'places, to cater for every section of the public. In "many cases the parties are so evenly balanced that "only a small percentage of the votes is necessary "to turn the scale in either direction; therefore both parties and all officials are bound to cater for the "missionary propaganda, at least in the sense of not "interfering with it. It is safe to say that not more. "than one per cent. of our official class is in favour "of sending missionaries abroad; still, they dare not "oppose it.

"means true.

"There is a mistaken theory in England and "America that the majority rule. This is by no A great deal depends upon zeal and organisation. Certainly not over twenty-five per "cent. of the voting population of England and "America accept the Christian dogmas as articles of "faith. As a rule, they have no faith; they depend altogether upon fact. Their feeling, as far as "religion is concerned, may be described as apathy; "they take no interest whatsoever in religious affairs, "and they do not govern in anything relating to "religion, especially that branch that relates to "missionaries. On the other hand, the twenty-five "per cent. of believers, being organised and zealous, "are able to force the majority into at least non-inter"ference with the missionary propaganda.

"Christianity, like all other religions, has been developed from exceedingly small beginnings; that "is to say, it is an outcome of growth, the greater part "of it having been borrowed from very ancient forms "of religion, which had their origin in Northern India "and China. Christianity, as we know it to-day, was "not formulated, as many people suppose, at Jeru"salem nearly 1,900 years ago, but at a much later "date at Alexandria, Corinth, and Rome-at Rome

"especially, where more has been done to develop the "faith than at all the other centres of Christianity. "It appears, however, that the early leaders of the "Church at Rome were not inspired with any degree "of originality. If we make a careful study of the "subject, we shall find that nearly all the dogmas of "Christianity which form a part of the Roman "Catholic system were taken wholly from older "faiths, and that nearly all of the ritual-the forms "and ceremonies and various incantations—were "adopted from what they are pleased to call, at the "present time, Pagan beliefs."

The first grave objection that must be made to the preaching of this Christian faith to the Chinese, as to any other people, is that it consists of a series of statements about the world and man which are flagrantly inconsistent with modern knowledge, and disdainfully rejected by most of the leaders of thought in Europe. These statements are contained in the Bible, and it is to the Bible that the more ignorant of the Chinese are referred, as a supernatural revelation which has been communicated to Christianity, and to Christianity alone. Very few educated people in England regard the Bible as a source of supernatural enlightenment. Mr. Herbert Paul has remarked that the Bible has, in our time, been relegated to the hands of savages and children. Even if this were true, we should be bound to protest that children and savages have as much right to the truth as civilised adults; but it is far from true. We are sometimes told that when we criticise the statements of the Bible we are flogging a dead horse. The truth is that not only do missionaries offer the Bible to highly civilised people like the Chinese, with an assurance that it is the gospel of progressive Europe,

but we officially impose its discredited statements on all our school children in England. Millions of our less educated adults are encouraged to believe these statements literally, and even the alleged higher scheme of Christian belief is directly based on them.

At the time of the so-called Reformation the Roman Catholics, who had previously held Europe completely at their mercy, asserted in the most vehement manner that it would not do to enlighten the people in regard to the evidence for the Christian faith. "They must not be allowed to read the Bible." They knew that that faith was founded on fable, and would have the Bible sealed against the people. A Pope, observing the immense amount of gold brought to Rome from every part of Europe, had said: "And "all this comes of that fable about the Virgin Mary "and Jesus Christ." The Roman Catholic Church. has been described as the most perfect organisation that the world has ever known. We might recall that the tiger is about the finest physical organisation in the world, the result of long ages of preying upon other animals. So the Catholic Church has developed an organisation eminently fitted for preying on ignorant people, and it felt that its work would be frustrated if the Bible were put in the hands of the people.

I

The foresight of the Roman priests is only too manifest when we reflect that Protestantism is a gloomy and ignominious failure. It has been found impossible to educate people and keep them in the Protestant creed. Education is destructive of all religious belief, and it has proved a difficult task to make a man just wise enough not to be a Catholic, yet not too wise to

At that time the Pope of Rome received four times as much of the revenues of France as the King did.

be a Protestant. The placing of the Bible in the hands of the people led to the formation of hundreds of warring sects, and a great stimulus was given to investigation. In Germany, Holland, and England, Protestantism took firm hold, and such abuses as the belief in purgatory and the sale of relics (which still disgraces the Catholic Church in Spain) were swept away. From the earliest historical times there had been an excellent moral tradition in Germany, especially in regard to respect for women; and the immoral and corrupt practices of the priests and monks were violently suppressed. In France, Italy, and Spain the older Church retained its hold, and the abuses continued; but that very fact has led in our time to a fresh and more radical religious revolution.

France, which is to-day, in regard to religion, the most advanced nation in the world outside of China, has definitely abandoned its churches. Hardly five million of the whole population, and these are mostly women and children, practise any religion whatsoever. Portugal has recently followed her example, and the time is clearly not far distant when Italy and Spain and the more progressive of the South American Republics will throw off the yoke of the Church. Protestantism, on the other hand, has prolonged the life of religion in the more intellectual parts of Europe; but there are signs that it, in turn, is decaying. It has been ascertained that four-fifths of the immense population of London do not attend church or chapel; and the proportion is even greater in Berlin. This is not surprising in an age of general education. The people can read for themselves how the more educated reject the doctrines of Christianity, and they are rapidly

Bible Picture.

GOD MAKING THE SKY.

Christian writers often describe God as The Great Architect." They point out that the crystalline dome of the sky is all in one piece, without a crack, a seam, or a blemish. The illustration shows God in the act of making the sky. Professor Tyndall, in speaking of the extreme fineness of the dust suspended in the upper atmosphere, and which forms our sky, said that he knew he could produce just as good a sky as we have at the present time with a cartload of material, and it might be possible that he could do it with a vest pocket full.

Bible Picture.

GOD AND HIS ANGELS.

Showing God and his angels at the time of the

Creation.

To face p. 8.