in

DOES ALCOHOL SHORTEN LIFE?

THE `HE recent publication of some statistics on this subject in England has given rise to a very interesting discussion regarding their true interpretation. It appears that while the deathrate in Britain is on the whole decreasing, the decrease is only certain portion of the people, while among the others it has increased. This increase, according to those who have collected the statistics, is to be attributed to the increased consumption of alcohol. The case is put thus in a leading article in The Hospital, February 15:

"In a word, among people under middle age there has been a steady decrease in the quantity of alcohol consumed, and a steady and enormous growth of total abstinence. Among these the death-rate has steadily and markedly gone down during the whole of the past half-century. On the other hand, since there has been a vastly increased consumption for the whole population, and since that consumption can only have increased among actual drinkers, and those drinkers are persons at or above middle age, it follows of necessity that they must have been responsible for the whole of the increased consumption. Corresponding with this there is, as we have already stated, a heightened death-rate. The conclusion of the whole argument is, that middle-aged and old persons drink much more alcohol than they used to drink, and die a great deal faster in consequence."

The Times, London, is not quite satisfied with the logic of this. It wishes more information regarding the source of the statistics and the ground actually covered by them, and brings out the facts that they cover but 422 cases and are ten years old. Granting that fuller and more recent data would be advisable, however, it must be granted that those already obtained open up some very interesting questions. The editorial opinion of The Hospital is given in the following closing paragraphs :

"On the general question of 'alcohol and longevity' there is much to be said. Our own view of the matter is that, assuming for the moment a somewhat abbreviated longevity among our middle-aged and old population, alcohol is not the sole, or even the chief, cause. Even if it were, we should still be disposed to ask a question . . . namely, this: If it be actually true that the middle-aged and old among us drink more alcohol now than formerly, why do they drink it? Is there anything in our civilization, in our methods of work, in the strain to which we are all subjected, that makes our people drink? We certainly do not believe that the modern man or woman drinks for the mere animal love of drink, or for the pleasure of feeling the stimulus and excitement which alcohol produces.

"What we want to get at is the truth in this matter; and not merely that part of the truth which consists in the answers to the question, whether or not the middle-aged and old do drink more than formerly, or do die sooner in consequence; but whether or not there are causes and reasons inherent in our present civilization and ways of life which predispose to the use of stimulants, and predispose so strongly as to make it impossible for men of average mental powers to resist the predisposition? In our judgment there are many very true, very real, and very obvious causes in our present ways of life which operate to produce profound depression of spirits in middle-aged and old men, and large impairments of the vital powers. But it is exactly in middle age that the responsibilities of the civilized man are the heaviest. Those responsibilities he feels he must meet and face, just as the soldier on the battle-field feels that he has no choice but to meet and face even death if that be necessary. The real problem then we have to face is not this-Do middle-aged men drink alcohol and shorten their lives thereby? but this-If middle-aged men shorten their lives by drinking, why do they do it? And can we find any means of lessening the worry and strain of modern life, and so of preventing that depression of spirit and impairment of mental power which makes men feel a stimulant to be an imperative necessity?"

A LARGE aerolite recently exploded above the city of Madrid at 9.30 A.M. There was a vivid glare of light and a loud report," says Science. "Buildings were shaken and many windows were shattered. According to the officials of the Madrid Observatory the explosion occurred twenty miles above the earth."

To Preserve Flowers with Natural Form and Color.-Professor Pfitzer in the Journal of the Austrian Pharmaceutical Society gives the following method for preserving flowers so that they retain their natural color and shape. We quote an abstract from The National Druggist: "Moisten 1,000 parts of fine white sand, that has been previously well washed and thoroughly dried and sifted, with a solution consisting of 3 parts of stearin, 3 parts of paraffin, 3 parts of salicylic acid, and 100 parts of alcohol. Work the sand up thoroughly, so that every grain of it is impregnated with the mixture, and then spread it out and let it become perfectly dry. To use, place the flowers in a suitable box, the bottom of which has been covered with a portion of the prepared sand, and then dust the latter over them until all the interstices have been completely filled with it. Close the box lightly, and put in a place where it can be maintained at a temperature of from 30° to 40° C. for two or three days. At the expiration of this time remove the box and let the sand esThe flowers can then be put into suitable receptacles or cape. glass cases without fear of deterioration. Flowers that have become wilted or withered before preparation should have their color freshened up by dipping into a suitable anilin solution."

