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America in the extent of its literary productions, yet what is true there is measurably true elsewhere. I am indebted to Señor Quesada, formerly Argentine Minister at Washington, for much information on this point.

Among Argentine historians figure an ex-President of the Republic, General Bartolomé Mitre, the author of several volumes, as well as of many monographs, and of some very important studies in American bibliography; Vicente F. Lopez, Minister of Finance, whose standard history of his own country has been published in eight volumes, and whose work on the native races has been printed in French; Luis L. Dominguez; Minister Quesada himself, who has written many volumes of history and travels, as well as criticism; Manuel R. Trelles, and a half-dozen others. At least ten writers have published their collected works, of whom one, Santiago Estrada, has been most highly praised by the leading critics of Spain, on the occasion of the appearance of his eight volumes recently printed in Barcelona. In poetry, besides the great historical names of Echeverriá, Balcarce, and Mármol, there must be considered Olegario Andrade, who died but a few years ago, and whose poems won the enthusiastic praise of Valera, in his first volume on South American literature; Carlos Guido Spano, Juan María Gutierrez, Ricardo Gutierrez, J. C. Varela, and very many others. A host of names could be cited as authors of travels and novels. Specialists appear in works on bibliography, archæology, editions of the classics, and international law; in the latter department, Carlos Calvo, author of "Le Droit International," in five volumes, and "Dictionnaire du Droit International," is an acknowledged authority. A large number of literary reviews and of scientific and technical journals witness to the literary activity of the La Plata Republic. In 1887 there were published 452 papers and periodicals of all sorts, and the "Anuario Bibliográfico" corresponding to the same year counts up 899 books and pamphlets published in the course of 1886, having to do with science, travels, literature, law, etc. This quantity of literary production, as Minister Quesada well says, is no proof of high quality, but it is a proof of intellectual activity.

It may be worth while to give the titles of a few books relating to the whole subject or a part of it, which may be of service to any who may care to look more into the matter for themselves:

"Poesías de la América Meridional. Coleccionados por Anita J. De Wittstein. E. A. Brockhaus, Leipzig, 1874." "Escritores españoles é hispano-americanos. Por M. Cañete, Madrid, 1884." "Escritores y poetas sud-americanos. Por Francisco Sosa. Mexico." "Historia de la Literatura en Nueva Granada. Por José María Vergara y Vergara. Bogota, 1867." "Galería de poesías de los mejores poetas de la América del centro. Por Ramon Uriarte. Guatemala, 1888." Poésie Castillane Contemporaine (Espagne et Amérique). Par Boris de Tannenberg. Perrin et Cie, Paris, 1889." "Cartas Americanas. Por Juan Valera. Fuentes y Capdeville, Madrid, 1889." "Nuevas Cartas Americanas. Por Juan Valera. nando Fé, Madrid, 1890."

An Initial Party

By Mae Myrtle Cook

"La

Fer

Grace Smith gave an initial party to about thirty of us young people last week, and we all enjoyed it so much that I think perhaps some other party of young people may like to know of it. The invitations were very odd-shaped affairs, being cut out in form of Grace's monogram. Her initials are G. A. S. They were united in a very pretty monogram, which was then painted in three shades of purple upon the folder to be used as the invitations; it was very pretty. Upon opening the invitation one read as follows:

"G. A. S. requests the pleasure of the presence of J. K. L. at an initial party on Friday evening next.”

Of course we all wondered what an initial party was, but, although we besiegel Grace with questions, all the satisfaction we got was the answer, "Wait and see." Our curiosity was wrought up to the highest pitch, and when the evening appointed came not one of those invited was missing. After a short time Grace asked us all to find seats. Then, handing her brother Frank a bunch of cards with pencils attached, she said:

"Now, while Frank is supplying you with cards and pencils,

I will explain to you what is desired of you. You will notice that at the left of each card is a column of figures. Now I have here a list of questions, one for each number on your cards. As I ask these questions you will answer each in just three words, using as the initial letters of each answer the three initials at the head of your paper. Do you all understand ?"

But as some were a little doubtful, she explained that the initials of each person present would be found on some one of the cards, and that no person could have the card containing his or her own initials. It happened that one or two had received cards with their own initials, but they exchanged with others, and soon all were settled down waiting for the questions. Grace took her place with us, and her mother read off the questions, which we were given just three minutes each to answer. A great deal of laughing and much knitting of brows went on as we puzzled over the answering of the questions, without using other than the given initials. There were fifteen of the questions, as follows:

1. What is your name?
2. Describe yourself.
3. How old are you?
4. What are you doing?

5. Where do you live?

6. What is your greatest fault? 7. What is your favorite fad?

8. What is your present occupation?
9. What do you intend to be?

10. What is your favorite article of food?
11. What are you wearing at present?
12. Who is your favorite author?
13. Shall you ever marry?

14. What is your best quality?
15. What is your favorite flower?

Of course the first question was easily answered, as we knew each other's names so well, but the rest were difficult to answer sensibly.

When the questions were all answered, the cards were exchanged until each person held that containing his or her own name. Mrs. Smith then read the first question, and the answers as written on the cards were read in succession; then she read the second, and so on, until all the answers were given.

It was very amusing, and the absurdity of some of the answers, and the undeniable cleverness of others, together with the grammatical construction of others, kept us laughing constantly. Some were very good and especially applicable, and of these I give a few, in order to show what ordinary young people can do in a very short time with a really somewhat difficult game.

