R

THE RELIGIOUS WORLD.

THE MORMON DEFENSE. ECENT manifestations of the perennial crusade against certain alleged tendencies in "the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" were alluded to in THE LITERARY DIGEST of September 16. Of the "answers" called forth by these attacks, that of President Joseph F. Smith, the executive head of the body under criticism, is interesting, not merely as presenting the other side of the question, but for its picturesque vigor of statement. Another, by Mr. William Halls, purports to be a direct answer to Senator Cullom's North American Review article on "The Menace of Mormonism," which was quoted in these columns. Presi dent Smith calls attention to the fact that the point of attack has somewhat shifted. "The hackneyed question of polygamy,' and the equally well worn subject of Church and State,'" he writes, "while still harped upon, are no longer to the fore;" the main charge now being "commercialism—the alleged departure of the Church, under the present administration, from its original standards; the sordid and selfish enthronement of the temporal above the spiritual." Through the pages of Out West (Los Angeles, Cal.) he expresses surprise that "the atrocious and often absurd calumnies" propagated concerning the Mormons “can be so easily swallowed and assimilated by the sober, sensible, discriminating, and usually fair-minded American people." What these calumnies are may be gathered from the following sentences:

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"Much is being said of the alleged tyranny of the Mormon ' tithing system, the exactions,' 'extortions,' 'oppressions,' and cruelties' said to be practised by the Church, and particularly by myself, to the infinite wo and misery of widows, orphans, and poor people in general, the so-called 'dupes and victims of the hierarchy.' Day after day, from press, pulpit, and rostrum, in various parts of the land, these falsehoods, with polgamy' and' Church influence' as subsidiaries, are fulminated and sent broadcast, for the purpose of poisoning the public mind against the Mormon.' community."

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As a result, he says, the nation is “lashed periodically into a frenzy of hatred against a peaceable, patriotic, and well-meaning body of their fellow-citizens." He adds:

"I would expect such things in some parts of Europe—say from the mobs of Paris, from the bloodthirsty Commune,' that portion of the excitable Gallic nation graphically described as the red fool-fury of the Seine.' I would accept such incidents as commonplaces among savages and barbarians. But I can not reconcile them with my early teachings and traditions, my high conceptions of the innate chivalry, generosity, and sound common sense of my American countrymen."

The menace of this state of things, he claims, is not only to the Mormons, but to the whole American people. Thus:

"This spirit of falsehood and intolerance-an emanation from the bottomless pit, a miasma from Hades, from the abode of the infernal gods, bent upon making mad' those whom they would 'destroy this spirit of injustice and persecution, so opposite and antagonistic to the true genius of Americanism, will not focus its malevolence upon the Latter-day Saints alone. It will attack in time every sect, creed, party, and organization that stands for peace, order, and good government; and, if not checked, will uproot, overthrow, destroy, and sweep them from the face of the earth. It is the spirit of anarchy, of murder and spoliation. Religious rancor and political chicanery are its right and left hands; 'yellow journalism' its banner, trumpet, and drum; more blatant and more bigoted than any Peter the Hermit, working up a' holy crusade.' Both these mischievous agencies are at work, consciousy or unconsciously preparing the way before a national, perhaps a world-wide catastrophe, that will inevitably follow a ccn. tinuation of this pernicious and persecuting course.' President Smith goes on to admit that Mormonism has a commercial or material side, but adds:

"I propose to show that this is not the only side, nor by any means the largest and most important feature, of the system. And

I shall further prove that' Mormonism' from the first has avowed and presented to the world this particular phase of its many-sided self; that it is no new development, due to a sudden change of policy, some selfish, sinister purpose on the part of the present leaders, as some people pretend to believe.