Cuba as a Breeder of Pestilence.-That present sanitary conditions in Cuba render the island a menace to the United States is asserted by Dr. George T. Maxwell in The Sanitarian, February, 1896. He says: “Spain's interest in Cuba, aside from the sentimental idea of retaining her colonial possessions intact, is simply and entirely sordid. It is with Spain a question of revenue of dollars and cents simply. The welfare and happiness of her subjects are secondary to that, and in consequence the health conditions of Cuba give her little or no concern; but to the inhabitants of this country the importance of this latter question can not be overestimated. Cuba, because of her proximity and commercial' relations, is regarded as the point of danger to the Union, as it relates to that bugbear of modern times-yellow fever. Millions of dollars have been spent in efforts to prevent its intrusion into the States. While my knowledge of that disease-its history and nature-forbids assent to the commonly accepted notion that it is contagious, I am in complete accord with those who hold that its persistent prevalence in Cuba is attributable to the utter disregard of the simplest principles of hygiene. That it is due to local unsanitary conditions in Havana and Rio Janeiro has been declared with great emphasis by men who, from official position, if for nothing else, will give the weight of authority to their dicta.”

SCIENCE BREVITIES.

"A CINCINNATI clothing manufacturer has invented an electrical machine for cutting cloth which is capable of cutting 200 to 250 suits a day," says Electricity. "A man can cut only about twenty-five suits and then only about four thicknesses of cloth, while the machine easily cuts eight layers. The machine is handsomely constructed and very light, weighing only thirty pounds, and is but fourteen inches high. The base is made of bronze, and the armature is supported by a forged steel standard. The knife which does the cutting is about four inches in diameter and revolves with the rapidity of a buzz-saw. The knife is protected with a guard. The machine is self-oiling, self-sharpening, and self-lighting. It has a strength of one-eighth horse-power and is of 110 voltage. It is operated by a handle in the rear, and glides as easily as a flatiron."

A LARGE electric furnace, devised by Mr. Urbanitzky for the reduction of iron ores, is described and illustrated in the Zeitschrift für Electrochemie. The author points out that an electric furnace is particularly advantageous for the reduction of very pure iron, but that heretofore furnaces large enough for the action to be continuous and on a large scale had not been built. In this instance, the large carbons enter the furnace from the top and are supported from a disk that can be revolved around a vertical axis. Five hundred horse-power produce about 220 pounds of pure iron in twentyfour hours requiring only one man. The cost is about ten cents a pound of fine steel, the power being obtained from steam. This includes the necessary rolling machinery for working the steel as well as all other expenses.

"INTELLIGENT people are best deceived by intelligent frauds," says The American Naturalist, January. "A fraud in order to succeed in the United States must make pretensions to superior knowledge. The alleged or actual graduate of medicine who desires to be a fraud has a pretty good field in this country; and his successes are ever with us, in spite of the opposition of the many true men of that profession. The scientific fraud has not yet developed very largely, as there is no money to be made by pretense in this direction. In fact, this species of the genus is not generally a person of evil intentions, and errs chiefly through an active imagination, and perhaps sometimes through a tendency to megalomania."

THE RELIGIOUS WORLD.

MISSION-BOARD DIFFICULTIES.