Frances Orton Franklin, a gay, popular girl, was described as "Fond Of Flirting," her greatest fault was " Fooling Old Fogies," her present occupation" Following Of Fashions," and her favorite fad " Finding Other Fellows."

Our young hostess, a pleasant girl with artistic tastes, was said to have for a fad "Giggling And Singing," her best quality was a Groping After Sacrifice," her favorite food " Grapes And Sausages," and she was to be a "Great Artist, Sir."

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George W. Dean, the studious boy, was described as a "Grave Wise Donkey," he "Grew Wiser Daily," was to become a "Great, Wealthy Doctor," and his favorite author was the "Gentle, Witty Dickens."

Inez Lilian Yothers was an "Idle, Lazy Youngster," and when asked if she would marry, replied, "It's Leap Year." Will F. Allen's favorite food was "Well-Fried Alligators," his favorite flower "White-Flowering Asters," he wore "WellFitting Attire," his age was "Warranted Fifteen Ages."

Supper was now announced, and we all trooped out to the dining-room. At each plate was a dainty card bearing a monogram, and each guest must search for his or her own place as thus indicated.

After supper the time was variously employed with games, one of which was very much enjoyed on account of its novelty. It was played after the plan of the childish game of "I know something that begins with " a certain letter. Only this time the leader said:

"Who is the Jolly White Ragpicker'?" also announcing that it was the name of a favorite poet.

After much guessing it was correctly announced to be James Whitcomb Riley. Some of the others were: Scotch Rustic Child-S. R. Crockett. Greatly Celebrated-Grover Cleveland. Eccentric Writing Woman-Ella W. Wilcox. Reckless Bard-Robert Browning. Lovable Modern Author-Louisa M. Alcott. Hypercritic Skeptic-Herbert Spencer. Engaging Evangelistic Helper-E. E. Hale.

The time passed so pleasantly that we were all surprised to find that it was growing late, and we departed, assuring our hostess that we had enjoyed our evening greatly.

Books and Authors

The Life to Come1

The

The Free Presbyterian Church in Scotland and the Congregational churches in England and the United States are close competitors for the honors of fecundity in influential theological works. In the present volume, however, the conservative interest will rejoice more than the innovating or progressist. traditional views are nevertheless presented with a cautious reserve on crucial points, and a judicious moderation of statement, as well as a tone of thoughtful appreciation toward controverted doctrines, which cannot fail to win consideration in dispassionate minds.

What Christianity brought to the world on the subject of Immortality was new light on the truth already glimpsed, and the subsequent transformation of a feeble and vacillating belief into the assurance of a glorious hope. Of this preparatory stage Dr. Salmond gives a full history. The student will find here a thesaurus of well-digested information on the beliefs of the lower races of men, and the ideas of the more civilized ancient nations. So many cases of seeming exception have given way before careful scrutiny that he holds it certain that there has been no people devoid of the belief which "the quenchless instinct of life" inspires, that it shall outlast death.

The primitive belief in the persistence of life gradually took on a moral form, especially in Egypt, Greece, and Persia, in the idea of a retributive judgment beyond the grave. Here we can only note the historical lesson, significant even now, how "the canker of sacerdotalism" destroyed the moral value of this idea by its substitution of magical devices and ceremonial practices for a life of virtuous endeavor.

Of closer interest to us is Dr. Salmond's account of the Hebrew preparation for the Christian doctrine. Hebrew ideas of the future are traceable to Abraham's early Babylonian home. The Hebrew Sheol and the Babylonian Arâlû were each a realm of shadow, a scant half-life, joyless, abhorrent even to pious souls. Out of this dreary conception the great prophetic souls of Israel rose through no borrowing of foreign beliefs, but through their unique intuitions of God, as the Living God, from whose grace neither life nor death could separate, for that he was in Sheol as well as in the heavens. This impassioned hope of the righteous soul in God gave birth also to the national Messianic hope of his universal reign over the nations, in which Israel through repentance should rise again to national glory. But it could not be that God's dead people would be worse off than his living people. Thus the resurrection of Israel on earth prompted hope in a resurrection of Israelites from Sheol. Dr. Salmond repudiates all alleged indebtedness of the Old Testament on this point to Zoroastrianism. "Its conception of God explains the entire history of its conception of a future life.”

But the Old Testament does not go beyond the idea of a resurrection limited to Israel. It is Christ who extends it to "all that are in the graves," the evil as well as the good. The shadow side of the truth he seldom shows, and only to sober the scorner. He does not so much teach immortality as manifest in himself the life which is indestructible. As the prophets' thought of immortality grew out of their thought of God, so the Apostles' thought of it grew out of their thought of Christ, as the One who could not be holden of death. He has assured them, "Because I live, ye shall live." To die is to be with him in the bosom of God.

The prophets' conception of the kingdom of God as conceived in their Messianic hope, Christ purified of later notions which had narrowed and debased it, then transfigured it into the conception of a sovereign moral order, in which the present and the future are related as the now and then of a continuous life, and made it, as Dr. Salmond observes, "the central point of his teaching." His teaching is, therefore, viewed as apocalyptic by those who ignore the grand differences it shows to all other teaching which wears that name: first, in insistence that the Kingdom is now here demanding allegiance; next, in reticence about its future disclosures. The main concern of Christ is not other-worldly, except so far as the issues of the other world are involved in this world. It is with the present that he has to do, but a present which is the future in the making.

