"It is declared that 'horse and mule boatmen will, save 82 per cent. of the present rate of tonnage, and steam canal boatmen will save 55 per cent. on the present cost if electrical power displaces horse, mule, and steam.' If this is true it seems that the steamboat as well as the mule must 'go.' But it is well to remember that enthusiastic claims made for new appliances are not always sustained by experience, and that the canal-trolley is as yet little more than a theory. After it has been put into practical service under varying conditions over a long line, in place of the 14 mile course on which the test was made, there will be a basis for determining the cost of operation and maintenance. Whether, also, the saving, whatever it be, will be applied to reduce freight rates or will be 'absorbed' by the now poorly remunerated canal boatman, is an interesting question. It would seem as if present rates for canal transportation were as low as anybody could reasonably expect, and it is to be remembered that the railways across New York have been charged with making lower rates than even the canal boatmen could stand-so that high rates along the canal do not constitute an evil calling for redress."

cation, and is contradictory to the existing time-consecrated
order; but such refusals must be discour tenanced at once, for
the sole reason that, if allowed to ten, to-morrow there will be a
thousand, ten thousand others who wish to escape the burden of
the taxes and the conscription. And if this is allowed, there will
spring up marauding and chaos instead of order and security;
no one's property or life will be safe. Thus the authorities rea-
son; they can not reason otherwise; and they are not in the least
at fault in so reasoning. Even without any such selfish consid-
eration as that these desertions might deprive him of his means
of subsistence, now collected from the people by means of com-
pulsion, every official, from the Czar down to the ooryadiuk (vil.
lage police-commissioner), must be deeply indignant with the
refusal of some uncivilized, unlettered people to comply with the
demands of the Government, which are obligatory upon all.
'How dare these mere ciphers of people,' thinks the official,
'deny that which is recognized by everybody, that which is con-
secrated by the law, and is practised everywhere?' As officials,
they can not be shown to be in error for acting as they do. They
use force, brute force. And they can not avoid so doing. In
point of fact, how can you, by reasonable and humane means,
compel men who profess the Christian religion to join another
body of men when are learning how to kill, and practising for
that purpose? The deception of deceived people can be main-
tained by various kinds of stupefactions-by administration of
oaths, by theological, philosophical, and judicial sophistries. But
as soon as the deception is by some means broken, and people
like the Dookhobortzy, calling things by their right names, say,
'We are Christians, and therefore we can not kill,' then the lie
is exposed; and to persuade such men by arguments of reason is
impossible. The only means of inducing them to obey are blows,
'executions,' deprivation of shelter, cold and hunger in their
families. Just these means are used. So long as the officials are
not conscious of their wrong position they can do nothing else;
and therefore are not-guilty. But still less are those Christians
at fault who refuse to participate in murderous exercises, and to
join a body of men who are trained to kill any whom the Govern-
ment orders to be killed. The nominal Christian, baptized and
brought up in Greek orthodoxy, Catholicism, Protestantism,
might continue to follow violence and murder, so long as he does
not discover the deception put upon him. But as soon as he dis-
covers that every man is responsible to God for his acts, and that
this responsibility can not be shifted to some one else or excused
by the oath, and that he must not kill, or prepare himself to
kill, then participation with the army at once becomes to him as
impossible morally as it is physically impossible for him to lift a
ton weight. This fact of the Christian religion makes its relation
to government a terrible tragedy."

Tolstoi thinks that the Russian Government is between the devil and the deep sea. If it continues to use force, there will be widespread sympathy with the martyrs, and other sects, of which there are scores in Russia, will doubtless come to their rescue; if it lets the Dookhobortzy alone, tens of thousands of others will demand similar exemption from military service and taxation. Of course, Tolstoi's sympathies are with the persecuted, and he meets as follows the objection that the course of the non-resistant sects would, if unchecked, lead to the dissolution of government:

"But what will happen if government is brought to an end?' I hear the question which is always put by those who think that if we lose that which we now have, then there will remain nothing, everything will be lost.