"I need not inform any reasonable Latter-day Saint-for to my own people as well as to the public at large this article will come -that the temporal part of the Church of Christ is essential to its existence in this material world; almost as essential as the spiritual part, which of course comes first and is absolutely indispensable. No sacred system of government having in view the salvation of the bodies as well as the spirits of men can successfully accomplish its mission without being temporal as well as spiritual in character. It was the doctrine of Joseph Smith, the original revelator of Mormonism,' that the spirit and the body constitute the soul of man. It has always been a cardinal teaching with the Latter-day Saints that a religion which has not the power to save people temporally and make them prosperous and happy here can not be depended upon to save them spiritually, to exalt them, in the life to come."

That the tithing system is abused by those in power he energetically denies. We read:

"I denounce as an infamous falsehood the allegation that the tithing system of the Latter-day Saints is a system of robbery, tyranny, and extortion, as these wretched libelers continually declare. The tithing of the Church, which I have shown to be a tenth of the annual increase of its members, is purely a voluntary offering, willingly and cheerfully made by them in obedience to what they hold to be a law of God. The leaders pay tithing as well as the people. There is no element of extortion in it, and no shadow of oppression hangs over it. On the contrary, the tithes of the saints have been used largely, from the very beginning, for the support of the poor, the relief of the sick and afflicted, the care of the widow and the orphan. Other purposes for which these funds have been expended are the building of temples and houses of worship, the emigration of the poor, the founding of hospitals and other benevolent institutions, and the maintenance of church schools throughout the States of Zion, now reaching from Canada to Mexico. The outside missions have also been aided in various ways. "The priesthood of the Church, tho possessing a legitimate claim upon the revenues-as the revelation on tithing plainly showshave never pressed that claim, but have preferred to earn their own living and support their families by private labor, while giving their services gratuitously to the cause. Ours is not a salaried priesthood, and never has been; even our foreign missionaries usually travel' without purse or script.' Only those who give their entire time to the Church, and have no other income, receive regular assistance from its coffers; and even this is limited to the actual needs of such workers and their families."

Mr. William Halls, who writes in The Improvement Era (Salt Lake City), meets the implication that Mormonism is inimical to good citizenship by enumerating and describing the influences by which the characters of Mormon children are formed. These are: the typical Mormon home, "in which every morning and evening the members are called to bow in the family circle, where humble, fervent prayers of gratitude are offered, an inspiring hymn is sung, and a chapter in the Scriptures read"; the Primary Association, "organized to bring the children from four to fourteen years old together, once a week, to be taught by the most intelligent, spiritualminded, and devoted mothers, those principles necessary to supplement the home in the development of character;" the Sunday-school; the Young Men's and Young Ladies' Mutual Improvement Associations; the church schools and universities. He adds:

"If we consider this system called' Mormonism' somewhat in detail, its doctrines are identical with the cardinal principles of Christianity, as found in the New Testament; its discipline is founded on the democratic principle of common consent; its members are absolutely free; its subordinate associations are perfectly organized, operate actively and harmoniously to round out a noble, perfect manhood and womanhood. Note the achievements of its members in economics, in Utah and other States and Territories of the Union, also in Canada and old Mexico.

'Wherever they have colonized, peace and prosperity attend

them, as a rule; where they have control, they have no saloon, gambling, prostitution, paupers, nor illegitimates. If these are the fruits of Mormonism,' which none can truthfully deny, what if it should spread and become universal, would it be a calamity?"

THE

BLENDING THE SECTS IN KOREA.

HE movement for church federation, of which the religious press is full these days, has scored a success in Korea, we are told, where the representatives of six Methodist and Presbyterian bodies are uniting to form "The Church of Christ in Korea." Dr. C. C. Vinton, one of the leading Presbyterian missionaries there, gives the credit for starting this union to Bishop Harris (Meth.), of Tokyo. “We have seen here a new manner of Methodist bishop," writes Dr.. Vinton, in the New York Observer (Presb.), "a man who could rise above the conceptions of Arminian and Calvinist, and who seemed to grasp something of the significance of the ideal Christian." "He came to us as a revelation of God's power," declares a writer in the Korea Field (Seoul), and we found in him a man above Methodism and above Presbyterianism, a messenger assuredly sent at a given time, to make known a given message." Some of the details, such as the union of Presbyterian and Methodist schools, Presbyterian and Methodist hospitals, etc., present - difficulties, but one of the representatives of the Methodist Church, South, said at a missionary mass-meeting in Seoul that " one of the devil's usual ways to kill such a movement is to agree to the general plan, but object to the terms or details necessary to carry it out." It seems to be the general expectation that his scheme will be a failure this time. Another speaker at this mass-meeting (as reported for The Missionary Review of the World), a Presbyterian missionary, remarked humorously that he had tested the matter of church union, having been united to a Methodist for many years, and he could testify that there is nothing to be feared from such a union. There was a time, he added, when he desired union, but felt that it was impossible; now he felt differently.