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The three particulars of the future which are distinctly touched by Christ are his Return, the Resurrection, and the Judgment. Dr. Salmond takes the traditional view, according to which these are successive events taking place at the end of the world." This view coheres with the ancient idea of human life on earth as recently begun and soon to end, but not with the modern idea of a race whose feeble beginnings are immeasurably

The Christian Doctrine of Immortality. By Stewart D. F. Salmond, M.A., D.D., Professor of Theology, Free Church College. Aberdeen. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York. $5.

remote in the past, and whose maturity is to be coeval with the habitability of the earth for thousands of centuries. In this vast course of things, whose successive stadia will be marked off, as in the past, by great crises and catastrophes, by ice-ages and cataclysms, we must distinguish more clearly than Dr. Salmond the time-worlds of history from the space-world of science. The Revised Version suggests this, as often as it reads "the consummation of the age" for "the end of the world." Equally important is it to note that while Dr. Salmond's phrase, "the Return," implies an event, Christ's word, “Parousia (Presence), implies a period, a continuity.

An "intermediate state" of purgatorial or sanctifying influences is a favorite postulate of those who relegate the Return, etc., to a remote end, as catastrophic events. For this hypothesis Dr. Salmond finds no Scriptural warrant, and is fain to leave in obscurity the question of souls awaiting a far-off "bodily resurrection." Substitute now for a catastrophic event an evolutionary process, and the Return (or Presence), the Resurrection, and the Judgment are transferable to the present, as stages in the progressive unfolding of spiritual life, in continuity of development here and hereafter. The evolutionary idea is no less accordant with the New Testament teachings than the catastrophic, while it clears away some refractory difficulties.

"Annihilation, Restoration, and Continuous Retribution" are each, in Dr. Salmond's view, possibly coherent with the New Testament, but the last named demonstrably so, and in the sense that retribution is unending. His discussion is elaborate: thirty pages to the great texts in 1 Peter concerning Christ's preaching in Hades. He will not concede that "everlasting" can mean anything but lasting forever. But even so he does not leave us wholly hopeless. "Eternal," to him a fateful synonym for endless, he says, "is not to be associated with metaphysical ideas of eternity." It is not the only case in which we have known a Scotch theological professor to vindicate the creed uncompromisingly, and then offer some consoling counterbalancing considerations.

Those who do not agree with Dr. Salmond will generally find their own views fairly stated either in the text or in copious notes from representative writers. For a writer of positive convictions he is a model of fairness and modesty. Our general criticism is that he does not admit that an age which has outgrown the Apostles' conceptions of the world and the universe may in some points more truly apprehend Christ than they. Also, that in dealing with the shadow side of the future he relies too much on the interpretation of texts, not allowing proportionate weight to the fundamental and architectonic principles of Christ, as related to the unapparent possibilities even of unhopeful lives; seeing that, as Jesus said of the Father, "all live unto him." We prefer to seek relief here from the gloomy results of textgrinding, rather than to think, with Dr. Salmond, that in the mysterious crisis of death may occur the regenerating change, whose last opportunity expires when the final breath that leaves the body leaves the soul in a moral condition unalterably fixed.

The Martyrs of To-Day'

A strong, timely, trenchant book. The author, the Rev. George H. Filian, was banished by the Turks from Marsovan, where he was a church pastor. He is vouched for by the Faculty of Chicago Theological Seminary, and by men like Drs. Storrs, Barrows, and Van Dyke. He tells the story of Armenia from the earliest time, but dwells at length on what has happened since the Turkish tyrant undertook to crush the noble race, whose only crime was that it was becoming, under its American teachers, more intelligent and prosperous than its Moslem neighbors. With the tale of outrage, blood, and devastation, and its sequel of famine and pestilence, we have been harrowed in the daily journals, until the stimulating dose, so often repeated, has. begun to have a narcotizing effect, and our sensibilities grow numb. Yet the facts are these, and we cannot say it concerns us not that bloodthirsty cruelty like that of the Assyrian butchers in the eighth century before Christ defies the sentiments of Christendom by the carnage wrought under the orders of Hamid II.. in this nineteenth century A.D.

We may be sure that the end is not yet. Pastor Filian believes. that ultimately the American and British missionaries, refusing to abandon their work, will be murdered, and that England and the United States will avenge them. However incredulous of this one may be, no one can deny that the policy of our Government on the question of American treaty rights in Turkey has been such as to encourage the aggressive policy of the Sultan in his efforts to rid his land of the steadfast friends of the Armenian martyrs. The New York "Times" last spring edi

Armenia and Her People; or, The Story of Armenia by an Armenian. American Publishing Company, Hartford, Conn.

torially declared that the record of our Government on this subject was discreditable to the Administration. The fact that few political opponents criticise it shows how apathetic is the public sentiment which ought to be aflame with the demand that American treaty rights shall be as promptly vindicated against the Turk as against the Spaniard, and in Armenia as in Cuba. Had our Government insisted on its right to have Consuls in Erzroom and Harpoot, the massacres there, and the destruction of $80,000 worth of American property last November, not yet reimbursed, would have been forestalled. We doubt much if American churches are doing their duty in creating the wholesome public sentiment which the situation demands. The general feeling among politicians seems to be that our missionaries had better come home rather than put the Government to the trouble of protecting them.

We cordially commend Pastor Filian's book, and urge the need of keeping the Armenian question, especially as it affects American and Christian interests, before our people and our Government.

