Beiieic of Feriein^. l.'7/0>i. 



History of the Month. 



17 



Photo. !/y] [J/orf(76rio. 



Th« Advance of the L<\va at Torre Annunziata (Vesuvius). 



A curions effect was produced at Torre Annunziata by the 

 advance of the lava in ponderous masses through the 

 bridge of the electric railway. 



ber the Dutch Parliament meets, and it is therefore 

 probable that the Hague Conference, over which M. 

 de Xelidoff will preside, will not meet till February. 

 This gives time for the preliminary discussions with- 

 out which the Conference would probably be barren. 

 The Rio Conference has as the first article of its 

 programme the affirmation of the principle of arbi- 

 tration between the Republics, and as its second the 

 consideration of the question as to how far it is 

 lawful to use armed force for the collection of inter- 

 national debts. The other topics, of which there are 

 fourteen in all, are of minor importance, and pro- 

 vide for a uniformity of patent and copyright laws, 

 the preparation of a satisfactory code of interna- 

 tional law to l:* presented to the next Conference, 

 development of commercial intercourse among the 

 Republics, the imposition of proper sanitary and 

 quarantine regulations, etc. So in both hemispheres 

 the good work of intemationalisation goes on apace. 

 Note also as another encouraging sign that that 

 staunch combatant for peace, Mr. Felix Moscheles, 

 during his winter sojourn in Algeria has succeeded 

 in forming the first peace society ever established on 

 African soil. 



While the nations are thus drawing 



The Reunion together, the Churches are also 



Christendom, showing signs of a disposition to 



dwell together in peace and unity, 



and even to co-operate in the peaceable works of 



righteousness. In the ]ast days of April Bishop Gore, 



of Birmingham, secured the signatures of the two 



Archbishops, the Primate of the English Church in 



Scotland, the Moderators of the Presbyterian 



Churches in Scotland and England, the Presidents 

 of the Methodist Churches, and the Chairmen of 

 (he Congregational and Baptist Unions to an appeal 

 to all Christian ministers of religion in England to 

 unite in special prayer on Whitsunday for the re- 

 union of Christians. The signatories accept as 

 common ground the assumptions — 



That our Lord meant ns to be one in visible unity. 



That our existing divisions hinder, or even paralyse. His 

 work. 



That we all deserve chastisement, and need penitence for 

 the various ways in chich we have contributed to produce 

 or promote division. 



This is all the more interesting because the Bishop 

 who got it up is one of the stoutest advocates of a 

 line of action in opposing the Education Bill which, 

 if persisted in, will lead to the exclusion of all re- 

 ligious teaching from the State schools. The report 

 of the Sunday (National Observance) Advisory 

 Committee, appointed by the Archbishop of Canter- 

 bury, recommends the holding of a united corporate 

 movement throughout England and Wales in No- 

 vember next. In this mission the Nonconformists 

 should certainly join. The Report of the Advisory 

 Committee is a most interesting document. If the 

 Chtu-ches cannot combine to secure for the working 

 people the enforcement of that indispensable Char- 

 ter of Health and Happiness which secures them 

 one day's rest in seven, what, in the name of their 

 Founder, is the use of the Churches? This surely 

 is one simple practical service for l.'.fcour in which 

 they all could unite, including the Unitarians, the 

 Jews, and the Roman Catholics. 



Mr. Birrell has introduced the long- 



The expected Educatir/i Bill. As every 



Education Bill, member of the Liberal and Labour 



majority was pledged to place all 

 schools supported entirely by public funds under 

 public control, and as they were not less straitly 

 pledged to abolish religious tests, thd Government 

 had no option but to embody these principles in their 

 Bill. This was inevitable,' and was foreseen to be 

 inevitable by Archbishop Temple when he warned 

 his brethren of the consequences of venturing upon 

 the " slippery slope " of rate-aid. Given these two 

 fundamentals, upon which the mandate of Ministers 

 is unmistakable, the Bill is remarkable for the_ ten- 

 derness with which it deals with the denominational 

 schools. The Church is to keep its schools for its 

 own purposes, except during school hours, and yet 

 it is to lie relieved from all cost of maintaining the 

 buildings in repair. This is e(]uivalent to a relief 

 of _£2oo,ooo, or the annual interest on a capital 

 sum of ;^7,ooo,ooo. Moreover, the Church is to re- 

 ceive rent for the use of its buildings during school 

 hours — a special grant being made from the Na- 

 tional Excheijuer for this purpose on a capital sum 

 of nearly ^30,000,000. As the Church school build- 

 ings are only estimated to be worth ;^25,ooo,ooo, 

 this can hardlv be regarded as confiscation. Still 