such a loosely drawn bond of union as shall work to the prejudice of no good interest and to His own great glory.

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You will perceive that there is nothing here of the surrendering of the cherished principles of Presbyterianism-or of Methodism. There is no law to compel Methodists to swallow Calvinism whole. Nor do Presbyterians fear that they will be subjecting themselves to contamination from the doctrines of Arminius. They have not suffered severely in that respect during more than twenty years' elbow-to-elbow work with such neighbors in Korea. As for the theology of the coming Church of Christ in Korea, that has doubtless got to work itself out gradually by some such process, perhaps, as Japanese churches are passing through; but we have every confidence in the Guide, that He who leads on to such a union will afterward guard that no harm come to His Church through it.

"The great body of missionaries in Korea are manifesting much enthusiasm in arranging plans for the expected union. Messages warmly indorsing the proposals are sent from station to station among members of all the missions. From Pyeng Yang and Won

san in the north and from Chunju and Taiku in the south letters of the most heartfelt rejoicing reach us here in Seoul, showing how God has been preparing the soil for the movement in progress. One and another missionary tells of tears shed as he writes or of the prayers of years he has been offering for this very object. It is such things as these that make us certain the impetus is not of man."

A

TOO MANY CHURCHES.

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NEW YORK pastor announces his conviction that there would be more religion in the United States if there were fewer churches and clergymen. Dealing with the statistics of the Protestant churches only, and proceeding on the assumption (which he explains later) that there should be not more than one pastor to every thousand parishioners, he finds a surplusage of between 10,000 and 24,000 clergymen. And he claims that the ministry and the Church would be better off if these were out of the pastoral harness in this country." The pastor here: quoted is the Rev. John Woodruff Conklin (Reformed Church in America), who explains. his contention in The Homiletic Review for November. He points out, moreover, that while the home field is suffering from "this oversupply of what we call the 'means of grace, the foreign mission field is crippled by opposite conditions. Church work at home, he says, is, hampered by controversy, rivalry, and waste-" and the greatest of these is waste." The cause he finds. in the presence of too many workers in the field. His point of view is made clearer by his enumeration of "some of the fruits of present conditions," which are:

Dr. Vinton, quoted above, says of the plans for amalgamation:

"What seems feasible is not that the leopard shou'd change his spots, but that a fairly loose form of union should be adopted, whose primary aim shall be to conceal from Korean Christians the fact that any such thing as denominational differences exist between their teachers. The periodical meeting of a 'council' and of district conferences, much in the way of the present Presbyterian Council and the several conferences and classes now held under both systems, will do much to make such a union work smoothly and to bring all engaged in it into essential harmony. Friction is to be expected at the outset, but we believe the Spirit can and will take care of that point, too, and that we shall all work gradually into that oneness our Lord desires and prayed for.

Many of us see no reason why, under a garb of absolute union of purpose and effect, one missionary may not baptize with considerable more leniency and readiness than another. Within the Presbyterian body it has always been so. Nor do we believe the Holy Ghost will be outraged, if in the same county one church shall be directed in its local affairs by a class leader, another decide its own affairs under the guidance of a deacon or an elder. And when a church can call a man of education to minister to it in things holy and can pay him an adequate salary, it seems to us of very little moment whether he be termed preacher or pastor, whether he receive the ordination of a Bishop or a bishop, nor do we think our Korean friends will greatly care. In short, we have full confidence the Spirit Himself is leading us to the formation of

"1. Discouragingly small numbers of hearers in most churches. -especially at the second service.