While much may be said in commendation of Mohammedanism in an academic way in the study of comparative religion, Mr. Filian's book shows what a fiendish thing it is when girt with the sword of sovereign power. A letter from an American in Turkey, now before the writer, says in reference to the pandemonium created in Armenia: "This is Islam unbridled and stimulated on its baser side. The license it grants to grossest human passion under shadow of sacred law is beyond all conception. It is a menace to every Christian within its power."

New Books

[The books mentioned under this head and under that of Books Received include all received by The Outlook during the week ending June 26. This weekly report of current literature will be supplemented by fuller reviews of the more important works.]

The most important book of the week is Professor Kuno Francke's Social Forces in German Literature, the scope and spirit of which are well described in the sub-title as "A Study in the History of Civilization." In this elaborate and scholarly work, which, if we mistake not, is a real contribution to the literature about literature, Professor Francke has endeavored to point out the essential features of German civilization as they appear in German literature. We shall comment on the book at length later. (Henry Holt & Co., New York.)—To their series of Present-Day Primers the Fleming H. Revell Company, of this city, have added a Primer of Roman Catholicism; or, The Doctrines of the Church of Rome Briefly Examined in the Light of Scripture, by the Rev. C. H. H. Wright, D.D.—Mr. Isaac Roberts's Wages, Fixed Incomes, and the Free Coinage of Silver, a paper-bound pamphlet, contains a series of dialogues in which the author endeavors to point out what he regards as the danger involved in the free coinage of silver at the ratio of 16 to 1. (John Highlands, Philadelphia.) A First Fleet Family, by Louis Becke and Walter Jeffery, has a capital subject for a novel of adventure-the voyage and early history of the first penal settlers in Australia. The authors have accumulated a store of actual happenings which tell a pitiful and distressing tale. Considered as fiction, the book is inartistic and dull. (The Macmillan Company, New York.)———Another Australian book from the same publishers is Old Melbourne Memories, a collection of sketches of life in the early days of that city, by Rolf Boldrewood, well known as a writer of stories of Australian life.-Of two anony

mous stories in the "Protean Series" issued by Henry Holt & Co., of this city, entitled The Touch of Sorrow and A Stumbler in Wide Shoes, it need only be said that the former is quiet and gentle, but not strong in story interest, while the latter has some good characterdelineation, but is diffuse in style.

The Trent Affair, by Thomas L. Harris, gives a carefully prepared history of one of the most important episodes in the diplomatic history of this country and Great Britain. It includes an interesting review of the relations between the two countries at the beginning of the Civil War. (The Bowen-Merrill Company, Indianapolis.) Antiquarians will find much to interest them in Mrs. Basil Holmes's London Burial Grounds; the book is not, however, written in a way to attract the general reader. (The Macmillan Company, New York.) The need of a compact and at the same time a comprehensive statement of the graduate courses of the several American colleges resulted four years ago in the publication of the first Handbook of Graduate Courses. The handbook for 1896-97 has just been issued. These books are the authorized publications of the Federation of Graduate Clubs (Leach. Shewell & Sanborn, New York). They record the history of the development of higher education in the United States in a very compact form. The information they contain can be otherwise obtained only by a careful reading of the catalogues of the several colleges.

The weaving of a story with a social background, with characters that move according to the prescribed formula of a modern novel, but having Christ as the central figure, is always a dangerous experiment, even when the writer gives evidence of a reverent spirit, as does the author of The Hero of the Ages, Catherine Robertson McCartney. (Fleming H. Revell Company.). -What might be called a series of arguments on the nature and function of prayer has been put into book form by H. Clay Trumbull (J. D. Wattles & Co., Philadelphia), under the title Prayer: Its Nature and Scope.-The many friends

of the Rev. Dwight L. Moody will welcome the collection of familiar talks bound together and entitled Sowing and Reaping. (Fleming H. Revell Company.)- A primer recently published which will be of great value to those who are trying to awaken the interest of young people in the work of missions is A Primer of Modern British Missions, by Richard Lovett, M.A. (Fleming H. Revell Company, New York.) It is a rapid survey of missionary effort in behalf of foreign lands, since the first Christian settlement in India, A.D. 50.

Literary Notes

-An important history of the Commune is coming out in Paris. M. Lissagarey, the author, has based his work on the official Communist records, which were long supposed to have been destroyed, but were found some time ago.

-The present Vicar of Thornton, where Charlotte Bronté and her sister were born, and where their father was Vicar, is collecting subscriptions for a Bronté memorial organ. Contributions may be sent to the Rev. J. Jolly, Thornton, Bradford, England.

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-Zola's "Rome does not meet with favor in Catholic eyes. A Belgian Catholic journal quoted by the "Tablet" describes the book as "Baedeker beaten up with Mommsen, a fricassée of Winckelmann and Lamennais, Father Curci mixed in with Rohr, and Tolstoï interlarded with Joseph de Maistre."

-Mr. Blackmore, the English novelist, has just celebrated his seventy-first birthday. George Macdonald is his senior, being seventy-two. Mr. Meredith and Mrs. Oliphant are each sixty-eight. Miss Braddon is fifty-nine, Sir Walter Besant fifty-eight, Ouida fiftysix, and Mr. William Black fifty-five.

-Messrs. Henry Holt & Co. will issue immediately "International Bimetallism," by President Walker, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The book is the outcome of a course of lectures delivered at Harvard University, and was prepared without reference to the impending political contest in the United States.

