the Court of Arches. It is to be noted that much greater sensitiveness to the sentiment of the parish appears in this case than appeared some ten years ago, when a sculptured reredos of similar character to this rood screen was set up in St. Paul's Cathedral, an event which caused a loud but disregarded outcry.

Missionary Notes

At the beginning of September the American Board was able to announce in its "Missionary Herald" that no definite tidings had so far been received of the death of any person in China connected with it, though the peril was not past. There was no doubt, however, that many members of its native churches had met a martyr's death. An article in the "Indian Spectator," of Bombay, by an eminent Parsee, Mr. Malabari, says of the faminerelief work done by missionaries of the Board: "We cannot find adequate terms to give expression to our admiration of the manner in which the missionaries of the Christian religion are spending themselves during this terrible crisis for the sake of the people of this country. They are acting on the principle that the gift without the giver is bare." The penetrative effect upon the Hindu mind of this year's experience of Christian philanthropy will outreach that of many years of ordinary persuasion. But for the famine in India and the outbreak in China, the current expenses of the Board would have been covered by the increased donations of the year; but largely increased expenses in both those countries have been unavoidable, and the situation appeals for correspondingly increased supplies. To sustain the 2,500 orphaned children that the Marathi Mission in India is now able to care for will require $50,000 a year for an average term of five years. By October more than a million dollars will have been contributed by this country to relieve the distress of India, but in the aftermath of the famine there should be no sudden cut-off of help. The Board sent out a dozen missionaries in August, seven of them new workers, to India, Turkey, and Africa. The daughter of the Pundita Ramabai has also sailed to join her mother, whose work during the

famine has been exhausting. Professor The Administration and

Max Müller's recent open letter to Mozoomdar, the Brahmo-Somaj leader, urging him to declare himself a Christian, has quite changed Hindu opinion of Dr. Müller. In view of his often expressed admiration for the best side of Hindu philosophy and faith (the present writer has heard him say that Hinduism is in some aspects "a beautiful religion"), they freely quoted him, and some of them held that in his former birth he was an orthodox Brahman. Now they reckon him as no better than a missionary, which is for them a term of vilification. It is of no use to go a mile with some people in India, and here also, in hope of getting them to go twain with us. The adoption of the gold standard in India is thus commented on in a recent missionary letter: "Silver may be, and indeed is, a very convenient currency in some respects, but even so demonetized an individual as a missionary finds that he sits more easily upon a gold standard than a silver one. It has wonderfully sobered the tottering silver rupee, so that we can now rely on its market value and redeeming quality." To these mission notes we may add that the annual meeting of the American Board is to be held at St. Louis, October 10.

Association

The fifty-fourth anAmerican Missionary nual meeting of the American Missionary Association is to be held in Springfield, Mass., from October 23 to 25. The Rev. Newell Dwight Hillis, D.D., of Brooklyn, will preach the sermon. The churches and citizens extend a cordial invitation to delegates, life-members, and others. The meeting, it is announced, promises to be one of the largest and most interesting missionary conventions ever held by Congregational churches. Problems of National importance will be discussed by distinguished speakers. The full programme of exercises and addresses may be obtained by writing to the Secretary, Dr. A. F. Beard, 287 Fourth Avenue, New York. Reports from missions extending from Porto Rico to Alaska will be presented, and missionaries of many races will bring messages from different fields. Contributing churches, local conferences, and State associations are entitled to elect delegates,

China

Since the beginning of the troubles in China, our Government has had two distinct objects in view, and only two: first, to protect the lives and properties of its citizens and to secure proper guarantees of indemnity for injuries inflicted upon our citizens and their property; and, second, to use every endeavor to preserve the integrity of China and to maintain the "open door"-that is to say, to keep China free to the commerce of the world. To this policy it has consistently adhered from the beginning. When the Powers bombarded the forts at Taku, the American Admiral, with the same kind of independence and sound judgment that Admiral Dewey showed in an aggressive form at Manila, refused to join in the attack, declaring that it was unjustifiable, and that it would be very bad policy. Events have apparently confirmed this position; and nothing which Americans have done in China since the troubles began reflects more credit on the country than the position of Admiral Kempff. When it became evident, however, that the legations were in serious peril, our Government took a leading part in urging and taking prompt action, and it was largely due to our initiative that, after the retreat of Admiral Seymour's column of relief, an adequate expedition was hastily organized, rapidly pushed to the gates of Peking, and the legations relieved from their terrible peril. So far as the first object of our Government is concerned, it still remains to secure adequate reparation for injuries inflicted; but the Government may be trusted to do that in its own way and at its own time, and with due regard to justice.

