of power and of personal authority which the most despotic monarch might have envied her. How, then, could a nation so jealous of its liberty and so hostile to the principle of monarchical power as the English bear this transformation of constitutional monarchy? The answer is to be found in the "personal equation" of Queen Victoria. The revolution, which ought really to be called an evolution, was accomplished because the queen wished it, but also because it was done gradually and quietly and strictly within the limits of the constitution. It amounted, in fact, to the substitution of influence for authority. The Queen was always ready to adhere to the decisions of her ministers when once they were taken, but she contributed to their formation, and furnished that constant element which is always more effi cacious than the will of ministers themselves. She represented continuity, experience, and tradition; she was neither demagogue nor despot; if she differed with her ministers, she would always give way in the last resort, because she considered it more to the interest of her people to maintain popular liberties than to avoid making a mistake in policy. Thus it happened that in the latter years of his life Mr. Gladstone often found himself in direct antagonism to the Queen ; but Mr. Gladstone remained to the last a devoted and loyal subject, and it is impossible to find in all the mass of his speeches and writings a single line of complaint that the Queen had ever transgressed the limits of her constitutional power.

QUEEN VICTORIA'S IMPERIALISM.

Mr. Stead goes on to explain the robust imperialism of the Queen, which, however, had its drawbacks. He tells us, for instance, that when Mr. Gladstone came to power after the general election of 1880 it was extremely difficult to persuade the Queen to consent to evacuate Kandahar; indeed, she flatly refused to insert an announcement to that effect in the speech from the throne. She only gave way when the Whig members of the cabinet, headed by the present Duke of Devonshire, went to Osborne and explained the strong support which Mr. Gladstone could command on this question. It is interesting to note that the present war in South Africa is almost certainly one of the indirect results of the Queen's opposition to the evacuation of Kandahar; for if she had not raised objections against the recall of the British troops, it is pretty certain that the retrocession of the Transvaal would have been accomplished without damaging the imperial prestige. Mr. Chamberlain was at that time the most convinced and most active opponent of the policy of annexing the Transvaal; but the cabinet was not unanimous,

The

and the obstinate resistance which the Queen had made over the question of Kandahar convinced Mr. Gladstone and Mr. Chamberlain that they could not hope to obtain her consent to a second evacuation in another part of the world. result was that the decision was postponed, the defeat of Majuba followed, and it was only the prospect of a general rising of the Dutch which enabled Mr. Gladstone to triumph over the objections of his colleagues and the hostility of the Queen. Mr. Stead states that this was the occasion alluded to by Lord Kimberley in his speech after the death of the Queen, when he publicly avowed that he had once carried his point with her, and had afterward found that he was wrong. Mr. Stead goes on to trace the weighty influence exerted by the Queen in favor of peace.

WHAT WILL THE KING DO?

Will Edward VII. show himself capable of maintaining the Victorian tradition, or will he, through incapacity, or indolence, or lack of ambition, allow the monarchy to slip back into the position which it occupied at the time of George IV. and his successor? Without doubt, every. thing indicates at the moment, says Mr. Stead, that the new King will endeavor to maintain himself on a level with the traditions of his mother's reign. When he was still Prince of Wales, he never concealed his dislike to the subordinate position to which his mother relegated him. Queen Victoria would not permit any rival near her throne, and though she was glad to leave to the Prince of Wales all the ceremonial duties of the monarchy, she pitilessly checked any attempt on his part to express an opinion on state affairs. It was a deep annoyance to Albert Edward to see the German Emperor, his nephew, at the head of the state, wielding an almost absolute power. King Edward warmly acquiesced in the parallel drawn by Mr. Stead between the position of the monarch and that of the editor of a newspaper. It is this very fact that causes some uneasiness in England, for it is realized that what Queen Victoria was able to do with her vast experience, her great age, and her unique personal influence may not necessarily be within the power of her son, with not a quarter the same experience or influence.

It is said that the German Emperor has succeeded in inspiring King Edward with the resolution of conducting himself in accordance with the Victorian ideal. So far, however, he has had little opportunity of revealing the manner in which he intends to conduct state affairs. Mr. Stead notes, among other things, that on the eve of the County Council elections his majesty expressed without ambiguity his admiration for the policy

followed by the majority of that assemblage, which at the moment was being fiercely attacked by the Conservatives; also, that his majesty, in reply to a loyal address from the Quakers, surprised every body by declaring that he sincerely hoped that the principles of peace would be widely propagated among his subjects. Further, Mr. Stead tells us that the promotion of Dr. WinningtonIngram to the Bishopric of London was a compromise, Lord Salisbury desiring to translate the Bishop of Newcastle, while the King desired the Bishop of Rochester. On the whole, Mr. Stead thinks that the slight uneasiness, which undoubtedly exists, may be claimed by two considerations -one of which is that the King is a man of great tact and native shrewdness, and the second is that he does not possess those qualities of firmness and resolution which enabled his mother to exercise so great an influence on her cabinets. King Edward is not of the stuff of an Emperor William.

THE PROSPECTS OF IRISH HOME RULE.

