OUR AMERICAN LETTER.

Evening Star, Issue 10182, 8 December 1896, Page 2

OUR AMERICAN LETTER.

Keokuk (lowa, U.S.A.), October 29. LAN MACLAEEN IN CHICAGO. The announcement that the Rev. John Watson, better known to Americans as lan Maclarcn, would be the guest of Chicago was received with general satisfaction and great pie .sure. Most of the best people of Chicago instantly gave up the exciting fuss of politics and crowded to hear the author of ‘ Bonnie Brier Bush ’ and ‘ Auld Lang Syne ’ at thfe great Central Music Hall, taxing the capacity of the building beyond its limits. No foreign preacher coming to Chicago has ever received a more cordial or wanner welcome. His appearance in literature has given him a parish of wider extent than can be included in any ecclesiastical arrangement. Thousands of readers in Chicago alone have laughed and wept by turns over his inimitable sketches of Scotch country life, and are proud to see and hear him. He is tinder an engagement to give the Lyman-Beecher lectures at Yale College, and will give lectures in the principal cities of the United States and Canada. His tour will be an oration wherever he goes. His books captured the American people from the start. He has awakened among our people an interest in Scotland, her history, and her people such as no single man has ever done before. Chicago honors herself by honoring lan Maclaren, a preacher of righteousness.

A NEW SALVATION ARMY CORPS. Ic is reported from New York that the Protestant Episcopal Church has decided to invade the evangelical field now occupied exclusively by the Salvation Army and the Volunteers. The new army, it is said, will be under the same form of military discipline, and will seek to make converts by the same methods on the streets, by visitation, and by opening barrack rooms in the slum districts. It will include the best features of the Salvation Army in America and the Church Army of England, from which the Salvation Army sprang. The conspicuous success of the older organisations promise similar success for this new venture. The Salvation Army has thus far done all the hard work in this country of reaching out after the neglected poor, conquering prejudice, and commanding general respect, and has made the way comparatively easy for the new organisation to follow its footsteps. It has been conceded that the people reached by these evangelical armies are of a kind beyond the reach of ordinary church methods and influences, and it is certainly a wholesome religious movement, that proposes to swell the numbcrof these evangelical agencies. If the Protestant Episcopalians (the English Church in America), the most exclusive and aristocratic people as a rule, find their project as successful as it ought to be, it will not be long before all the other denominations will have similar contingents in the field. PICNICS AT PRAYER MEETINGS. The orthodox idea of the usual church prayer meeting has been a function of extreme propriety and solemnity, wholly inconsistent with any suggestion of attractive popularity. As a result, the attendance is usually limited to the “unco guid and rigidly righteous,” and the spiritual benefit, correspondingly limited to the select few, who are theoretically least in need of it. A wide-awake minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Chicago has invaded the region of gbom and routed the bewildered remnant of conservatism with a wellequipped battery of cake and lemonade, and perfect arrangement for the reception and protection of the bicycles while their owners are at worship. The experiment has been extended to several other churches already, and its signal success proves that appeals to the inner man to attend prayer meetings have not hitherto been directed to the proper section of the inner man. The minister responsible for this innovation does not expect a congregation of saints to be attracted by an offering of cake, pie, and lemonade ; but he does insist upon his people looking pleasant and being agreeable and sociable, and he claims to have found that the “ spread ” is an excellent factor in pro. ducing these results. This unique combina. tion of picnic and prayer meeting will be by many regarded as almost a sacrilegious in. novation. But to all who believe in smiles and good nature, and who can inject into religion some of the best graces of human nature, without raising their hands in holy horror, it will be a welcome change, and one that deserves imitation. THE SCIENCE OF MOTHERHOOD. An cutuely new national organisation is about to be launched in this country. Local organisations of the Federation of Mothers are being formed all over the country, and a call is issued convening a national congress of parents on the distaff side from all parts of the Union in Washington, D.C., next February, that will show to the world that the hand which rocks the cradle can grasp a great and novel idea. This enterprise is to be established on so strong a social basis as to command immediate and respectful recognition throughout the entire nation, and possibly the civilised world. This does not mean that it will be fashionable, but it has been taken up and is being pushed forward by a number of women of influence and prominence.