-The journalistic profession certainly meets with due appreciation in Sweden. The London "Athenæum" tells us that the Storthing has just decided on giving two State grants of 1,000 kroner each to young journalists to enable them to gain experience in foreign countries, and the editors of newspapers are henceforth to have the free use of the State railways when traveling in the exercise of their profession.

"Mr. Harold Frederic," says the New York "Tribune," "has for some inscrutable reason recently published a novel under another name than his own. This novel is called March Hares,' and his pseudonym is 'George Forth.' What magic can there be in the name of George' that so many novelists have borrowed it? Why George Eliot' and 'George Sand' and 'George Fleming' and 'George Forth,' not to speak of many less well-known Georges?"

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-In The Outlook of June we announced the early publication of "The Treasury of Sacred Song from American Sources," edited by W. Garrett Horder, whose previous works in a like department have obtained both wide and warm recognition. We are now in a position to add a few further particulars:

(1) That the title will be "The Garner of Sacred Song from American Sources." This change has been made to prevent confusion with Professor Palgrave's book of a similar kind from British sources. (2) That the book will be published simultaneously in both England and America, as the American publishers and writers have most generously and readily granted the needful permission. (3) It will be issued from the Oxford University Press Warehouse, London, and from Mr. Henry Froude's new publishing house in Fifth Avenue, New York, in September. (4) The limited edition on hand-made paper and bound in parchment will be confined to one hundred and fifty copies for both countries—a large number of which have already been taken up. The price of these will be five dollars. Those who desire to secure copies of this edition should send in their orders to Mr. Henry Froude, 91 and 93 Fifth Avenue, New York, as early as possible after the first of July.

Books Received

For the Week ending June 26

D. APPLETON & CO., NEW YORK
Martin, Edward A. The Story of a Piece of Coal. 40 cts.
Brown, Anna R. Sir Mark. 75 cts.
WILLIAM EVARTS BENJAMIN, NEW YORK

Thacher, John Boyd. The Continent of America: Its Discovery and Baptism. $25.

THE BOWEN-MERRILL CO., INDIANAPOLIS
Harris, Thomas L. The Trent Affair.
JOHN HIGHLANDS, PHILADELPHIA
Roberts, Isaac. Wages, Fixed Incomes, and the Free Coinage of Silver. 25 cts.
HENRY HOLT & CO., NEW YORK
The Touch of Sorrow. $1.

A Stumbler in Wide Shoes. $1.
Francke, Kuno. Social Forces in German Literature. $2.
LEACH, SHEWELL & SANBORN, NEW YORK
Graduate Courses, 1896-7. 25 cts.
J. B. LIPPINCOTT CO., PHILADELPHIA
Bickerdyke, John. Lady Val's Elopement. 50 cts.
Holmes, Mrs. Basil. The London Burial Grounds. $3.50.
Hutton, William H. Philip Augustus. 75 cts.
Boldrewood, Rolf. Old Melbourne Memories. $1.75.
Becke, Louis, and Walter Jeffery. A First Fleet Family. $1.50.

MACMILLAN & CO., NEW YORK

FLEMING H. REVELL CO., NEW YORK

Wright, Rev. Charles H. H., D.D. A Primer of Roman Catholicism. 40 cts.
Lovett, Richard. A Primer of Modern British Missions. 40 cts.
Moody, D. L. Sowing and Reaping. 50 cts.
Meyer, Rev. F. B. Light on Life's Duties. 50 cts.
McCartney, Catherine R. The Hero of the Ages. $1.

JOHN D. WATTLES & CO., PHILADELPHIA
Trumbull, H. Clay. Prayer: Its Nature and Scope. 75 cts.

The Religious World

The Papal Encyclical

A summary or elaborate abstract of an encyclical letter just issued by Pope Leo XIII. has been given to the press in this country by Cardinal Gibbons. Its general subject is that of the possible future of Christians in one Church, and undoubtedly it may in part be regarded as a response to the letter from Mr. Gladstone on which we have already commented. We select some of the more important passages of the encyclical for publication here; editorial comment on the letter will be found in another place in this issue of The Outlook: In Scripture the Church is called a body and the body of Christ. It is visible as being a living and organized society, and is animated by the invisible principle of supernatural life. Those who, therefore, either deny that Christ's Church is a visible body or refuse to allow that it is the perennial communication of the gifts of the Divine Grace are equally "in a grievous and pernicious error." The "connection and union of both elements is as absolutely necessary to the true Church as the intimate union of the soul and body is to human nature," and as this is the essential constitution of the Church according to God's will, who also determined that it was to last to the end of time, this it must possess at the present day.

It is obviously of the first importance to determine what Christ wished his Church to be, and what, in fact, he made it. According to this criterion, it is the unity of the Christian Church which must necessarily be considered, for it is certain that "He who founded it wished it to be one." The mission of Christ was to save, “not some nations or peoples only, but the whole human race, without distinction of time or place." Hence, as the mission of his Church was to hand down through every age the blessing of this salvation, by the will of its founder it is necessary that this Church should be one in all lands and at all times.

Furthermore," He who made this one Church also gave it unity; that is, he made it such that all who are to belong to it must be united by the closest bonds, so as to form one society, one kingdom, one body." And he willed that this unity among his followers should be so perfect "that it might in some measure shadow forth the union between himself and his Father." As a necessary consequence, in his divine wisdom, he ordained in his Church unity of faith, a virtue which is the first of those bonds which unite man to God, and whence we receive the name of the faithful. . . .