"There is always the one answer to this question. There will be the thing which ought to be, that which is well-pleasing to God, which is according to the law He has put in our hearts and revealed to our minds. If government should be abolished by us in the w way of revolution, certainly the question as to what will be after government is done away with would require an answer from the abolitionists. But the abolition which is now in process is taking place, not because some one, or some body of men, have resolved upon it, but government is being swept away because it is not according to the will of God which He has revealed to our minds and put in our hearts. A man who refuses to kill and imprison his brother man does not purpose to destroy government; he merely wishes not to do that which is contrary to the will of God; he is merely avoiding that which not only he, but everybody who is above the brute, undoubtedly considers evil. If

through this government be destroyed, it only shows that the demands of government are contrary to God's will-that is, they are evil; and thus government, being in itself an evil, comes to be destroyed."

In the London Times article referred to above, the Dookhobortzy are described with considerable detail. We quote some portions: "Worshiping God in spirit, the Dookhobortzy as a body declare that the external church, and everything performed in her and pertaining to her, has no significance whatsoever for them and is quite useless. 'Our conscience,' said the Dookhobortzy from Tambof, 'does not need to go to the church, and we do not think the church holy, being, as she is, perishable and not eternal.' Since, according to them, God dwells in every soul of the Dook'My hobortzy, the church of this God must also be there. church,' it is said in the catechism of the Dookhobortzy, 'is built, not on mountains, not of wooden beams, nor with walls of stone, but my church is built in the soul.' Wherever two or three are gathered in the name of Christ, there is the church. Having rejected the external church, the Dookhobortzy no longer need sacraments and ceremonies. Images, or, as the Dookhobortzy call them, symbols,' they do not acknowledge to be holy, and they revere none of them.

"The Dookhobortzy acknowledge Scripture to be from God; but they do not make this the basis of their creed. 'From the Old and New Testaments,' they say, 'we take only what is useful,' mostly the moral teaching. Everything in the Bible which does not agree with their beliefs they reject, or try to explain by some out-of-the-way, mystical interpretation. Their religion is not derived from the Bible, but from tradition. This tradition from their forefathers they call 'the living book,' as it lives in their memory and hearts and is in contrast to our Bible, which, according to them, consists of 'dead letters.'

"The moral ideas of the Dookhobortzy are the following: All men are, by nature, equal; external distinctions, whatsoever they may be, are worth nothing. This idea of men's equality the Dookhobortzy have directed further, against the state authority. The 'Sons of God' do their duty without compulsion; there is no need of authority for them. There must not be on earth any authority, either clerical or secular, because all men are in themselves equal and equally liable to the commission of sin. The Dookhobortzy, therefore, altho they do not rebel against established authorities, do not obey them blindly; if they show any deference it is not really felt; among themselves they hold subordination, and much more, a monarchical government, to be contrary to their ideas. Sons of God have no need either of judicial tribunals. 'What use has the tribunal for him who does not wish to wrong anybody?' say they. Neither do they admit an oath, and, therefore, they refuse to swear for any cause; this latter case happened very often when they were called for military service. They also think it wrong to bear weapons and to fight against an enemy; this they evidenced practically; for, in the Vologodsk regiment, during the first Turkish war, when near Perekop, they threw away their arms."

Poison in Ian Maclaren.-The editor of The Southwestern Presbyterian feels constrained to warn his readers against "the subtle poison" of humanitarianism which he finds lurking in some of the Drumtochty stories by "Ian Maclaren." For example, in the case of the good physician, Dr. Maclure, it appears that with all his kindness of heart and nobleness of character, he was not a professor of religion or even an attendant at church." And there is the honest and faithful postman who finally risks and loses his life to save a widow's child. Yet Posty is between times and off duty a sorry drunkard-his only regret about his dead brother, like himself intemperate, is that he refused an invitation to drink with him on the night he died. But "the worst example of all" is found in the story of the girl, Lilly Grant, whose dying hours are made happy and content by the deception practised upon her by the loving, gentle, and sympathetic Jamie Soutar. The great grief of the dying girl has been the apparent neglect of her mistress whom she had served so well. Jamie disposes of this source of unhappiness in the only way that seems open to him. He tells Lilly Grant that her mistress had actually been twice a day at the hospital to inquire He also produced twenty pounds in gold, his own, which he had drawn from his savings in the home bank, and represents it as her mistress's gift. "Here we have," says The Southwestern, "the very doctrine unblushingly taught by Jesuit casuists, that one may steal or lie 'for the greater glory of God.

about her.