No sooner had it accomplished its first aim than it promptly addressed itself to the second; that is to say, to maintain the integrity of China and the open door. The very interesting correspondence between our Government and Russia, of which a full abstract is given elsewhere, will form a notable chapter in recent diplomacy, and one which may not improbably be the first step in negotiations between the Powers looking to reasonable and harmonious action. It comes as a surprise to

Europe, not because there is anything new in the position which the United States takes in that correspondence-for its position is strictly in harmony with every declaration which it has previously made but because Russia has come to our point of view. Having rescued the legations, the United States is ready, upon proper and trustworthy assurances from responsible Chinese officials, to withdraw its forces from Peking and allow the Chinese to reconstruct their own Government. Russia is not only the first in the field to propose the immediate adoption of this programme, but definitely declares that she has no designs to seize territory in China, and that she desires to preserve the integrity. of the Empire. If the other Powers can be brought to act with Russia and the United States, a great triumph will be secured for Western diplomacy, and a great service rendered to China. Nothing could do more to convince the Chinese that the Western nations are not made up exclusively of selfish traders and unscrupulous landgrabbers than the action upon which Russia and the United States have agreed. It must not be forgotten that, however great the offense of China has been (and no one will minimize it), that country has a long list of grievances against the Western Powers. Before we are done with China we shall be compelled, if our policy with that country is to be either intelligent or Christian, to find out the Chinese point of view, and to consider dispassionately how much is to be said on their behalf. It is easy to imagine the attitude of a conservative Chinese, belonging to an empire older than any of its antagonists, in the face of the great changes which have been brought about by Western influence during the last few decades. China has seen an eruption of what she considers barbarians into her territory; she has seen the rise of a new religion, the introduction of a new school system, the organization of a new administration, the creation of a modern army with modern weapons, the forcible seizure of Chinese ports, the taking of great sections of the country, and she has heard the growing talk about the dismemberment of the Empire. It is not surprising that, under all these circumstances, there has been a tremendous reaction against West

ern advance, and that that reaction has taken violent forms. All this must be taken into account by the Western Powers, if they are to show any justice in their dealings with the Chinese.

Our Government has kept itself absolutely free from the suspicion of a selfish policy; its statesmanlike dealing with the whole question from the beginning grows more and more clear, and its influence, both in China and in Europe, will correspondingly gain in weight, whether the Powers act with us or not. Russia may have ulterior plans behind her proposals, as the English press suggests, but she has come, for the time being at least, to our position. Our policy has been frank, just, and generous. It has

taken into account the interests of China quite as much as the interests of our own citizens; it marks a new stage in international dealings. It is one of Mr. Hay's many successes, and it adds immensely to the prestige of an Administration which has had to deal with more various and difficult problems than any since the administration of President Lincoln; and which has, taking into account their magnitude, delicacy, and peril, dealt with them with extraordinary

success.

Open to the Light

"By inspirations," writes St. Francis of Sales, "are meant all those interior attractions, motions, reproaches and remorses, illuminations and instructions, which God excites in us, preventing our heart with his blessings, through his fatherly care and love, in order to awaken, stimulate, urge, and attract us to the practice of holy virtues, to heavenly love, to good resolutions, and, in a word, to everything that may help us on our way to eternal happiness. This is what the Spouse calls knocking at the door, and speaking to the heart of his Spouse, awaking her when she sleeps, calling after her when she is absent, inviting her to eat of his honey, gather apples and flowers in his garden, to sing, and cause her sweet voice to sound in his ears."

Under this mystical figure the good Bishop of Geneva illustrates the gentle, tender, constant approach of God to the soul through all manner of deep and

beautiful impulses and ministries. The shepherd is always going after the sheep which have strayed; the lighted candle is always shining in the hand of one who searches for the lost; the Christ is always - seeking those who have fallen and defiled themselves; the Spirit is always striving to open the eyes, confirm the faith, widen the activity, and deepen the joy of the soul which leaves a door of entrance ajar. As light streams from world to world until the universe floats in a fathomless sea of splendor, so the spirit of God floods the world of consciousness, searching everywhere for access to the hidden sources of truth and joy in life, and evoking every fine instinct, every sound purpose, every generous aspiration, into activity.

Men are lonely, depressed, and defeated not because they are fighting a solitary battle, making a solitary journey, or going through an incomprehensible experience, but because they shut themselves away from inspiration and bar the doors against divine companionship. There is nothing more certain than that men attract to themselves the persons who are like them in aim and the experiences which match their temper and deeds. To the violent man violence is always approaching; while the man of quiet spirit finds peace waiting on his steps. The censorious, the harsh, and the uncharitable are continually haunted by coldness, indifference, and unsympathetic judgments; the kindly, the generous, and the helpful find the services they render returning to them in a world which blossoms about their feet as they move through life. Let no man deceive himself with the pagan myths of the Fates; it is we who make or mar ourselves; our hands sow the seed which presently bears its grain for our glad or sorrowful harvesting.