"2. Difficulty of doing solid, systematic, progressive teaching and training, because of the pressure of competitive attractions. "3. Consequent shallowness of parishioners, who are naturally induced to cultivate itching ears and cynical spirits.

"4. Loss of proper ministerial standing because of cheap salaries and cheap devices for drawing recruits and preventing desertions. "5. Needless multiplication of buildings and salaried workerspastors, sextons, and musicians.

"6. Excessive expenditure in many churches for these purposes -as also for organs, windows, and other decorations, because of the grinding pressure of rivalry.

"7. The use of unworthy methods to get money to 'run' the church under such conditions.

"8. The cramping of vision and sympathy in regard to needs and fruits of the Gospel among people out of sight.

'These evils are the chief causes of pessimism and mourning in

the religious press and in ministerial associations. They vanish to a very considerable extent when the parish is not too small for normal existence and healthy growth."

The present conditions, he goes on to say, are "brought into more awful relief when placed alongside of the destitution among the larger part of the world's people." We read:

The foreign missionaries plead for a material increase of their numbers. The Bombay Conference voted to appeal for a quadrupling of the force in India. Now consider these ten thousand men whom we could so well spare. If they were sent out as foreign missionaries every mission from the United States could have its force of ordained men multiplied not only by four, but by seven. Only about fourteen hundred such men are now in the service from our American churches. Just with our unneeded crumbs we could supply the missions beyond their fondest dreams. The money saved in the closing of the parasitic churches here would go far toward supporting the transferred ministers. Looked at from this point of view, the matter assumes colossal importance. The vision of waste on one side and emptiness on the other is stunning. One can not picture or characterize it fairly without laying himself open to the charge of fanaticism or lunacy. Enough men and money to supply the heathen world properly, with the chance to take Christ's yoke and learn of Him, are wasted, not only in war and rum and theaters, but in religion, in the management of the forces of the Church of God."

Mr. Conklin sees in our overchurched communities another argument in favor of church union.

PETRIFYING INFLUENCE OF DOGMATIC THEOLOGY.

THA

HAT religion involves the idea of a genuine revelation, something distinct from dogmatic theology, of which, indeed, it becomes the critic and corrector, is the contention of an anonymous writer in The Quarterly Review (London). He looks upon religion as innate in humanity, and revealing itself naturally with a sense of supramundane things, in relation to which the individual is to adjust himself in a harmonious attitude. While this religious sense and ethical rectitude are ever growing and advancing as the race advances, dogmatic theology is a petrifaction. Dogmatic theology has, however, made so many surrenders to the challenges of ever-widening knowledge that it has become discredited as unreal.

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The writer assumes that "the divine which is immanent in man's spirit" serves the purpose of “an instinctive criterion or selective principle" in regard to various religious conceptions and beliefs, as the appetite of an animal does in regard to its fitting dietary." This "true and scientific theory of revelation" he contrasts with that erroneous notion which holds that the divine mind is as fully represented therein as the human man is in any human intellectual system. Thus:

"To take revelation as representing the divine mind in the same way as a philosophy or science represents the human mind; to view it as a miraculously communicated science, superseding and correcting the natural results of theological speculation, is the fundamental mistake of dogmatic theology. Yet like all widespread and persistent errors it is a very natural one, as natural as the belief in geocentricism."

The next step was to impose this dogmatic philosophy,-" a would-be science governed, not by a scientific, but by a prophetic criterion,"-to impose it as by authority upon the acceptance of mankind. "Faith is now an intellectual assent to this revealed theology as deriving directly from the divine intellect; it is no longer the adhesion of the whole man, heart, mind, and soul, to the divine spirit within." The effect of this was destructive of all that prophetic spirit which constitutes the religious principle of humanity. In this writer's words:

sources of prophetic inspiration. Under the tyranny of a dominant classicism, art and poetry dry up; yet this at most is the tyranny of a fashion, not that of a divinely revealed immutable standard. To force prophetic or poetic vision to take certain shapes and forms under pain of anathema is to silence and quench that spirit the breath of whose life is freedom. Tried by such standard orthodoxy, the prophets who could not prophesy to order and rule were discarded as charlatans and impostors, and gradually their whole caste fell into discredit; nor was their function as agitators and reformers compatible with a conservative ecclesiastical institution such as that into which the primitive communities were being fast welded."