Christ endowed his Apostles with authority like to his own, and promised that the Spirit of Truth should direct them and remain with them forever, and because of this commission "it is no more allowable to repudiate one iota of the Apostles' teaching than to reject any point of the doctrine of Christ himself.” This apostolic mission was intended for the salvation of the whole human race, and consequently must last to the end of time. The magisterium instituted by Christ in his Church was, by God's will, perpetuated in the successors appointed by the Apostles, and in like manner the duty of accepting and professing all that is thus taught is also " perpetual and immutable." There is nothing which the Church founded on these principles has been more careful to guard than the integrity of the faith. The fathers of the Church are unanimous in considering as outside the Catholic communion any one who, in the least degree, deviates from even one point of the doctrine proposed by the authoritative magisterium of the Church. . . .

Besides being the guardian of the faith, the Church must afford the means of obtaining the salvation purchased by Christ. The dispensation of the divine mysteries was not granted by God indiscriminately to all Christians, but to the Apostles and their successors, and in this way, according to God's providence, a duly constituted society "was formed out of the divided multitudes of peoples, one in faith, one in end, one in the participation of the means adopted to the attainment of the end, and one as subject to one and the same authority." As no true and perfect human society can be conceived which is not governed by some supreme authority," so Christ of necessity gave to his Church a supreme authority, to which all Christians must be obedient. For the preservation of unity there must be unity of government jure divino, and men may be placed outside the one fold by schism as well as by heresy.

The nature of this supreme authority can be ascertained from the positive and evident will of Christ on the matter. As he willed that his kingdom would be visible, Christ was obliged to designate a vicegerent on earth in the person of St. Peter. He also determined that the authority given to him for the salvation of mankind in perpetuity should be inherited by St. Peter's successors. It cannot be doubted, from the words of Holy Writ, that the Church, by the will of God, rests on St. Peter, as a building on its foundation. St. Peter could not fulfill this duty "without the power of commanding, forbidding, judging, which is properly called jurisdiction." It is by the power of jurisdiction that nations and commonwealths are held together. A primacy of honor and the shadowy right of giving advice and admonition, which is called direction, could never give unity or strength to any society of men.

The metaphorical expressions of "the keys" and of “binding and loosing" indicate "the power of making laws, of judging, and of punishing"-a power which our Lord declares to be of such amplitude and force "that God would ratify whatever is decreed by it." Thus the power of St. Peter is supreme and absolutely independent, so that, having no other power upon earth as its superior, it embraces the whole Church and all things committed to the Church.

As the governing authority belongs to the constitution and formation of the Church as the very principle of unity and stability, it was clearly intended to pass to St. Peter's successors from one to another. Consequently the Pontiffs who succeeded him in the Roman Episcopate receive the supreme power in the Church jure divino, and this is declared fully by general councils and is acknowledged by the consent of antiquity.

But though the authority of St. Peter and his successors is plenary and supreme, it is not to be regarded as the only authority. The Bishops, who are the successors of the Apostles, "inherit their ordinary power," and "the episcopal order necessarily belongs to the essential constitution of the Church." They are consequently not to be regarded as mere vicars of the Roman Pontiffs, since "they exercise a power which is really their own, and are most truly called the ordinary pastors of the people over whom they rule." For the preservation of unity in the Christian Church it is above all things necessary that there should be union between the Roman Pontiff, the one successor of St. Peter, and the Bishops, the many successors of the Apostolic College.

As the Divine Founder of the Church decreed that his Church should be one

in faith, in government, and communion, so he chose Peter and his successors as the principals, and, as it were, the center, of this unity. For the due preservation of unity of the faith it is not sufficient" that the head should have been charged merely with the office of superintendent or should have been invested solely with the power of direction; but it is absolutely necessary that he should have received real and sovereign authority which the whole community is bound to obey." It was through the "strength and solidity of the foundation" that Christ promised that the gates of hell should not prevail against his Church-a promise to be understood of the Church as a whole, and not of any certain portions of it. Moreover, he who is set over the flock must have authority not only over the sheep dispersed throughout the Church, but also when they are assembled together. Do all the sheep gathered together rule and guide the shepherd? Do the successors of the Apostles assembled together constitute the foundation on which the successor of St. Peter rests in order to derive therefrom strength and stability?

The Popes have ever unquestionably exercised the office of ratifying or rejecting the decrees of councils. "Leo the Great rescinded the acts of the Conciliabulum of Ephesus. Damascus rejected those of Rimini, and Adrian I. those of Constantinople. The twenty-eighth canon of the Council of Chalcedon, by the very fact that it lacks the assent and approval of the Apostolic See, is admitted by all to be worthless."

Holy Writ attests that the keys of the kingdom of heaven were given to Peter alone, and that the promise of binding and loosing was granted to the Apostles and to Peter, but there is nothing to show that the Apostles received supreme power without Peter or against Peter. Such power they certainly did not receive from Jesus Christ. Wherefore, in the decree of the Vatican Council as to the nature and authority of the primacy of the Roman Pontiff, no newly conceived opinion is set forth, but the venerable and constant belief of all ages.