NOWHERE has the financial depression of the past few years

produced more serious results than in the finances of the missionary societies of the various denominations. These societies depend chiefly upon the voluntary contributions of the churchmembership for their incomes, and the stringency of the times has so dried up these streams of benevolence that some of the societies have been brought to a very embarrassing and critical situation. Heavy debts have been incurred which are now pressing for settlement: the workers in the field are distressed by a lack of funds, and it is even seriously proposed to abandon some fields of missionary effort because of the lack of money to pay running expenses. Thus the secretaries of the various Baptist missionary societies have just sent out word that it is impracticable to hold their May anniversaries this year at Portland, Ore., according to previous arrangement, for the reason, among others, that the unexampled stringency of the times renders "it extremely difficult to secure funds to meet the pressing needs of the societies," and therefore the anniversaries will be heid at Asbury Park, a more convenient and accessible point. The Presbyterians, on their part, are making an energetic and systematic effort to raise a million dollars this year to pay off the debts on their mission boards and to help themselves out in other directions. They resolved to raise this sum at their last General Assembly and have been trying hard ever since to fulfil their purpose. Only about half of the amount has been raised up to the present date, however, and they have only two months more of the allotted time in which to complete what is called The Million Dollar Fund. A great missionary rally is proclaimed to be held in Carnegie Hall in this city on March 3, when it is hoped that some very generous contributions will be received. President Cleveland is announced to preside at this meeting. The Congregational missionary societies have been reduced to more severe financial straits than ever before in their history, and are sending out urgent appeals to the church-membership to rally to their support. The American Board of Foreign Missions has reduced its appropriation for the current year $30,000, but still finds itself in a most trying situation between the new and urgent demands being made upon it and the alarming falling-off in financial support. At a meeting of Congregationalists in Brooklyn a few days ago a movement was started toward clearing off the indebtedness of the 'Board, amounting to $115,000. The Hon. D. Willis James offered to pay $25,000 of that amount on condition that the re mainder was raised before March 1. Other large amounts have since been promised, and there is a prospect now that the Board will be relieved from its painful position. The Methodist societies have their difficulties also, and the General Committee of that church has just sent out a stirring appeal to the membership to come forward with the men and means necessary to sustain their missionary work. One of the most serious features of the situation has been the apparent necessity forced upon some of the denominations to recall some of their missionaries and abandon for a time at least some of the fields of service. Thus it has become a serious question with the Congregationalists whether they shall not give up their missions among the Armenians in Turkey. Referring to this proposal The Independent says editorially:

"It is true, hundreds of Christians, yes thousands, have been martyred; but that is no reason why we should abandon the thousands who yet remain true to their faith. The missionaries in their common suffering and danger have won the confidence and affection of thousands more who never knew them before. Shall we bind the hands of the brave missionaries, crush the hope of starving, bleeding Christians, and openly confess victory for the Moslem persecutors? To withdraw or withhold appropriations for these missions at this time is to do all that and more.

Are the churches ready to do this? Those in charge of the work wait for reply, which must come soon or it will be too late."

The Golden Rule also discusses the situation in an editorial note, saying among other things:

"A great disaster has fallen upon the missions of one of the great American denominations. For the first time in the eighty years of the history of that denomination's missions a general cut-down of ten per cent. in salaries, and even heavier cut-downs in other estimates, has been found necessary. This means the closing of schools, the dismissal of native helpers, the refusal of calls for missionaries, the closing of a thousand open doors, the barring of light from a hundred thousand heathen homes, the breaking up of churches; worse than all, it means terrible depression to the noble-hearted missionaries, our proxies in carrying out the great commission. This retrenchment is nothing less than a world-wide calamity. May the spirits of men every. where be moved to give, so that these extensive misionary opera. tions may be restored to their former efficiency, and so that the mission boards of the other denominations, all so burdened with debt, may be furnished with a full outfit, and made to feel back of them the eager pressure of Christ's missionary churches!" The New York Observer refers to the crisis upon the American Board in the following terms:

"It would not be difficult for some Congregational churches to double their gifts, since two thousand of them give nothing at all to the Board. With the circular letters now being sent to the churches are extracts from letters from missionaries showing how the latter feel over the prospect of reduced salaries, the Prudential Committee having voted to reduce the salaries of all its male missionaries, married and single, by ten per cent., except in Asiatic Turkey, and to reduce the appropriations for the regular work, including all native agencies, above thirty-five per cent. compared with last year. The Rev. Dr. Henry O. Dwight, of Constantinople, writes as follows: 'I feel that all these discussions of the means of maintaining in the interior the missionaries who have suffered so much in order to hold their posts bid fair to be nullified by the necessity of cutting down the appropriations by fifty per cent. in the midst of the struggle for life in Turkey. Turks and devils have joined to suppress the evangelical element of the population. If the American churches are going to support the effort in this manner, both Turk and devil will chuckle at the partnership.”