The fellowship, the illumination, and the guidance of God are always to be had for the asking; but asking is not a form of words; it is purifying, sweetening, and consecrating the spirit; it is so ordering the invisible house in which we live that pure thoughts fly thither by force of spiritual gravitation; that generous purposes gather there and grow in strength by reason of the hospitality which greets them; that noble inspirations find there that air of faith in which they spread their

wings in glorious strength. To the man of open and sensitive imagination the world is always abloom; he has small need of the help of the poets to keep fresh and clear his vision of the beauty which lies on the face of nature. In like manner, the pure of heart are not dependent on external evidences that God is in his world. To keep the house of life sweet with the fragrance of good thoughts and deeds is to invite His presence whose coming is like the light of morning which opens the flowers and sets the souls of the birds free in a music which is the voice of the earth singing to the sky that fertilizes it.

New York's Overshadowing Issue

The separation of State from National issues, which reformers have been urging for years, is supremely essential this year in New York. Apparently the managers of both parties are counting upon the presence of a National election to make the voters forget that any State issues are to be decided. Yet a State issue is to be decided more important than any which has brought the voters to the polls in any distinctively State campaign during the past decade. Unless the voters keep this issue in mind, and vote only for the candidates who represent their interests regardless of National party lines, the issue is likely to be decided by the party managers adversely to the welfare of the public.

The issue to which we refer is, of course, that of the Ramapo water monopoly. During the past fortnight, thanks to the high public spirit of the Merchants' Association, the public has received an authoritative report showing just what this colossal conspiracy threatens. The report, which was prepared at a cost of over thirty thousand dollars and covers over six hundred printed pages, makes clear and sure just what New York's present water supply has cost, just what the Ramapo contract will cost, and approximately what the city will need to expend to continue independent of the private monopoly. Put in the briefest possible compass, the facts are as follows:

From 1832 till 1884 the cost of con

structing the old water system with the Croton Aqueduct was $37,000,000, and the net profits over and above operating expenses and interest were $4,000,000.

From 1885 till 1898 the cost of constructing the new water system with the new Aqueduct was $49,000,000, and the net profits have been $19,000,000.

The yearly profits have steadily risen with the city's increased consumption. They now aggregate nearly $2,000,000 a year, and are likely to equal $4,000,000 by 1910. The cost to the city of supplying water has fallen from $54 per million gallons half a century ago to $29 in 1898, and still further reductions are promised from works now under construction.

At this point the Ramapo Company enters and almost binds the city to pay $70 per million gallons for water brought only to the northern boundary of the city. As distribution through the city costs $10 a million gallons, the Ramapo price is really $80 per million, or nearly three times as much as it costs the city to supply itself!

The proposed Ramapo contract covers a period of forty years (1906-1945), during which the company offers to supply 200,000,000 gallons daily at this price of $80 per million. Inasmuch as the city charges consumers but $50 a million, it would during this whole period have a deficit of $30 where it now has a profit of over $20 on each million gallons delivered. Put in tabular form, the difference is :

COMPARISON FOR FORTY YEARS, 1906-1945 Net profit by city system..... $48,000,000

would in 1945 own nothing. The difference, therefore, between the results of city ownership and the acceptance of the Ramapo contract will be not merely $108,000,000, as stated in the table, but this vast sum in cash, and the ownership of a $37,000,000 aqueduct besides.

With such an exhibit there is no doubt as to what course the people wish to have pursued. They wish for such legislation as will extinguish or expropriate the dangerous rights claimed by the Ramapo Company under its scandalous charter. They also wish for such legislation as will permit the people of New York City and other cities to secure for themselves such water as may be necessary for their future needs. No party, however powerful, would dare to go into any campaign-not even Tammany Hall into a New York City campaign—proclaiming to the people that any other course would be pursued. But present appearances indicate that the party managers of both parties intend to put forward candidates who, when in office, will pursue the course desired by the Ramapo Company, and put obstacles in the way of the measures desired by the entire disinterested public. If the public permits this all-important State issue to be ignored in the conflict over National issues, or consents to vote for party nominees whose position on this issue is not clear and explicit, the party managers will come out victorious, and the public interests will again be betrayed.

Deficit under Ramapo contract.... 60,000,000 Concerning Temperance

Total loss from contract.... $108,000,000 In estimating the cost of operation under city ownership the Merchants' Association reckons not only upon keeping up interest payments, but also upon making sinking-fund payments sufficient to pay for the new system that will be needed within a few years to supply additional water. Such a system, capable of supplying 250,000,000 gallons daily from the neighborhood of Poughkeepsie, can, it reports, be constructed for $37,000,000. By 1945 the bonds issued to pay for this system would all be retired by the sinking-fund payments, and the city would own this valuable plant; whereas if it accepted the Ramapo contract it

An illustration of the intemperate methods of certain so-called temperance advocates-methods which we are persuaded do incalculable injury to the temperance cause--is furnished by certain so-called reformers who charge the President of the United States with being a wine-bibber because he sometimes drinks wine. Whether he does or not we do not know, and it is not our business to inquire. To call him a wine-bibber on the assumption that he does drink wine is to commit a far greater offense than that of winedrinking, because it is an offense against truth, and wine-drinking is only an offense against a conventional standard of propriety. A great many years ago a certain

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