A Stone of Memorial

On June 29 the town of Gainsborough-onthe-Trent, Lincolnshire, England, was the scene of ceremonies of high interest to Americans. It was the occasion of the unveiling of a memorial stone in "The John Robinson Church," so named in honor of the Rev. John Robinson, "pastor of the Pilgrim Fathers," who, after severing his connection with the Established Church in 1604, connected himself with a body of Dissenters at Gainsborough. Among the notables present were Mr. Thomas F. Bayard, the American Ambassador to England, and the company of American pilgrims who recently went to England for the purpose of visiting scenes of interest connected with the history of the Pilgrims. On the arrival of Mr. Bayard the Municipal Council of Gainsborough presented to him an address of welcome, in reply to which the Ambassador expressed the sentiments of cordial fraternity existing between the United States and Great Britain, and said that such occasions had a tendency to strengthen these bonds of international good will, and would assist in smoothing any difficulties that might arise between the nations. At the luncheon which followed toasts were proposed and drunk to "The Queen" and "The President of the United States." In response to the latter, Ambassador Bayard said the occasion which had called them together was both delightful and memorable. So it was. John Robinson had an immeasurable influence over the Separatists, a part of whom became the Pilgrim Fathers, on whose high moral and spiritual qualities and solid virtues the commonwealth of New England was built, whose strong piety and supreme love of liberty breathes in the Declaration of Independence and the distinctive American institutions. Robinson, though little is known of him as a preacher, is regarded on both sides of the sea as the father of modern Congregationalism. He was a man of liberal and devout spirit, of distinguished intellectual gifts, not afraid of vigorous investigations, and was always open to the illumination of new truth, for he believed that there was much light yet to break forth from the Word of God. John Robinson was one of the makers of the New World-its spirit, its morals, and its life— and it is certainly very appropriate that his memory should be cherished and his virtues emulated by those to whom he was a spiritual benefactor.

Joseph Agar Beet, D.D.

Among the most eminent scholars of English Wesleyanism is Dr. Joseph Agar Beet. He comes to this country to lecture at the Ocean Grove Summer School of Theology, at Chicago University, at Chautauqua, and at various other institutions. As a theologian Dr. Beet is without a superior in his denomination in Great Britain. He is a graduate of the Wesleyan Theological School in London, and occupies the chair of Systematic Theology in that institution. He is known to the world as the author of a Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans, of a volume on "Theology Through Christ to God," and of the Fernley Lectures of 1889 on The Credentials of the Gospel." He has written many reviews which have attracted wide attention, and is regarded as one of the strong and earnest men of the Church of Christ in Great Britain. He is sure to have a cordial reception, not only from his own denomination, but from all who may have the privilege of hearing him in the United States.

Northfield Summer School

of the Bible

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For many years, and increasingly, Mr. Moody has been requested by ministers, evangelists, and Christian workers to provide, in addition to the great conventions, facilities at Northfield for sympathetic study of the Bible. It is now felt that the time

has fully come for the inauguration of such work. The Northfield Summer School of the Bible will accordingly open July 6 and continue to August 24. The Dean will be the Rev. C. I. Scofield, and among the lecturers will be Dr. F. B. Meyer, Professor Howard Osgood, Dr. R. A. Torrey, Dr. G. C. Needham, and others. The only textbook used will be the Bible. The general divisions of the course of study will be: I. The Pentateuch. II. The Person and Work of Christ. III. The Kingdom. IV. Particular Truths. V. Occasional Lectures.

There has just been completed and put into operation in Buffalo a novel and effective plan to cope with the want, ignorance, and depravity of that city. It is, in brief, the division of the municipality into districts, and the delegation of the charitable work of each district to some church, without regard to the denomination. Heretofore cities have been districted, but the work in each district has been intrusted to a committee of some charitable organization. Denominations have likewise adopted the district system, but as they were constantly invading each other's territory, there was great dissipation of effort and time. It was to prevent waste and competition in charitable work that Buffalo has been divided into 171 districts, and each district placed in charge of some church. A conference with the authorities of the various churches disclosed dissatisfaction with the ineffective methods that have heretofore been in vogue, and a willingness on the part of all to co-operate in the execution of the new method. Accordingly, seventy churches, including fifteen Baptist, twelve Methodist, twelve Presbyterian, ten Episcopal, and others of every faith, have consented to take assignments. Even the Roman Catholic Church will join in the enterprise. The character of the work which the churches will undertake may be gathered from what has already been done by the Westminster and the First Presbyterian Churches, which selected districts and began operations two years ago. Westminster House, which was established by Westminster Church, was opened September 17, 1894, and Welcome Hall, which was established by the First Presbyterian Church, was opened November 21 of the same year. Both places are the centers of the ameliorating and elevating work and influence in the districts where they are located. Both have free kindergartens and diet kitchens. Both have mothers' clubs, mothers' meetings, sewing classes, cooking classes, singing, drawing, and physical culture classes, boys' clubs, penny savings-banks, free baths, workrooms, circulating libraries, and reading circles. It will not be the aim of any church in any district to carry on a religious propaganda. The only object will be to afford aid to those that need it, to encourage the spirit of self-help, and to stimulate kindness and friendliness. While the charitable work of a particular church is not necessarily confined to the district assigned to it, but may cover the entire city if need be, the church is strictly responsible for the work in that district. The result is complete knowledge of the character and wants of the district, and a concentration of effort that produces the best possible results.

