Carus, Paul

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MISCELLANEOUS.THE RELIGIOUS PARLIAMENT IDEA.The Religious Parliament, held in 1893 ^^ Chicago, has become a fact in his-tory. But it is necessary to spread the idea as a principle of action and as a reli-gious maxim which should receive universal approbation. It is the basis uponwhich not only peace among the different religions can be maintained, but it alsofacilitates the investigation into truth in the right spirit, which should be donewith conservative tendencies on the basis of fraternity and without flippancy. Wewould only add that in the Religious Parliament the voice of science should beheard and the religious significance of both scientific investigation and scientifictruth be recognised.The Religious Parliament idea has developed on the soil of America. Here isthe country of freedom ; people soon began to realise the necessity that the differ-ent elements of the population should have their religious needs attended to in themanner which would be most congenial to them and best adapted to their spiritualconstitution. Mr. Bonney, in the present number, tells the story of brotherly helpwhich in one typical case congregations of a different faith afforded one another;and instances of a similar kind can be multiplied. It is by no means unfrequentfor Jews to assist in building up Christian churches, and ticv T'crsa, Christian de-nominations have sometimes extended a helping hand to the Jews, as for instancein one special case, when their synagogue had been destroyed by a conflagration.Mr. Bonney deemed it wise to omit names, because there are always captiousfault-finders who might expose the parties concerned to hostile criticism, on accountof the very breadth shown by them.The Religious Parliament idea is a practical application of the Golden Rule inmatters of religion ; and the first realisation of a Religious Parliament on a largescale is an event which will constitute a new epoch in the religious history of man-kind. It certainly has contributed a good deal to bring peace on earth to the menof good will. p. c.THE ORPHEUS MOSAIC.We publish in the present number an article by Dr. Conrad Schick and thepicture of a mosaic recently discovered at Jerusalem, in a house belonging to aMohammedan, west of the Damascus Gate. About five hundred feet northeast ofthis point, there was discovered six years ago in the house of a Jew another mosaicwith an Armenian inscription, indicating that the place was a mortuary chapel,which Dr. Murray was inclined to assign to the time of Justinian ; but it may beof later date, and the two mosaics seem to be of the same period.MISCELLANEOUS. 567The Armenian mosaic measures about 21 feet in length and 13 in breadth ; itshows a guilloche pattern similar to that of the mosaic reproduced in the presentnumber, and inside a vase from which a vine springs with branches conventionallyarranged in the form of circles, within which are various kinds of birds. It hasbeen described and explained by Dr. Frederick J. Bliss in his book Excai'ationsat Jc)-usalcm.The Orpheus mosaic, recently discovered and reproduced on page 564 of thepresent number of 7'hc Open Court, is of greater interest than the Armenian mo-saic on account of its artistic designs. It exhibits no sign of Christian symbolism,Christ as Orpheus. ^From paintings in the cemetery of St. Calixtus in the Catacombs of Rome.but shows Orpheus in an attitude similar to that in which he is represented in theCatacombs, some of which we reproduce for comparison.Dr. Schick seems to explain the absence of Christian symbols by the assump-tion that the mosaic forms "the flooring of a music-room," and that "the twowomen represented at either side of the column are celebrated singers." The for-mer proposition is not probable, and the latter is of a questionable character.It is safe to assume, however, that the mosaic is purely pagan, and it wouldcorroborate the theory which otherwise can be demonstrated that the Christians inthe early centuries availed themselves freely of pagan symbols, until they had de-veloped a symbolism of their own.1 Symbols and Emblems of Early and Medieval Christian Art. By Louisa Twining. PI. 16.London, 1885.568 , THE OPEN COURT.The cult of Orpheus was wide-spread among the people of Greece and Romeat the beginning of the Christian era, and we have reason to believe that the doc-trine of the immortality of the soul taught in the Orphic Mysteries resembled to agreat extent the Christian view of resurrection. At any rate the Christians adoptedthe picture of Orpheus as symbolising Christ at a time when they did not dare tomake pictures of Jesus. p. c.A SERIES OF ARTICLES ON CHINA.AN ANNOUNCEMENT.The Chinese are in possession of a very ancient civilisation ; they know it andare proud of it. But Chinese pride is outdone by European insolence, and thusresulted a lamentable state of affairs which led to the climax of the present dis-turbances. The distrust, hatred, and contempt which are mutual are not a recentaffair but the product of centuries.The situation is very sad for China, and the prospects of the country aregloomy. It is impossible to tell what will be the end and how the difficulties willbe adjusted, but one thing is sure, that the Chinese will in future centuries becomean independent factor in the history of the world. I say " the Chinese," not theChinese empire, for the latter will probably break down and fall a prey to thestruggling parties. The Chinese people are patient and industrious ; they are mod-est, easily satisfied and meek. They are at a disadvantage in warfare and politics;but the main struggle for survival will be decided, not by guns and diplomatictreaties, but by sociological conditions ; and when the Chinese people shall be drawninto the great whirlpool of the world's commercial interests, we shall discover thatthey will soon make their influence felt, and the probability is that their very vir-tues, their frugality and tenacious industrial habits will make them obnoxious tothe white man, who kindly offers himself to bear the burden of governing the yel-low race.It will be easier to conquer China than to subdue it, and should a foreignpower succeed in taking it (which is by no means an easy task), the conquerorswill find out that the easiest way of holding the country would be by becomingChinese themselves.The Chinese government, we must remember, is in the hands of foreign con-querors of a different nationality, not much liked by the Chinese and positivelyhated by many of those patriots who still cherish the memory of the purely Chinesetraditions.The present situation is very complicated. Chinese mobs have killed the Ger-man ambassador and have threatened to destroy the lives of all foreigners residingin the embassies of Peking. The Empress Dowager, defacto ruler of China, hasopenly shown her sympathy with the rioters, and the Western powers were thusforced to send troops for the relief of the imprisoned families of the ambassadors.The imperial court withdrew from the capital, and Count Waldersee, generalissimoof the allied Western troops, established his headquarters in the forbidden city.Then a great part of the palace was accidentally destroyed by fire. In the mean-time the Russians took possession of Manchuria, and the powers made out theirbills of indemnity claims. Such is the present situation, and no one knows whatwill come of it.Some blame the missionaries as being the cause of the trouble, others thegreediness of the powers, still others would condemn the Chinese for their haughti-

The Orpheus Mosaic.

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The Orpheus Mosaic.

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