The Washington times., 1901-09-02
FOREIGN TOPICS.

A recent number.of lie Revue Blanche
contains an elaborate article on the work
OF Christian missions in China, by VI.
Alexandra Ular. in which the writer
makes the surprising statement that there
are no missionaries of the Russian Or
thodox Church In China; that is. not ac-
cording TO the Western definition of the
word missionary He says that the Chi
nese call the missionaries Tchouan-hsi-
tziao-chi, which means ''savants who prop
| agate the doctrine of the West" which in
no wise applies to Russian missionaries.
for Russia is not Western Power in the
eyes of the Chinese. but their northern
reighbor. and she knows Chinese civiliza-
tion too well to attempt to act on the pop
ular mind by means OF doctrines which
are alien to their habits of thought. He
points out that the Russian missions in
| Pekin resemble in no way those OF the
other Powers. constituting merely the
Legation of the Orthodox Pope at the
Court of the Son of Heaven as the spirit
ual head of the Chinese nation. The mem
bers Of the mission spend their time and
resources not in religious propaganda.
| but in the publication or linguistic and
| scientific books. Moreover the Russians
very adroitly utilize the rivalry existing
between the Christian sectS in China in
their own interests. pointing out that Pro-
| testantism and Catholicism are both
| schismatic, and that their doctrines are
doctrines of the West and are worth
| less.
NJ. Ular maintains that the Catholic
| missions have prospered more than the
| Protestant for the reason that the former
! have recognized Buddhist prejudices and
| nave so presented their religion to APP
| peal to the intelligence and ina gination
| OF the native, assimilating Buddhist SYM
\ bolisn in their worship to such an extent
that the Catholic churches seem with all
| their ngures of saints to have descended
from Chinese pantheon.
Herbert Gladstone, whose matrimonial
| engagement was recently made public,
was generally regarded as a confirmed
| bachelor. which is scarcely surprising be-
cause his tale of years Is not far short
of half century. For over twenty years
he has sat in the House of Commons, but
thanks to his devotion to physical cul-
ture, those years have passed very lightly
over his head, and his figure Is still quite
youthful Oyershadowed as he Is by the
| memory of great historical figure. he
could scarcely expect to achieve much in
politics, but he has proved himself use
ful administrator. and showed a certain
amount of originality In accepting the
post of Chief Whip. after he had served
as First Commissioner of Works. Mr..
House. precisely reversed this procedure.
| The Paget family. into which Mr.. Glad
stone Is about to marry, is one of those
English commoner families which are too
proud to claim any connection with the
ennobled Pagets. whose head is the Mar
quis of Anglesey. Sir Richard Horner
Paget, Mr.. Gladstone's future father-fn-
law, Is a Somerset squire pure and simple.
He sat for something like thirty years
as a Somersetshire member in the House
of Commons, and when he retired in 1895
hn uFg do wi va-sI0 LIo had
been made previously a baronet, and owns
a fair amount of land for a baronet, some
600 acres among the Mendip Hills, where
the famous Cranmore Tower Is mark
for miles round. The marriage between
Mr.. Gladstone and Miss Paget is one more
proof of the amenities of English politics.
The Right Hon. Sir Richard Horner Paget
was always one of the ''Old Gang" and
got his reward for services to the party
which his future soD-in-law spends his
life in combating.
Railway arches have doubtless been
put to muititudinous uses from time to
time, and more particularly in the neigh
borhood of London, where they may be
seen serving the purpose of a stable or a
church. The sanitary inspector of
Bethnal Green has. however been deyot-
ing his attention TO the operations be-
meath an archway in that part of London
About a year ago certain persons were
prosecuted and heavily fined for selling |
and using for human food material pur- |
chased from a cats and dogs meat deal |
er, the lessee of a railway arch, and |
somewhat similar mysteries have again |
been enacted in the same neighborhood, |
but outside the district of Bethnal Green. |
1t appeared for long time that the |
cats meat trade had ceased, but by |
means OF a midnight vigil the sanitary /
Inspector ascertained that the cats
rtnl ANN sod r-Cfaff Il NCltr
small private house, from which it was |
fetched by makers of sausageS. After
considerable trouble a butcher in Hack
ney was followed home with a constgn-
ment of this material, which, arrival |
at the butchers premises, was seized and
condemned. The inspector is OF the opin-
iectionable substance, highly seasoned
with condiments and perhaps temptingly
colored, Is dealt in, and that regular
markets exist for the trade.
The grand council OF Canton de Vaud
has under consideration a measure for
prohibiting advertising firms from de-
facing picturesque spots of Switzerland
with their giaring posters and painted
Not even the highest
are exempt from this species
Of desecration, and the tourist is certain
even in the most remote spots to be sud
denly confronted with huge advertise
ments of patent medicines or somebody's
soap The people of Geneva contemplate
strong measures to put an end to the
nuisance.
A curious feature to travellers in the
high roads of Norway is the great num-
Der of gates-upward of 10000 in the whole
have TO be opened. These
gates, which either mark the boundaries
If the farms or separate the home fields | {
from the waste lands. constitute a con- :
siderable Inconvenience and delay to the |
traveller who has to stop his vehicle and
get down to open them. An Improvement
n this respect will probably be made ,
shortly by the Introduction of a new gate .
which can be opened without the neces-
;ity of alighting from ones carriage.
One OF the reasons why King Edward I
was not speedier in his journey to Ger
S stated to have been due to a deficiency
n his wardrobe. He did not have the
particular uniforms on hand that all the I
tiquette of the occasion called for and 1
lie had to have them made. For of all the !
of Europe William is said to
'e the most exacting as to the dress fit
ing the time. 1t Is & fact that the EN- !
eror wears at least once each year and
ften more frequently 250 different uni Q
orms. He has twenty separate hunting
ostumes varied according to the game !
united. But there is one garment he
oes not affect. Once his tailor sent him
splendid specimen of the article but il |
ias returned the next day with a note in
he Emperor's own handwriting: THE
iohenzollerns do not wear dressing -
owns
I
H.. ~t,,A s.fI If,,I,r f.,, - Il