But this petrifaction of religious knowledge has never entirely succeeded, because it involved the petrifaction of the whole body of knowledge. Dogmatic theology has therefore been compelled constantly to shift its ground and reinterpret its scheme. Its efforts of repression have proved impossible. As this writer reminds us:

The spiritual and religious life of the race has been too living, expansive, and progressive to suffer the process of petrifying theological truth to prevail. The advancing illuminativeness of ethical and religious ideas is always accompanied by an increasing depth and width of religious speculative ideas. Belief is always the correlative of conduct. To quote what he says of a man's practical life:

"Its belief is, as it were, its shadow, which grows and moves with its growth and movement; it is the index and register of the degree of correspondence between the soul and its supernatural environment; and of that environment it gives but an indirect, more or less symbolic presentment, capable of endless modification and adjustment. It is as tho we had to walk backward toward the light, and to guide our steps by the shadows cast in front of us by the objects behind us."

The result of imposing a belief is fatal to real spiritual life. Thus :

"For the exigencies of this ceaselessly developing life an unalterable creed, such as dogmatic theology dreams of, would be a strait-waistcoat, a Procrustean bed; every day it would become less helpful, and at last hurtful and fatal. The soul that is alive, and wants to live and grow, must have a congenial, intelligible idea of the world it would live in, and will therefore either adapt and interpret the current creeds to suit its requirements, or else break away from them altogether and make a home for itself."

The discrediting of dogmatic theology as "a spurious science," he continues, involves neither the denial nor the divorce of revelation and theology. He concludes as follows:

"Not only will the churches still retain all their functions as guardians of prophetic or revealed truth, and of a flexible unity of dogma analogous to the unity of rites and observances, but, liberated from all the entanglements of an indefensible claim to scientific inerrancy-a claim as obsolete as that to temporal or coercive jurisdiction-will recover their sorely compromised dignity and credit. Moreover, their doctrinal divisions, the bitterest fruit of the dogmatic fallacy, will cease to be regarded as differences of faith when the prophetic nature of dogmatic truth is more intelligently recognized.”

THE Kaddish prayer which sixty rabbis recited in Cleveland in honor of the memory of John Hay on July 3, 1905, has been permanently adopted by the Synagogue both in this country and in Great Britain as a part of divine service on the Days of Judgment and Atonement, when, according to the teachings of the Jewish faith, the books of account are opened before the Lord. This fact is recorded in a memorial address from the Jews of America and Great Britain to Mrs. Clara Hay, with the comment that "Israel never fails to remember deeds of righteousneses and loving-kindness wrought in her behalf."

TH

FOREIGN COMMENT.

IS IT TOO LATE?

HE Czar's manifesto is commented on by the European press in a somewhat desponding tone, and his reluctant concessions to the political demands of his people are received with polite congratulation, tho between the lines may be read suspicion and distrust. Nicholas II., we are told, has deceived his people before. He is merely repeating the rôle of Reynard the Fox, and playing for an opportunity to strike down and cripple more completely poor, blundering Bruin, his people. Such is the almost universal verdict of French, English, and German journalists. The St. Petersburg correspondent of the London Times speaks quite despairingly of the prospect, and says plainly that the new move has been too long delayed; that the people by oppression have had their nerves braced into defiant opposition. To quote:

The delays and blunders of the Government and long and heartbreaking oppression have created a resolute army, which refuses to parley with its oppressors, scorns their terms, and demands nothing less than unconditional surrender.