THE New Liberal Review contains an interest

ing article by the Earl of Crewe on "Ireland and the Liberal Party." It is a reply to the articles of Mr. Healy and Mr. Redmond which appeared in former numbers. Lord Crewe writes from the standpoint of one who is as much in favor of Home Rule as ever, but who sees practical difficulties in the way of carrying it into effect even should the Liberals return to power with a big majority. He sets out in detail these difficulties.

THE WEAKENING OF THE CAUSE.

that the passing of Home Rule would sweep away the main fabric of disloyalty and of international dislike."

THE FUTURE.

But as to the future? The average British Liberal, says Lord Crewe, wishes to see Home Rule carried, but each has as well at least one domestic measure on which his heart is set. Now he does not want to ruin the prospects of these measures by bringing in a Home Rule bill which would destroy his majority. Suppose the Liberals bring in a Home Rule bill the moment they attain office.

"Assume that the Home Rule bill passes the Commons, and that the Lords accept it at the first attempt a large assumption. It may be gener ally conceded that the amendment to the bill of 1893, which left the full complement of Irish members to vote on all British questions, is unlikely to appear in a new measure. The passing of the bill would then practically demand a dissolution, when the Liberal party clearly could not count on a majority. Another spell of Tory ascendency might ensue, without any purely British measure having been carried. But would the House of Lords pass the bill, and what would follow if they did not? Mr. Redmond seems still to resent the predominant partner' phrase; but, speaking only for myself, I do not know a single Liberal politician who would not indorse the statement, defined as follows: Unless a distinct accession of Liberal opinion appears in England, and notably in London, the House of Lords will throw out a Home Rule bill, even if

friend and foe, both of whom have tried to make out that it is a revolution. The Irish have exaggerated it in order to justify their triumph, and the Tories have done the same in order to frighten the English people. The Irish party, says Lord Crewe, has also injured its own cause by refusing to regard the Home Rule measures as proposed as final. They have injured the cause by their anti-imperial attitude. Of course, Lord Crewe understands the reasons of this Irish policy.

"Now," he says, "I distinctly and heartily believe

THE IRISH VIEW: A FAIR ANSWER.

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vears. This exceeds England's rate of growth, but falls much behind that of the United States. The present population is 4,550,651, as against 4,036,570 in 1891.

Apparently the Australians are spreading out more, for all the cities except Sydney show a less comparative increase than the country districts. Melbourne, for instance, since 1891 has added only 3,000 to her inhabitants and now numbers 493,956. Sydney ten years ago had a population of about 385,000, but the city has grown very rapidly and now is only a few thousand behind Melbourne. Victoria has given way to New South Wales as the most populous colony, though the former is still the most densely populated. Victoria has a present popula tion of about 1,196,000, and New South Wales of 1,362,232.

"New Zealand has added 146,000 white persons to her population, so that to-day there are 773,000 white people within her borders. Her

rate of growth for the preceding decade is thus 23 per cent., which would tend to show that her. radical social laws attract immigrants, notwithstanding the very high per capita debt of the government. Including the Maori, the population of New Zealand is 816,000."

CHINESE FINANCE.

Το the first May number of the Revue des

Deux Mondes, M. Levy contributes an article on Chinese finance, which is naturally of considerable interest at this moment. The finan cial position of China is, as is well known, greatly complicated by the numerous loans which she has borrowed from various European countries. There is, to begin with, no fixed monetary system in China, for the tael, which is the common unit, has no fixed value, but varies in different places. Silver money is only found on the fringe of China, in the parts influenced by the commerce of the ports; and when the traveler penetrates into the interior he finds the currency becoming more and more one of copper, and even zinc. At the same time it is a curious fact that all kinds of currencies have been tried in China.

Thus, one emperor coined large pieces of gold

three centuries before Christ, and another em peror, 240 B. C., issued bank-notes engrossed upon deerskin.

THE BANKING SYSTEM.

M. Levy goes on to describe the banking system of China, which has, he says, attained a remarkable development. The bank enjoys an absolute liberty in each province. There is one to which is intrusted the treasure of the local

government, and which collects all the taxes, on which it gets a commission of 2 per cent. For the rest the banks conduct ordinary banking business, they negotiate bills of exchange, and make advances on security, as well as deal in precious metals. Many of them are in correspondence with European banks, among which they have a high reputation for honesty and ability. By the side of these native banks there are a large number of money-lenders, who obtain what would be considered in most countries extortionate interest-sometimes as much as 3 per cent. per month-though borrowers are allowed sometimes as much as three years in which to pay back. M. Levy says that certain European banks, such as the Chartered Bank of India, Australia, and China, the Deutsch-Asiatische Bank, the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, the Russo Chinese Bank, and some others have themselves gone into the business of money-lending with very profitable results.

THE BUDGET.