A New Method of Charity Work

Another Word Concerning Japan

When the American Board's Deputation to Japan had finished their work in that Empire, they gave a report in which the final word was one of recommendation that there might be sent to Japan for occasional visits some of our strong Christian leaders, men of acknowledged power and influence. They believed that the native Christians could be better helped and strengthened in this way than in any other. The last number of the "Missionary Review of the World " contains a letter from the Rev. J. H. Pettee, of Okayama, Japan, a man of undoubted ability and long experience in that field, in which he approves the opinion expressed by the Deputation. He says: "The average foreigner is so handicapped for direct personal work that it seems to me far better, as well as more economical, to commit the work to the Japanese as fast as possible and rely for the foreign contingent on occasional visits of men with an established reputation, whose every word counts, and who, by reason of their brief sojourn in the country, are not expected to conform to Japanese ways of thought and methods of life." Mr. Pettee believes that there is still work in Japan for the foreign missionary, and will be for many years to come, but the work is entering on a new stage, and the probabilities of true success for the ordinary foreigner are too small to justify American churches in planning for a wide extension of their work there. Over two hundred young men in the Empire who are more or less closely associated with Christian movements have been educated abroad. He says it is quality, not quantity, that is needed in the foreign contingency; that it would be better to unite the forces at work and economize; that "denominationalism is a luxury that should not be encouraged in foreign service." Owing to the rapid advance of the work, the foreign missionary has lost his leadership in one field after another; and now "Japanese leaders are springing up

here and there who in point of personal worth and whole-souled devotion to the cause of Christ are worthy to rank beside their foreign brethren. They and their followers must, in the nature of the case, assume the main responsibility for the conversion of Japan. They should be sustained by the prayers and sympathy, gifts and service, of foreign friends, but in steadily diminishing quantities so far as the last two agents are concerned." In concluding his letter Mr. Pettee says: "I love Japan, and hope to give her many more years of the gladdest service; but my conviction is clear and strong that the seed of the Word is securely planted in Japanese soil. The kingdom is coming here in all the might and glory of Christ's royal presence."

Methodist City Missions

The City Mission Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church of New York held its thirtieth annual meeting on Friday, March 27, and its annual published report is now in our hands. From its pages we glean a few facts. The, Methodist churches of New York observe October 25 as 66 City Mission Day." The New York and the New York East Conferences have earnestly requested all the churches to co-operate in this work. The organ of this Society is called "The Christian City." We may add that it is a singularly able and bright paper, one of the best of the kind that we know. From the report we learn that this Society in thirty years has concerned itself with forty-five different enterprises. Of these six were small and unimportant missions or Sunday-schools which have been discontinued. There are now twenty-three enterprises under the Society's care. Five are missions to foreigners; ten are situated amidst dense populations and being developed as rapidly as possible; eight are in newer sections of the city, with prospects of future independence. These twenty-three enterprises represent in realty about $850,000, mortgaged to one-half of their value. They have in membership, including probationers, 3,300 persons, and in Sunday-schools about. 6,000 members. The number of conversions has been exceeded in only two years of the Society's existence. Examination of the various detailed reports shows not only missions as such, but various forms of educational work-kindergartens, boys' clubs, brass bands, kitchengardens, and other forms of institutional work. In fact, judging from this report, we should say that the City Mission Society of the Meth odist Church is in itself a great institutional church, with twenty-three different branches.

The Growth of Missionary Literature

The growth of missionary literature is one of the wonders of this century. Dr. Arthur T. Pierson has been reading and studying the literature of missions for thirty years, and his observation is that the field is widening. Yale University now has a special missionary library made up of thousands of volumes. Such a library would have been an impossibility a hundred years ago. Page after page is taken up in the "Encyclopedia of Missions" with the titles of missionary books and the names of their authors. This marvelous growth may be traced in different ways. The material for a good missionary literature is now abundant. There is a mine of literary wealth in the life, times, and labors of such men as William Carey, Adoniram Judson, Alexander Duff, David Livingston, Bishop Taylor, Robert Morrison, and John Livingston Nevius. The task of shaping this material into good literary form has inspired the genius of such men as Dr. Arthur T. Pierson and Dr. George Smith, LL.D., to say nothing of scores of other able writers. The style of modern missionary writing is very much improved. The "Missionary Review of the World," for instance, demands a high-grade literary style for all leading articles admitted to its pages. Mere annals, dull and lifeless, are not tolerated. Some of the old missionary books remind one of old tombstones and neglected graveyards-page after page of solid printed matter, with hardly a paragraph to break the monotony. Not so in many recent missionary papers and books. The printer's art, the engraver's art, the map-maker's art, the book-maker's art, and the littérateur's art all combine to make a modern missionary book. Another indication of growth is seen in the fact that the subjects treated now are specific, not so general as formerly. Thus, Dr. B. C. Henry, a missionary to China, does not write of the whole Celestial Empire, but of special work in and around Canton. Dr. J. L. Nevius writes of specific work in the Shantung Province. Dr. John G. Paton gives special attention to the New Hebrides. As a result of these many improvements in missionary literature, Christian people are reading missionary periodicals and books with a pleasing and growing interest. The Cross-Bearers' Missionary Reading Circle, a three years' course of systematic reading and study on missions in all lands, was inaugurated six years ago. The literature of the C. M. R. C. for 1896-7 is as follows: The "Life of John Williams," the "Life of Dr. J. L. Nevius," Medical Missions," the Life of Alexander Duff," and "The Missionary Review of the World." Further information may be had from the Rev. Marcus L. Gray, President C. M. R. C., St. Louis, Mo.

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