Strangely enough, one cause of the present embarrassment in the Congregational societies has been an unaccountable fallingoff in legacies. The amount received from this source by the Home Missionary Society for the ten months ending April, 1895. was $148,000, and for the same period during the current year only $92,000, a loss of $56,000. The two other large societies of this church have suffered from the same cause. A serious fallingoff in legacies was one of the things not reckoned on, and the losses in this direction have been one of the most discouraging features of the situation.

The Watchman (Baptist) thus alludes to the situation before the American Board and also to the necessities before its own denomination:

"Retrenchment stares our missionary societies in the face as inevitable unless the churches come to the rescue of debt-burdened and depleted treasuries. What this means can best be seen in concrete cases. A writer takes the Arcot mission of the American Board, which has been compelled this year to retrench some fifty thousand dollars, as a single but significant illustration. Are duction of about twelve per cent., he says, involves 'the backout of twelve Christian village congregations; bids 207 persons now under instruction for membership in the church go back into heathenism; disbands thirteen schools, and sends back 333 per sons to darkness; closes one girls' school and shuts out the single ray of light from one hundred Hindu homes; shuts up one training-school and counts in forty less native helpers. Surely, such reduction is a positive calamity, and the thought of it should stimulate Christian generosity. The discouragement to the faithful missionaries is not less disastrous than the effects upon the The only way to keep the disagreeable subject of retrenchment out of the approaching anniversaries is at once, to increase the contributions so largely as to remove the necessity

converts.

for it."

BISHOP POTTER ON THE DANGERS OF

THE

INORDINATE WEALTH.

HE many things which have been said recently in the columns of the press, religious and secular, on the dangers ahead of the church arising from the widening gulf between the rich and the poor, were reiterated and emphasized by a remarkable utterance made by Bishop Potter, of the Diocese of New York, in an address delivered by him recently at the dedication of Grace Chapel in this city. After speaking of the imperative need of personal service as an element in successful religious work among the masses, Bishop Potter said:

"The growth of wealth and of luxury, wicked, wasteful, and wanton, as before God I declare that luxury to be, has been matched step by step by a deepening and deadening poverty which has left whole neighborhoods of people practically without hope and without aspiration. At such a time, for the church of God to sit still and be content with theories of its duty outlawed by time and long ago demonstrated to be grotesquely inadequate to the demands of a living situation, this is to deserve the scorn of men and the curse of God! Take my word for it, men and brethren, unless you and I and all those who have any gift or stewardship of talents, or means, of whatever sort, are willing to get up out of our sloth and ease and selfish dilettanteism of service, and get down among the people who are battling amid their poverty and ignorance-young girls for their chastity, young men for their better ideal of righteousness, old and young alike for one clear ray of the immortal courage and the immortal hope—then verily the church in its stately splendor, its apostolic orders, its venerable ritual, its decorous and dignified conventions, is revealed as simply a monstrous and insolent impertinence!"

The Commercial Advertiser makes these words of Bishop Potter the text of an editorial in which, after quoting some utterances in a similar strain by Dean Farrar of England, it says:

"Taking the utterances of these two men together, we have a vivid and truthful portrayal of the situation which confronts the churches to-day in every large city throughout the world. If these trumpet calls to larger duty and to truer service do not arouse the Christian public to action it is difficult to know what can do so. There may be found in every large city of Christendom large areas of population which to all practical intents and purposes are as far down in the depths of heathenism as the inhabitants of Bongoland. In some respects they are in a more hopeless condition, for Christianity, unfortunately, has presented itself to them often in such a way as only to embitter and harden them against all religious teaching. They have seen professing Christian people in the enjoyment of wealth and luxury, worshiping in their beautiful and costly edifices, listening to lofty abstractions from the pulpit or devoting their time to controversy over the tweedledums and tweedledees of theology, while they were left to struggle along with all the problems of their dark and despairing condition without the touch of a friendly hand or the words of cheer that might have come to them from their more fortunate brethren.

"Much has been made, as Bishop Potter says, of 'theories of duty outlawed by time,' of outworn creeds and religious formularies, and little of the means and methods which might be used to reach and help poor and suffering humanity here and now out into the light of a happier and better life.