We pass on to consider the budget of China. In the modern sense of the word China has no budget, and the accounts which are officially published certainly do not represent the true state of affairs. There must therefore always be a certain element of doubt in discussing the financial position of China, and one can only do so under the distinct understanding that the figures mentioned are not necessarily accurate. Without following M. Levy through the elaborate statistics which he adduces, it will perhaps be sufficient to say that he is deeply convinced of the enormous wealth of China, not only in tea and silk and cotton, but also in various minerals. It is by means of railways, he says, that this wealth can be opened up. With regard to the indemnity to be paid by China to the powers, M. Levy makes the illuminating remark that the powers must, in order to recoup themselves for the cost of restoring order in Peking, furnish their debtor with the means of augmenting her revenues.

DID THE BUDDHISTS DISCOVER AMERICA?

IN the July Harper's there is an interesting

article by Dr. John Fryer, professor of Oriental languages and literature at the University of California, on "The Buddhist Discovery of America." Dr. Fryer gives the evidence of a trip to America from Asia by way of the Kurile and Aleutian islands to Alaska of a Buddhist priest some thousand years before Columbus appeared on the scene. There is no great physical difficulty in the theory, as the voyage could have been made from Kamchatka, which was early known to the

Chinese, in an open boat or canoe, by following the great ocean currents. In fact, it would be unnecessary to be out of sight of land more than a short time.

"From Alaska down the American coast the journey would be still easier. Such a trip, compared with some of the well-authenticated wanderings of Buddhist priests, especially of those who traveled overland between China and India, is a mere trifle. Each part of the journey from Asia to America would be as well known to the natives of the various chains of islands in the

fifth century as it is now. Hence the zealous missionary, determined to fulfill the commands of Buddha and carry his gospel to all lands, would merely have to press on from one island to another.

The natives of each island would tell him of the large continent farther east; and thus he would ultimately find himself in America.

ALLUSIONS IN CHINESE HISTORY.

"The direct evidence of this early Buddhist mission, though chiefly based on Chinese historical documents, covers also the traditions, histories, religious beliefs, and antiquities to be found in America, extending all the way down the Pacific coast from Alaska to Mexico, as well as to many localities lying at a considerable distance inland.

From early times the Chinese classics, as well as the historical, geographical, and poetical works, allude to a country or continent at a great distance to the east of China, under the name of Fusang or Fusu. Its approximate distance is given as 20,000 li, or above 6,500 miles. Its breadth is stated to be 10,000 li, or about 3,250 miles. A wide sea is said to lie beyond it, which would seem like a reference to the Atlantic Ocean. It grew a wonderful tree, called the fusang, from which the name of the continent is derived."

Dr. Fryer thinks that the Mexican agave may be this tree which gave its name to the new land.

A PRIEST'S ACCOUNT OF HIS TRAVELS. There is one, and one only, account of a visit to the land of Fusang in Chinese history. It is written by Hui Shen, a native of Kabul. which was a great center of Buddhist missionary effort in early times. The record states that this Buddhist priest went to the country of Fusang and in 502 A.D. was received by the Emperor of China, to whom he presented various curious presents, which Dr. Fryer identifies as articles in use in Mexico of that date. Hui Shen gave an account of his mission work among the people of Fusang, stating that the Buddhist religion was introduced

there in 458 A.D., and described his journey through the Alentian Islands and Alaska; and his account of the natural resources and the manners and customs of the people fit perfectly with the theory that he taught in Mexico.

SURVIVALS IN RELIGION AND IN ART.

Now Dr. Fryer turns to Mexico, and finds there a tradition of a visit of an extraordinary personage, having a white complexion and clothed in a long robe and mantle, who taught the people to abstain from evil and to live righteously, soberly, and peacefully.

More than this, Dr. Fryer cites most remarkable instances of the apparent survival of Buddhist influence in the religious customs, the architecture, the calendar, and the arts of the nations of Mexico, Yucatan, and Central America. He finds that independent observers who knew nothing of this story of Hui Shen had become convinced that there must have been some kind of communication between America and Asia since the beginning of the Christian era. Even the names of Mexico and Central American countries The Asiatic name bear strongly on the theory. for Buddha is Gautama, or Sakhya." Hence we may expect to find these names constantly recurring in America. In the places Guatemala, Huatamo, etc., in the high priest Guatemotzin, etc., we find echoes of the first of these names. In Oaxaca, Zacatecas, Sacatepec, Zacatlan, Sacapulas, etc., we find more than a hint of the second. In fact, the high priest of Mixteca had the title Taysacca,' or the man of Sacca. On an image representing Buddha at Palenque there is the name Chaac-mol,' which might have been derived from Sakhyamuni, the full rendering of one of Buddha's names. The Buddhist priests in Tibet and North China are called lamas,' and the Mexican priest is known as the 'tlama.'

A MODERN BUDDHIST MISSION TO MEXICO.

Finally, there are hundreds of notable visible traces of Buddhism in the antiquities of Mexico. Images and sculptured tablets, ornaments, temples, pyramids, etc., abound that cannot well be ascribed to any other source. Dr. Fryer gives specific descriptions of a number of these. He calls attention to the striking fact that the Japanese Buddhist mission is now working on the Pacific coast in exactly the same way that Hui Shen and his brother priests labored in Mexico fourteen centuries ago; and one of the priests of the Japanese mission is just about to go as a missionary among the Mexican Indian tribes, to preach on the very scene of the first Buddhist mission to America.