"The inhabitants of St. Petersburg, whose political education is vastly more advanced than that of a great majority of the provincials, remain passively, if not actively, on the side of the revolutionists. The manifesto is regarded as an avowal of weakness and as an incitement to further agitation."

The writer goes on to say that Witte is thoroughly distrusted, however great a part he professes to be playing in the interests of the people. The manifesto has fallen flat, and has even aggravated the situation. As this authority states:

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'We are thus face to face with a situation that is perhaps more serious than ever. The manifesto has fallen flat. It is doubtful whether even in happier times its execution by Count Witte, magnified into a sort of dictator of the heart, would, in view of the profound distrust which he has the misfortune to engender, meet general acceptance.

"In the present circumstances his task is doomed to failure. The apostles of optimism proclaim with unshaken confidence that the uproar will soon cause the Moderates to gain the upper hand. I can not share this hopeful view. The men who are directing the present movement have given only too ample evidence of their ability to carry out their purposes."

The newspapers of Berlin express satisfaction over the new constitution put forth by the Czar; but this they merely base on the hope that the concessions made by the autocracy to the people have not come too late. But there is in some journals a plain expression of doubt as to whether the interpretation of the Czar's -procedure current in German official circles is not tinted with too roseate a hue. The news is taken at its face value by the Neue Freie Presse (Vienna), which is said to voice the opinion of Buelow, and the Kölnische Zeitung, the official Government organ; but the Liberal press, as represented by the Vossische Zeitung (Berlin) and the Vorwärts (Berlin), the organ of Bebel's Social Democracy, see in the action of Nicholas II. the bankruptcy of the autocracy. They think that there is need of still further and more energetic agitation, in order that the promises of the Czar may be forced into fulfilment. The danger is that such promises turn out mere paper utterances, promissory notes, and no gold. It is perhaps natural that French journalists should look somewhat more hopefully upon the political vicissitudes of France's Muscovite ally. Yet the great papers of France can not disguise their feeling of doubt and foreboding. The Temps (Paris) warmly approves of the Czar's action, but qualifies its congratulations in the following terms:

"The manifesto is neither clear nor complete. All the acts of

the Czar result from compulsion as exercised by the opposition. This destroys public confidence in their sincerity. The capitulation has come at a time when strikes and revolutionary uprisings prevail. It is to be hoped, however, that the promised concessions of the Czar will be made realities as soon as possible. For months the empire has suffered from mere promises. To-day its very existence is dependent on their being fulfilled."

While the Journal des Débats (Paris) hopes that the manifesto has not come too late to arrest the development of the revolution, it adds:

"The Czar's manifesto is based on general principles, mainly on that of liberty. The application of these principles can not fail to give to the Russian people that liberty of speech which has been of such benefit to the progress of occidental nations."

A despatch from the St. Petersburg correspondent of the Eclair (Paris) dwells upon the profound dissatisfaction of the Labor party over the fact that

the manifesto says nothing about an amnesty

for political prisoners. A minority of the people may rejoice at the Czar's action, we are told, but others are furious at this omission. The amnesty has since then been granted. No newspapers are at present being published in the capitals of Russia, as the strike has emptied the printing-houses; but

PEACE IN RUSSIA.
-Wahre Jacob (Stuttgart).

the European journals have received by telegraph the suggestions made to the Czar by Count Witte, who now 'rules the tempest and controls the storm at St. Petersburg, or at least professes to do so. On these suggestions the Czar based his manifesto. The chief points in what Witte modestly calls his "hints" are a remainder to his master that the Russians demand "legislation based on civil liberty," and in addition "equality before the law without distinction of race or religion." He adds: "These privileges ought to be bestowed immediately." He maintairs that "Government ought not to interfere in the elections to the Douma" nor in "any way oppose its decisions unless these conflict with the greatness of Russia." He pleads for "uprightness and sincerity" in carrying out these suggestions, and "the abolition of repressive measures directed against proceedings which do not threaten openly the existence of society or the State." The general opinion of the correspondents of the foreign newspapers as well as of their editorial writers seems to be that Witte has no fixed program, but is trying to build a structure on the sandy foundation of autocratic and bureaucratic treachery and uncertainty. It was not long ago that the radical. Russian paper, Nashi Zhizhn (St. Petersburg), wrote of him:

IT

A NEW EUROPEAN MONARCHY.