"It is not strange that men should nourish bitter and hostile feelings toward a church. which has in many ways seemed so indifferent to their condition and needs. They have seen millions expended upon ornate edifices, elaborate furnishings, high-grade music, and other accompaniments of worship, while they have been expected to be content with such religious consolation as might be doled out to them from mission-stations and free-soup houses. They have had a plentiful supply of tracts and not a little pious exhortation from paid messengers of the churches, but have had scarcely anything of that personal influence, that heart-to-heart contact, that sympathetic and sincere fellowship in their homes which alone could give their lives a brighter, happier, and more hopeful aspect."

THE Chicago committee appointed to prepare a book of readings from the Bible that would be unobjectionable to any religious denomination has completed and submitted its work.

CONCERNING THE NEXT POPE.

IT would be too much to ask any one to answer this question

by actually naming the future pontiff; but an anonymous contributor of the Nouvelle Revue (Paris, February 1) does as much as can be expected, and more than most other persons could do, since, if we are to be believe the editorial introduction, he is a person having special and intimate knowledge of the secret intrigues of the Vatican. His account of the struggle there between modern progress and enlightenment, in the person of Leo XIII. and his friend Cardinal Rampolla, and its enemies, is extremely interesting, especially at the present juncture. The anonymous author begins by describing the present pontiff, as follows:

"Leo XIII. is eighty-six years old. He has yet the strength and the agility of the Doge Dandolo. . . . The pontiff unites in his person the conditions of happy longevity. Chaste and sober, intellectual, without wants and almost without bodily desires, son of a patrician and mountain race, as indestructible, one would say, as the granite of his native soil-Leo XIII. seems placed above the passions that exhaust, the anxieties that burn, the weaknesses that kill. He is the eternal young man.' He is the despair of the old monarchical and conservative parties that await, from a future pope, deliverance by reaction; he is the pride of all the youths of the future, of lovers of democracy, of progress, of all that is fine and grand in the new civilization which has dawned and of which the United States seems to furnish the ideal type."

The situation, says the author, is unique. Every day appears some new speculation as the personality or the policy of the next pope. Yet no striking figure appears, to which all eyes are directed. "Leo XIII. himself is so great that the most daring shun comparison with him." Yet among his followers are three marked groups or parties, from one of which the next head of the Roman Catholic Church will be chosen. They are thus characterized by the author:

"The first, the most important, is that which looks to Cardinal Rampolla as the leader. He has in his favor the force of acquired impetus. He dreams only of continuing and extending the present régime. Leo XIII. has so masterfully drawn the great harmonic lines of pontifical policy, he seems to have fallen in with so much fidelity with the interests, the needs, and the conditions of this new era of the papacy, he has marked with so victorious a sign the ideas and aspirations of a whole epoch and a whole policy, that he has opened the future and holds it with a sure hand. Leo XIII. is not a party man. . . He is not simply a statesman; he is the personification of an epoch: . . . he is the historic man par excellence, the 'representative man' in Emerson's sense.

"Cardinal Rampolla is the faithful cooperator, the unfailing confidant of this vast design [the identification of the papacy with modern progressive ideas]. . . . If he does not stand as a candidate he will have a candidate of his own; he will be 'grand elector.' His position in the conclave will be preponderant. If his friends make him pope, what a pope he will be! Is not continu-. ity of policy an unfailing condition of success?

'As pope he will astonish people. The stature of Leo XIII. is so high that it hides a little the austere figure of his Secretary of State. . . It has been one of the happy and incomparable pieces of good fortune of Leo XIII. to have discovered Cardinal Rampolla, and to have associated him as a modest and incorruptible collaborator in the lot of his rule and of his enterprises.

"Amiable and good in private life, honest in business, incorruptible, persevering, serving God, Cardinal Rampolla has united merit of ideas to celerity of action. His adversaries reproach him with not being a politic man. This means that he knows not how to pretend, to dissimulate, to deceive. His soul is as transparent as crystal. With an ordinary Secretary of State Leo XIII. would perhaps have concealed his policy in the clouds. Cardinal Rampolla has carried it above the storm, into the calm sphere where it has become a symbol.