In reference to the "high moral code" of China, we quote:

'Confucianism has no doubt wrought much good in its time, but it has outlived its moral power; its body is there still, but such soul as it had seems to have departed out of it. Confucius threw no light on any of the questions which have a world-wide and eternal interest; he gave no real impulse to religion; he had no sympathy with progress. It does not seem, however, as if Dr. Legge's prophecy that his influence would wane is likely soon to be fulfilled. Putting Christianity aside for the moment, China would assuredly fare better if she followed out her great philosopher's principles. It is because her people preach so glibly of morality and virtue, and neglect to practise them, that the Empire is the morally rotten body that we see it to be."

Ought women to be sent to China as missionaries, and are the missionaries sufficiently careful not to inflame the passions of the people needlessly? These questions are asked, and are answered as follows:

"We must reiterate our conviction, which will be shared by nearly all laymen who have visited China, that the hostile feelings they [women] indisputably excite almost completely nullify the good they would be capable of accomplishing under more favorable conditions. Their enthusiasm and devotion, their bravery and (as a general thing) their tact, their tireless and unceasing labors in lonely provinces where everything but their own steadfast belief in their cause tells against them, make their

It

relative failure all the more pathetic. Still, badly as Chinese
men think of the Western woman who goes about among them
unrestrained, the Chinese women are more amenable to feminine
influences, when once their natural prejudice has been removed,,
and there is a marvelously wide field here for female energy.
is possible that our women do more good among their own sex in
China than we are generally disposed to admit; but it is certain
their presence is an abomination to the people at large, and until
China has properly awakened, sporadic outbreaks with more or
less serious results are inevitable. The other question, as to the
discretion of the missionaries of both sexes, has occupied the at-
tention of successive ministers to Peking and of consuls at the
various treaty ports any time during the past thirty years or more.
After all, it must be remembered that China belongs to the Chi-
nese, and that we, when we penetrate beyond the treaty ports,
are only received on sufferance. The authorities do not want us
there, and they would turn us out if they could and if they dared.
Given a rooted antipathy to foreigners and a missionary whose
zeal outruns his discretion, and a disturbance is the most natural
result in the world. It speaks well for the qualities of the men
we send out to preach the Gospel in China that collisions with the
officials and the people have, in circumstances tending very
readily to enmity, been so relatively few and the converts so
relatively numerous."

LATE UTTERANCES ON CHURCH UNITY.

IN

N spite of some depressing occurrences of recent date, such as the rejection of the Chicago-Lambeth platform by the Episcopal Convention, the subject of church unity remains at the front as a topic of religious discussion, both in England and in this country. The subject was given a prominent place in the program of the recent Church Congress at Norwich, England, with the result, according to report, of stirring up a breezy debate showing a wide difference of opinion among the members on the question of union. One of the points discussed was reunion with the Church of Rome according to the terms proposed in the recent letter of Pope Leo. The Bishop of Coventry made a speech in which he contended that transsubstantiation, compulsory confession, and penance, Mariolatry, image worship, the celibacy of the clergy, were in the catalog of serious differences. Halifax made a diplomatic address, but upon the whole advocating reunion with Rome. Dean Lefroy followed Lord Halifax and warmly rebuked him for his alleged leanings toward Romanism. Referring to this discussion, The Christian Commonwealth, of London, says:

Lord

"Everybody was evidently in favor of the policy of the anaconda with respect to the rabbit. Reunion was always possible if the Established Church could be allowed to swallow up all the other churches. Or, to change the figure a little, the lion was quite ready to unite with the lamb, provided the lamb would consent to be eaten. This is practically what all these conferences on reunion amount to. Every one wishes to be the anaconda or lion in the case, and none will consent to be either the rabbit or the lamb. In all that was said at the Church Congress there was not the slightest intimation on the part of any one that any concession would or could be made by churchmen. While this is the spirit we may as well make up our minds that reunion is yet a long way off."