T is with mingled feelings that Europe receives the tidings that Norway is not to be a republic, but a monarchy, and that Prince Carl (or Charles) of Denmark has accepted the crown which King Oscar had declined for any of his sons. The offer of the crown is conditioned only on the result of a popular referendum, which is confidently expected to be favorable. The Vorwärts (Berlin), the Social Democratic organ, evidently thinks not only that Norway has missed an opportunity, but that there was also a very strong Republican sentiment latent in the cities of Norway, which might have prevailed, had it been properly appealed to. Public gatherings of Republicans were held in many cities, we are told, and ought to have been held in more. This paper adds, however, that Björnsen had thrown his influence into the Royalistic scale and had spoken of a republic as a dangerous experiment." The Socialdemokraten (Copenhagen) opposes the election of Prince Carl because of Swedish feelings toward Denmark, which might cause an interruption of trade relations. The National Tidende (Copenhagen) also shows a tendency to discourage the introduction of a Danish monarch into Norway. But the decision of the Danish Ministers was at last received as final and tho, says the correspondent of the London Times, the feelings of Sweden "approach hostility" toward Denmark, this state of things is sure to pass away. "France was certainly astonished at the preference of Norway for a monarchy," says the Temps (Paris), "for in France the republican form of government seemed an evolu. tion simple and rational, and the only final result which was sought and calculated upon by the revolution of June 7." The Figaro (Paris) gives an account in detail of the negotiations which preceded the final action of the Storthing. It says:

"Baron Wedel-Jarlsberg, ex-Minister of Sweden and Norway at Madrid, went at once to King Edward, at London, and proposed as future King of Denmark his son-in-law, Prince Carl of Denmark, husband of Princess Maud of England.

"His Britannic Majesty was pleased with

L. H. TINGSTEN, Commander-in-chief of the Swedish Army.

the project, as was Queen Alexandra, and Baron Wedel-Jarlsberg quitted London perfectly satisfied with the results of his embassy. He at once repaired to Copenhagen in order to gain the assent of Christian IX., paternal grandfather of the Prince."

The Daily News (London) says that the English Princess at first shrank from the responsibility of sharing a throne, but was overpersuaded by King Edward. To quote:

"If it be true that Princess Maud has sought to escape the crown of Norway she has shown a very sensible estimate of the bauble. If, also, she has put aside her objections and bowed to the will of her royal father, she will have the general sympathy. When Gibbon sighed like a lover and obeyed like a son' he behaved with very poor spirit. But this case is different. Princess Maud, in obeying, has-always assuming the truth of the storynot sacrificed the dictates of the heart, but has taken on her shoulders the burden of a duty. The throne of Norway will be no sinecure. The people are not only high-mettled, but they are essentially democratic, and they have made it clear that their sovereign is to have no likeness to the Teuton type, but is to be to them something in the nature of a permanent president of a republic."

The political position of the future King is hus outlined by the same newspaper:

"The King of Norway will be less a monarch than a hereditary president, and we may be sure that the Norwegians will remain the. arbiters of their own policy. Prince Charles is not even a British Prince, and if his wife is daughter to our King it has to be remembered that her distaste for a throne was the one serious obstacle to the present arrangement. The Emperor William is himself far more closely related to the British royal house than is Prince Charles of Denmark. Yet it would hardly be insinuated that British intrigue raised the Hohenzollerns to Imperial rank. Great Britain's recent conduct may be open to misunderstanding, but this Norwegian question stands apart from the arena of suspicion." The Danish Government looks to the fact that a Prince of the royal house had been selected as King of Denmark as a happy omen for the harmonious union of the three Scandinavian nations of the peninsula. Count Raben, Minister of Foreign Affairs in