"He has inspired in some the confidence that brings followers, in others the hate that exasperates. He is a leader. He has adhered with full knowledge and approval to the plans of Leo

XIII. His most jealous care in the approaching conclave will be to assure the continuation of this program."

The second party, our anonymous informant says, is composed of a coalition of all those elements that, however much they may disagree on other points, agree in opposing this program of modern enlightenment. Such are the Royalists, the Conservatives, the reactionaries, and the courts of Berlin, Vienna, and Rome, all of whom can never pardon the friendship of Leo XIII. for the French Republic. This party, or rather mixture of parties, has a worthy leader in Cardinal Galimberti, who is thus described:

"Cardinal Galimberti has the brain of a fox in the head of an artist. He is a great contrast to Cardinal Rampolla, his rival. [He is a historian, a diplomat, and a tactician of the first order.] He is hated by the French and hates them in turn. . . . He combats the new social and democratic doctrines, of which he is an antagonist all the more formidable in that he believes himself to be allied by his liberalism with the extreme limits of concession. . . . He has a burning soul under a placid, serene, and charming exterior; he is a seducer, a reader of souls, a decipherer of diplomatic mysteries, an arranger of combinations."

Galimberti, altho personally unpopular, is recognized by the reactionary elements as their leader and will surely put forward his candidate for the papacy, if he does not run himself.

The third group mentioned by the author stands midway between the two already mentioned. It is led by the brothers Vanutelli, two men of ability and character, of different shades of opinion, but strongly attached to each other. Hence arises a compromise between them which makes their party that of middle courses, hesitation, and "the fence." On which side they will finally drop is doubtful, and the fact that they hold the balance of power may put one of them into the papal chair. The author of the article does not think there is any chance of the election of a foreign pope, tho this contingency is sure to happen some time in the future. On this point he says:

"In present conditions it would be foolish to raise the great and delicate question of a foreign pope. A foreign, or rather, a supranational pope is a future reality. As long as the murderous quarrel between Quirinal and Vatican shall go on the pontiff will be free from all national entanglement. The fall of the temporal power has ushered in the fourth era of the papacy, when, freed from all political alliances, it has become no longer the capital of a little territorial state but the common brain of the moral life of the universe.

"

ONE

whole matter has been under controversy, the cuneiform inscriptions claimed for the Hittite people being interpreted differently by different scholars.

Recently the whole matter has been discussed back and forth by scholars of different nations. An Italian Jesuit, Cesare de Cara, has published a work of rare scholarship, entitled "Gli Hethei-Pelasgi," the very title of which indicates the new theory proposed. His claim is that the Hittites and the Pelasgians, the ancient, prehistoric inhabitants of the Grecian countries, were one and the same people. He finds in the Hittite civilization and culture of Asia Minor the source and fountain. head of the civilization of the Greco-Latin races of Southern Europe, so that both the classical nations of antiquity, Greece and Rome, builded on the foundation of an originally Semitic and Asiatic culture, and that the civilization of the two nations of classical antiquity was not original with them, but was borrowed from the East yet not directly, but through the medium of the Pelasgians, the original inhabitants of the southern countries of Europe, who in turn had come across the Hellespont. This enigmatical race of antiquity, whose very existence had been demonstrated to the satisfaction of historians only by the evidences furnished recently by the archeologist's spade and pick, thus becomes the great civilizing factor of the ancient world, as the Hittites and the Pelasgians are declared to be identical. The origin of this Hittite civilization dates back to the second millennium before Christ and was transplanted to Europe in prehistoric times.

This line of thought had been engaging the attention of the French archeologist, Solomon Reinach, even before the publication of the de Cara theory, only that Reinach had inverted the order of development and had not derived the Pelasgians from the Hittites, but the Hittites from the Pelasgians, and pictured the migration of this people not from the East to the West, but from the West to the East. The leading English scholar on the Hittite problem, the enthusiastic Oxford Orientalist, Professor Sayce, has in The Academy declared himself as favoring the theory of the Italian savant.

