THE ART AMATEUR for June contains a profusion of designs for china painting, including pansies for a plaque, cherry blossoms for a panel, honeysuckle for a vase and columbine for dessert plate. Some South Kensington borders and a quaint chasuble ornament are provided for the needleworkers; there are over twenty monograms, about forty designs for jewelers' use, and a page of capital borders from the Cincinnati School of Design to accompany the second of the lessons in "Wood Carving for Amateurs." Specially attractive articles are those on "Entretat," with eight illustrations by Henry Bacon, and on "John La Farge, Artist and Decorator," with illustrations of his work in mural painting and stained glass, the latter from the Vanderbilt houses. Other important topics are the Paris Salon, recent London exhibitions, modern pottery at Bethnal Green, sketching from nature in oil, flower painting, and chalk and crayon drawing with striking illustrations by Millet and others. J. C. Beckwith has a charcoal sketch of a pretty and piquant damsel, and there are eight examples of last-century miniatures by Conway and others. Price, 35 cents; per annum, $4. Montague Marks, publisher, 23 Union Square, New York.

The June number of the MAGAZINE OF ART presents as a frontispiece "Rosa Triplex" drawn by Dante Gabriel Rossetti. A paper on Bastien-Lepage, painter and psychologist, by W. C. Brownell, with portrait and two engravings. An article on San Francisco, by Robert Louis Stevenson, with five engravings. A poem by Austin Dobson, illustrated by Kate Greenaway. An article on "Women at Work: decoration," by Leader Scott. "Virtuosity," a full page engraving from the picture of W. J. Martens. More about Benvenuto Cellini, with four engravings. The girl student in Paris, by Alice Greene. Out of doors in Surrey, by H. E. Ward, with six engravings by Barraud. The Lugano frescoes, by Catherine Duncan. Andreas Hofer at Innsbrück from the picture by Franz Defregger. Musical instruments as works of art, by John Leyland, with four engravings. Ultimus Romanorum, with four engravings. The chronicle of art. American art notes. Yearly subscriptions, $3.50. Single number, 35 cents. Cassell, Petter, Galpin & Co., New York.

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THE

NEW ENGLANDER.

No. CLXXVI.

SEPTEMBER, 1883.

ARTICLE I.-THE RELATION BETWEEN CHRISTIANITY AND HEATHEN SYSTEMS OF RELIGION.

CHRISTIANITY is a religion of conquest, and as such is brought into vital contact with every form of heathen religious belief. It follows that a just appreciation of the relation between Christianity and the religions which it aims to supplant, is an essential qualification for the missionary in his work of evangelization. The Apostle Paul did not resolve to know nothing but Christ and Him crucified, in any narrow sense that would cause him to ignore the previous religious training and convictions of those whom he sought to lead into a truer and nobler life. Ignorance of a man's religious convictions involves an ignorance of the best methods of approach to his mind and heart. On the other hand an exaggerated estimation of the doctrines of heathen religions must tend to dangerous compromises between truth and falsehood, to an adulteration of the new wine of life with the old dregs of human error, that minister only disease and death. But the task of judging justly of strange religious systems is confessedly a difficult one. If it is

found not easy to eliminate the personal equation in scientific investigations, much more is this true in ethical and religious investigations. Men in their estimation of truth are often unconsciously biased by education, by their mental qualities, and above all by their state of heart. How often do we read from the hands of different writers conflicting accounts of heathen systems of worship; and this too from men of equal intelligence, and opportunities for investigation. But the subject is too important for us to shrink from its examination through fear of being betrayed into error in our conclusions. Rather should we be warned by the difficulties to conduct our inquiries with caution and candor, and with charity towards those who may chance to differ from us in our conclusions.

I. We would first remark as introductory to our discussion, that heathen systems of religion are providential in their establishment and in their development; and that while they contain much that is false and evil, as measured by the Christian standard, they also contain much that is true and good; and further, that the truths which lie imbedded in these systems have operated as powerful conserving elements in heathen civilizations, preserving them from that swift disintegration which the evil passions of men tend to bring about. Confucian scholars tell us that man's dignity above the birds and beasts is found in his apprehension of the doctrine of the Five Relations, and that Confucius, in unfolding and emphasizing the teachings of the Ancient Sages, had preserved subsequent generations from degenerating to the condition of birds and beasts. If we study the history of China this estimation of the Confucian doctrine is abundantly confirmed. From the earliest times until the present day China has ever and anon been desolated with the terrible scourge of civil war, fed by the wild passions of hatred, greed, and ambition. But at length some chieftain has appeared more powerful than his rivals, who, whether from conviction or a wise policy, has brought order out of confusion, and restored peace to society, by reorganizing government on the basis of the doctrines of the Ancient Sages. concerning the rights and duties of men.

Buddhism in its inception in the mind of Gautama, and in its development by his disciples, is a religion of self-abnegation

and a boundless charity. Both in China and Japan it has united with the best elements of Confucianism to check man's selfish greed for wealth, and fame, and power. Happily Gautama, though ignorant of God, drew largely from his moral intuitions in his religious teachings, and thus Buddhism next to Christianity has been a religion of humanity. Who will deny that in its teaching concerning benevolence, humility, truthfulness, purity, compassion, it has exerted a restraining influence against the evil passions of selfishness, pride, falsehood, lust and cruelty. Its power to subdue the fierce natures of men is perhaps best illustrated by its influence upon the Mongolian character. During the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries vast hordes of Mongols followed their intrepid leaders over a wider sweep of conquest than history had before recorded, - from the Pacific on the east to the Mediterranean on the west, from the Indian Ocean on the south almost to the Arctic Ocean. on the north; and their conquests were everywhere marked with that savage cruelty that testifies to their wild, ungoverned natures. But Buddhism, through Tibet, was gradually propagated in Mongolia, and was accepted with the ardor of a rude and superstitious people; and the influence of its doctrines of humanity in modifying their ruthless character has been marked. and unquestionable.

If, we turn to the religion of Ancient Greece we find it to be rather the product of a gorgeous æsthetic fancy than a deep religious faith. The Greeks, though broken into separate States, which were constantly warring with one another for supremacy, yet were united by their religious institutions, their feasts and games, and above all by the Delphic Oracle where the Amphictyonic Council was held, the real central power of Greece. The Greeks transferred to the gods their highest ideals of grace and perfection, along with the entire range of human desires and passions, and in return their delicate and refined religion, operated with a reflex influence upon the thoughts of the people, stimulating sculpture and elocution, literature and art, and carrying Grecian culture far beyond that of surrounding nations, making the incomparable productions of this gifted people models for imitation in subsequent ages.

Roman Imperial worship had altogether a historical develop