The purpose of the organisation will be to promote and develop a “ science of motherhood,” This to you may sound formidable, but its meaning is simple enough. Mothers are to be taught how to be good mothers ; to be efficient in the care and bringing up of their children. Until now nobody seems to have had any thought that mothers needed to have any special training for maternal duties, the assumption being that ordinary instinct was sufficient. This is surely an error that can be very easily demonstrated as such by the vast number of children who are poorly brought up—who are undeveloped mentally, morally, and physically as they should be, or as they might be. When this federation has been thoroughly established according to the ideal of its founders, nearly ever} 7 city, town, and hamlet in the United Slates will have its mothers’ club, all of them to be united in the national organisation. At such club meetings discussions will be had pertaining to the rearing of children. Here the individual mother will be roused to the needs of her offspring —needs which she never would have thought of before. From her associate mothers she will obtain valuable suggestions, and each club will be provided with a library of the best obtainable books bearing upon the care of and training of children. The home is to be the field for the practice of this new science. The fathers are not to be ignored or set aside. The mothers thus educated are expected and urged to influenthe fathers to give more care and attention to the education and development of the yoong immortals entrusted to them, and for whom they are responsible. The new, the old women, and the middle women, are all inviicd to unite in this enterprise and to give it a fair and thorough trial. With ideal mothers it is urged that we shall have an ideal race. In the children lie the hope of the future. The future of civilisation, good government, and the church rests upon them as upon a corner stone. The children of to-day represent the next step in human progress. Grown-up people cannot be changed to any great extent, but almost anything can be clone with children. Up to the present almost nothing has been done to prepare mothers for the most solemn responsibilities that can be laid on them. Of all the specialists on earth, the mother brings the poorest training to her immortal task. The Mothers’ Federation seeks to remedy this, and in its work it seems to me that it ought to have the best wishes and earnest