A new turn in the discussion has been taken by Professor Jensen, of the University of Marburg, acknowledged as a leading specialist in cuneiform literature. In the German Oriental Society Zeitschrift he has discussed in detail the Hittite finds made in Sindshirli, in Syria, by a German company of explorers, and containing a rich abundance of inscriptions. He declares that these inscriptions, upon which so much of the Hittite theory is based, do not justify such an historical superstructure, and that they date from a period when the Hittite empire had long since disappeared from the historical horizon. According to Jensen, these inscriptions date from 1000 to 500 B. C. and are not Hittite at all, but are written in a Cilician dialect, and accordingly are not Semitic but are Indo-European, they agreeing in many particu lars with the Armenian.

Professor Zöckler, of Greifswald, in the Beweis des Glaubens. discusses these new theories and shows that even according to Jensen's criticism the theory that the Hittites and Pelasgians were one people originally is not invalidated, only the date of the Sindshirli monument and of the state of civilization represented by them can not be regarded as so prominent a factor in the oldest culture of the Oriental peoples as had been supposed. At any rate the identification of the two peoples is a possibility, almost a probability, and with the confirmation of this supposition the earliest history of Western Asia and of Greece and Rome assumes a different aspect. Translated and Condensed for THE Literary

DIGEST.

THE committee sent by the American Board of Foreign Missions to investigate the condition of their work in Japan has completed its labors and published its report. In substance it advises that the Board shall continue its labors in Japan but not to send new laborers there except under extraordinary circumstances. This means the ultimate withdrawal of the missionaries after a term of years. The committee found the reports as to the spread of heterodox views greatly exaggerated. pastors and teachers who have departed from the orthodox faith can be counted on the fingers of one hand, and these have all been partly educated

in Europe and America.

The number of

THERE has been recently formed in India a "Lord's-Day Union," the

purpose of which is to secure Sabbath.

a better observance of the Christian

As originally constituted the union was composed, not only of Europeans resident in India, but also of Christian natives, who seeing about them a constant violation of the Christian Sabbath by Hindus and Mohammedans determined to do what they could in order to secure more

respect for the Sabbath as an institution.

THE

HENRY CHANDLER BOWEN DEAD.

HE unusually active career of the founder and chief editor of The Independent, of this city, came to a close by death from heart-failure on the afternoon of Monday, February 24, at his Brooklyn home. Altho an octogenarian, Mr. Bowen daily visited The Independent office, and did a large amount of work. Even on the morning of the day of his death he insisted upon going over to New York, and it was only through the urgent persuasion and warning of his physicians that he finally decided not to go.

Mr. Bowen was born in Woodstock, Conn., September 11, 1813, and was the son of George and Lydia Wolcott Eaton Bowen. We learn from The Tribune that the Bowens were among the first settlers of Woodstock, and the best of New England blood, that of the Chandlers and Eliots, was in his veins. He was educated in the common school in Woodstock, in the Woodstock Academy, and in the Dudley Academy. His father kept a country store, and was also the landlord of the town tavern on the main road from Boston to Hartford. Young Bowen was determined to enter college, but, being the oldest son, was employed by his father as a clerk from his sixteenth to his twentieth year. He made frequent trips to Providence to buy goods, and it was

Independent, and on December 7 the first issue appeared, under the editorship of the Rev. Dr. Leonard Bacon, the Rev. Dr. Richard S. Storrs, the Rev. Joseph P. Thompson, and the Rev. Dr. Joshua Leavitt. It was established to be a metropolitan organ of the Congregational churches, which it was felt needed a journal which would be more progressive and anti-slavery than any then in existence. It immediately achieved power and influence, but for a number of years did not prove a financial success.

