i6o TEE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



anxious to learn whether this or that cult is true or false, or even 

 whether the religious sentiment rests upon a real or an illusory basis. 

 There, however, is a point of view that wonderfully facilitates the 

 knowledge of religions, while it also seems to comprise the supreme 

 conclusion of their comparative history. It is the thought that, among 

 the " innumerable manifestations of the religious feeling of man, no 

 one possesses the absolute truth, but each one includes a relative truth ; 

 that all rejjresent, as the later sages of pagan antiquity had already 

 discerned, imperfect efforts to realize a perfect ideal." Here is a 

 ground on which the enlightened partisans of different religions can 

 shake hands, not only with one another, but also with the pupils of 

 science and the friends of progress. 



POSTAL SAYINGS-BANKS. 



By Peofessok D. B, KING. 



IT is generally agreed that a system of savings institutions that 

 would be easily accessible to the people throughout the country, 

 give them absolute security for their small savings, and repay deposits 

 at short notice, would, even if the rate of interest were very low, be a 

 great convenience to many people in every community, and a great 

 encouragement to economy and thrift among working-men and people 

 of small incomes. There are many who think that postal savings- 

 banks similar to those which have been in successful oiDcration in Eu- 

 rope and in the British colonies for a number of years would furnish 

 just the sort of facilities for saving that are needed in this country. 

 Many Americans know something of the working of the postal sav- 

 ings-banks in England, where they have been in operation since 

 1861. 



There are now upward of 7,800 of the post-offices in the United 

 Kingdom open, commonly from nine in the morning until six, and on 

 Saturday until nine, in the evening, for the receipt and repayment of 

 deposits. One shilling is the smallest sum that can be deposited. The 

 Government has, however, recently issued blank forms with spaces 

 for twelve penny postage-stamj^s, and will receive one of these forms 

 with twelve stamps affixed as a deposit. This plan was suggested by 

 the desire to encourage habits of saving among children, and by the 

 success of penny banks in connection with schools and mechanics' in- 

 stitutes. No one can deposit more than £30 in one year, or have to 

 his credit more than £150, exclusive of interest. When principal and 

 interest together amount to £200, interest ceases until the amount has 

 been reduced below £200. Interest at two and a half per cent is paid, 

 beginning the first of the month following the deposit and stopping 