In this country the discussion of church unity has recently centered around the proposals framed by the Congregational Council at Syracuse, and the National Unitarian Conference at Washington. As a matter of course The Congregationalist is committed to the Syracuse Quadrilateral. It sums up its merits thus:

"The chief value of the basis of unity proposed by Congregationalists, above those offered by other denominations, is that it offers common ground on which the great majority of Christians can stand, without trespassing on the liberties of any. Union on such a basis will not obliterate important denominational lines, but will prevent them from being used as barriers and will keep divisions of Christ's army from striving against one another. It may bring together bodies already closely affiliated, prevent

wasteful competition on home and foreign fields, promote acquaintance and fellowship, and lead toward a unity which, without the danger of tyranny by any central authority, will witness to the world more fully than now that Christians love one another." For the same reason The Christian Register (Unitarian) is inclined to think that the plan submitted by the National Conference at Washington is the best of all. It says:

"They (the Unitarians) offer as a basis not a form of doctrine, a liturgy, a method of government, a traditional form of priestly succession, but the essence of Christianity itself, as summed up in the life and teachings of Jesus, that practical religion is love to God and love to man. This is a basis of union which is older than that offered by Episcopacy or by any other denomination. It lies at the foundation not only of Christianity, but of Hebraism and all true religion. In accepting it, the Episcopalian is not obliged to give up his prayer-book or his doctrine of the apostolic succession, the Methodist is not obliged to give up his bishops, nor the Presbyterian his elders, nor the Roman Catholic his ceremonies, nor the Baptist his love for immersion. All this matter of form and government is secondary. This is the real faith delivered to the saints, and on this basis Christians of all denominations may find a field for cooperation."

The Episcopal papers generally do not take kindly to the Congregational proposal, claiming that it is creedless and requires too few conditions. On the other hand the evangelical press, as a rule, commends the Syracuse platform as the best that has yet been offered. This feeling is expressed by The Methodist Protestant as follows:

"To our view the Congregational platform is sufficiently comprehensive to cover every principle and doctrine that belongs to the religion of the Bible, and what is not found in that no man is under obligation to accept. We hail this as a step toward that grand day when divisions and unholy competitions will cease, and when all who love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity and walk in His commandments will be one family."

A GREAT manufacturing company in Massachusetts recently paid their workmen, on Saturday evening, seven hundred ten-dollar bills, each bill being marked. By the following Tuesday, four hundred and ten of these marked bills were deposited in the bank by the saloon-keepers of the town. Four thousand and one hundred dollars had passed from the hands of workmen on Saturday night and Sunday, and left them nothing to show for this great sum of money but headaches and poverty in their homes. Well might these men cry out to the State: "Save us from ourselves!" and their hapless wives and children: "Save us from our husbands and fathers on the Lord's Day at least!"-Father McSweeney, in Catholic World.

THE investigations of Mr. Robert E. Lewis, College Secretary of the Young Men's Christian Associations, to determine whether the Christian ministry deserves to rank as the "distinctly learned profession," show that in eleven representative theological seminaries the proportion of college graduates to the whole number of students is 66.8 per cent.; and in nine leading law schools the proportion is 34.6 per cent., while in nine of the principal medical schools the proportion is 23.9 per cent.

A NEW International Sunday-school Lesson Committee is to be chosen by the International Sunday-school Association at its triennial meeting in Boston which will be held June 23-26, 1896. The lessons for 1896 will be for the first six months the Gospel of Luke, and for the remainder of the year in Old Testament history from the times of David and Solomon. The theme for the entire year of 1897 will be the history of the Early Christian Church as given in the Acts of the Apostles.

THE secretaries of the Methodist Episcopal missionary societies send out the following statement: "A million for missions was once prophecy; it is now history. One million two hundred thousand for missions was once prophecy; it is now history. One million and a quarter for missions is a prophecy that bids fair of being fulfilled in 1895."

THE Hungarian Rabbis, without the fear of the Western Pope before their eyes, declared, with one dissentient only (and he should emigrate to America), that they could not bless mixed unions, either by marriage ceremony or other religious form.-The Hebrew Standard.

THE Baptists in Saxony protest against the legality of an order issued by the Government threatening them with a fine without appeal for "baptizing or doing anything which might disturb the peace of the Lutheran Church." THE Bishop of Norwich, England, is not a Doctor of Divinity. In the impoverished condition of his diocese he thinks he can spend the $350 better in helping poor clergy than in paying fees for an ornamental title.

The American Hebrew has been selected by the Department of Jewish Studies of the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle as the means for coming in touch with the general Jewish public.