00-operation of every lover of his kind. It is practical. AN IMPENDING CONFLICT. Some weeks ago Pope Leo XIII. demanded the resignation of Bishop Keane as Rector of the Catholic University at Washington. In the same letter Dr Keane was offered a diocese, but it was promptly declined. It seems to us outsiders that there is a struggle between the German and the American Catholics to determine whether foreign—or, to be more specific, German influence—is to prompt the Vatican in all matters pertaining to its policy in the United Stater. Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop Ireland, and Bishop Keane have taken a national stand and hold a national place in the United States to-day. They have been and are bold leaders in modernising the church, and thereby offending many of the more conservative foreign leaders. The most prominent and inveterate of these are Monsignor Joseph Schroeder, the German Professor of Dogmatic Theology at the Catholic University, and he is the open and professed friend of that element at home and abroad who would force German rule upon the American Catholic, Church. No prelate of the Church of Rome, except it he Archbishop Ireland, has become so well and favorably known among the American people as Bishop Keane, the deposed rector. A great testimonial meeting was held recently at Carroll Hall, at which both Catholics and Protestants spoke with equal fervor of the character of the deposed rac'.or. and the loss of his services to the cause of education. So c ireful and Cor-serv itive a journal as the ‘ Baltimore Sun ’ says that in consequence of this Papal act legacies to the University in wills ranging from £IO,OOO to £so,Out) have been cancelled. It is an open secret that the Jesuits, who maintained their Georgetown University at Washington, have always bitterly opposed the new movement. It is now charged that through their influence and that f t Archbishop Corrigan, of Xew York, Satolli, who is now on his way home, has moved the Vatican to depose Bishop Keane, and thus remove his influence in the instruction of voting priests, and to restore the reactionary forces in the church to their former absolute power. The Board of Trustees of the University have refused to accept the resignation of Bishop Keane as rector, but that will make no difference. The Pope has demanded the Bishop’s resignation, and has it iu his possession, while the chair is now vacant. This summary deposition of a great and popular teacher may mean the withdrawal of Papal favor from the three great American prelates, as was done by a former Pope in the case of the three French Liberal prelates— Montalemba t, Luirdaine, and de la Manlair. In any event there is a tempest brewing. THE AMERICAN ■ VEN EZUELAN COM M ISSION. Some time ago the newspaper correspondents, who are supposed to have the car and confidence of the Administration announced that the British and Venezuelan contest was practically settled ; that a treaty was being drawn the terms of which were already agreed upon, and all that was necessary would be the formal ratification by the Governments interested in the usual way. But recently an impression has leaked out that the report of the American-Venezuelan Government will be adverse to the British cl dm-. It may be relied upon that the report of that Commission and its decision will not be given to the public until after its reception by the President of the United Slates, and that all reference to it by the Press is pure conjecture. That the impression alluded to has crossed the water is evidenced by a speech made recently by Sir Edward Glatko, M.P. for Plymouth, and Solicitor-General iu the fomu-r Salisbiuy Administration, ia which lie declares that “the decision of t lie Arm rican Boundary Commission would be against England, mC because it was a hostile commut-ion, but because, he believed, no honest and impartial arbitrator or commission could decide in favor cf England upon the evidence. . , . If the Bine Book containing the Venezuelan I brief represented the real and moderate contention cf Venezuela there ought to be immediate nogetiu'ion and consent given to arbitration, England should be prepared to meet the cvu&ujneiicrs of such arbitration in the limitation ii..--, which after all matters little." Sir Edward does not lake a roseate view ot the Commission’s probddc decision. With the decision itself lie is net inclined to dispute, but he adds ; “If the Unite d States attempted :o force upon us the jaevit.il Ic decision of their Uumnibsion p'tmio.iPc resentment would lac arou-ed ’ne'e, rir.us lo both counttiThai is why we arc taking what I conceive to be a sr-iious risk.” Tncre is now no disposition on either side to arouse passionate feeling. Both nations may bo trusted to t..ke a reasonable amt right view of the situation. With the important problems now confronting Great Britain, it is highly improbable that licetwill be any diplomatic higgling over the Venezuelan boundary dispute. While Sir Edward Claiku has been making candid! statements in England, for which he isNoeing scored by the British i rees of every shade of political opinion, the impression pr- v-dE in the United Stari-d Grvcrmmnt circles that the Venezuelan dispute will be settled satisfactorily very scon. It is asserted that Sir Julian Pauucefote, the British Minister at Washington, on his arrival from a visit to London, immediately submitted to MrOluey, the American Secretary of State, propositions of a conciliatory character which will no doubt be readily accepted. It is surmised, too, that Mr Chamberlain’s visit to this country was not altogether a family affair from the fact that lie was closeted for some time with the President and his Secretary of State. The statement, though shadowy, that the Commis'ion’s decision will favor the Venezuelan Convention is reiterated with a deg;ee of pjsitiveness, and tee source from whence it started leads to the lx lief that there may be something in it. The correctness of the statement will soon be apparent. The general impress'd u 'ha* a peaceful and satisfactory settlement of the prolonged controversy is approaching is pleasing to the people and Government oi Venezuela. L. is expected that the long interrupted diplomatic relations bctwivn Caucus and London wiil be resumed very :<• on. HOPE FOR THE I TUANS. It seems to be very i-\ id cut. that the suppression cf the icbcilu u iu Cuba is tco big a job for the Spanish Government to accomplish. The strain on the home Government’s resources is nearing breaking tioint. Ti* money markets of Europe are diary of making any more loans for the prosecution of the war. Its cost thus fer has been tremendous, and the island Treasury is empty. The call for men to fill the army is not responded to ; there is no enthusiasm for service in Cuba. Discontent is spreading throughout Spain. The Republicans are increasing and hopeful. Don Carlos and his adherents are watching their opportunity for a rising, and another rebellion in the Philippine Islands is far more strioua than it seemed to be at first. Spanish and priestly rule is becoming hateful to the people. If Spain does not succeed during the present dry season, the belief is general that she will not succeed at all. A rumor gained currency last week to the effect that President Cleveland would soon announce a change of policy towards Cuba. I do not believe it, but there is a hint that not only will the Cubans bo accorded belligerent rights, but that her independence will be recognised. The bare possibility of such a course sets mad the Madrid and Havana journals, which arc shrieking defiance at the United States.