The proprietors were Henry C. Bowen, Theodore McNamee, Simeon B. Chittenden, Jonathan Hunt, and Seth B. Hunt, all of them young merchants. The paper was so anti-slavery in character that the Southern merchants refused to buy The any goods of the young men. other owners gradually dropped out of the venture, which always had proved a heavy financial burden to them, and Mr. Bowen became the sole owner. At the time of the failure of the firm the paper owed Bowen, McNamee & Co. $40,000, and the debt was increasing every day. Mr. Bowen left the mercantile business in 1861, and devoted his entire attention to The Independent, with the result that in six weeks it paid expenses. In 1862 he was appointed by President Lincoln Collector of Internal Revenue of the Third New York district, comprising the greater part of Brooklyn, but was removed from office by President Andrew Johnson because The Independent opposed his policy. Drs. Bacon, Thompson, and Storrs having retired from the editorship of The Independent, Mr. Beecher, and later Mr. Tilton, were called to the editorship. On the retirement of Mr. Tilton, Mr. Bowen became editor as well as proprietor and publisher, and from that time until his death he controlled its editorial policy. Through the efforts of Mr. Bowen his native city, Woodstock, received many benefits, and he spent thousands of dollars in making one of the most beautiful parks in the United States in that city. For over twenty-five years he held great mass-meetings in Woodstock annually on the Fourth of July. Some of the bestknown American statesmen and public speakers have spoken at Woodstock on these occasions.

these occasional glimpses of the world which resulted in his coming to New York to seek his fortune. We condense further information, as follows:

"At the age of twenty he became a clerk in the silk house of Arthur Tappan & Co. The two brothers, Arthur and Lewis Tappan, were the leading anti-slavery advocates of the city, and they were also prominent in religious affairs. He worked with the firm for five years, receiving the first year a salary of $300, which was increased $100 each succeeding year. The third year another firm offered him $1,000 a year, but he declined the offer, preferring to be true to his employers. As a result, he was offered a partnerhip in the firm of Arthur Tappan & Co., the other brother, Lewis, having decided to retire from active business. While he was a clerk the store was attacked by negroes during the negro riots, and Mr. Bowen was one of those who protected the store nightly with guns. He decided to branch out in a busi

ness for himself, and with a fellow clerk, Theodore McNamee, formed the firm of Bowen, McNamee & Co., wholesale dealers in silk and dry-goods, and a stranger to them, John Rankin, a wealthy citizen of New York, lent them $25,000. Their first store was at Beaver and William streets, but a prosperous business made it necessary to secure more commodious quarters. They erected a marble building in Broadway, between Pine and Cedar streets. Fortune continued to smile upon them, and after a few years they built what was then one of the finest marble stores in the city at Nos. 320, 322, and 324 Broadway. The panic of 1857 followed quickly upon the erection of the new building, and the firm was obliged to ask an extension of its creditors. Mr. McNamee withdrew and the firm name became Bowen, Holmes & Co. The new firm flourished until the Civil War broke out, and, altho it had nearly $800,000 assets above its liabilities, collections throughout the country, and especially throughout the South, were impossible, and an assignment was made. The firm afterward paid off the full amount of the debts, then compromised

and outlawed.

"In 1848 Mr. Bowen was one of five persons to found The

"Mr. Bowen was at one time one of the most influential members in Plymouth Church, to which Henry Ward Beecher came mainly through his influence. Mr. Beecher, after he came to Plymouth Church, lived for a short time in Mr. Bowen's house, and a feeling of warm friendship existed between the two men. Mr. Beecher was then connected with The Independent. Following the publication of the charges in the Beecher-Tilton scandal, an estrangement took place between Mr. Beecher and Mr. Bowen, and the preacher's friends contended that Mr. Bowen had been instrumental in bringing the charges before the public. Mr. Bowen during the Beecher trial was dropped from the roll of Plymouth Church, mainly because of his attitude during the controversy, when he showed some hostility toward Mr. Beecher. At that time Mr. Bowen was the owner of The Union, and during the trial the attitude of the paper toward Mr. Beecher was hostile. For this reason Mr. Beecher's friends withdrew their patronage from the newspaper, which was afterward sold to Lorin Palmer. Mr. Bowen joined the Church of the Pilgrims, of which the Rev. Dr. Storrs was pastor. Dr. Storrs had sided with Mr. Bowen in a number of incidental points which came up during the long discussion of the celebrated case.

JEWISH Societies in Boston and Philadelphia are greatly exercised over what they claim to be the improper methods pursued by Christian people in proselyting work among Jewish children, and steps are being taken in both cities to counteract such efforts. The Hebrew Standard thus refers to the matter: "The indignation of our coreligionists in Boston, Mass., has been justly aroused against the soul-catchers' who have been pursuing their nefarious calling-inveigling little Jewish children by cajolery.. artifice, and petty bribery into the missionary schools."