OUR NEW AMBASSADORS

With a new government at Washington, usage requires the recall from foreign embassies of the Ambassadors who have represented the nation under the former administration. In the case of Britain and France, new appointments have been made to represent the United States at the Court of St. James and the Legation at Paris. Colonel John Hay takes the place of Mr. Bayard, and General Horace Porter that of Mr. Eustis. Already the English people, through the London journals, have given expression to their gratification that a man of letters from this side the Atlantic is again about to be sent to the United States Embassy in London. Regret, of course, is felt at the withdrawal of Mr. Bayard, and courteous things are said, and said sincerely and warmly, of the pleasant relations that have existed between the English people and the retiring ambassador, and the pleasure they have experienced, in social as well as in diplomatic circles, from contact with so delightful a personality as Mr. Bayard.

How far Colonel Hay will succeed in further cementing the bond of relationship and friendship between the countries remains to be seen. Already a cordial English hand is extended to him, and the hope is entertained that England will find in the author of "Jim Bludso," and other western literary audacities, a diplomat no less acceptable to them than the retiring minister or the author of the "Biglow Papers." Nor does the prospect exist that they will be disappointed, since the functions of a diplomatic representative of this country in England are more social than political, and Colonel Hay is sufficient of a man of the world as well as a man of letters to make himself persona grata to John Bull, his wife and his daughters. In the duties of his office, Colonel Hay has the further advantage of having had considerable experience in foreign embassies, and he carries with him to the English mission the prestige of social as well as literary and political success. No less confidently can we bespeak for General Porter a hearty reception at Paris, where his character and accomplishments are widely known, in Parisian as well as in American circles. From a political point of view his nomination to the post is a happy as well as a fitting one.

THE PHILANTHROPIES OF AN AGGRESSIVE

POWER

Many flings have of recent years been made at England for the grasp COLONIZING ing character of her foreign conquests and the persistent aggression of her arms and her people. To such charges any active colonizing power is in these days open when the last waste-places of the earth are being snatched from nature and subjected to the raids of civilization. Before heedless censors pass judgment upon England, of 'all sinners in this respect, the obverse side of the picture should, however, be looked at, to see what the regions annexed by her arms gain by the surrender. gain by the surrender. Who, for instance, doubts what Egypt gains, financially and morally, from the occupation by England, or what she receives from England's handling of her finances?

Nor have the multitudinous subject races of India, in that vast empire of England's conquering, any reason to regret coming under the protection of her arms, and so shielding themselves from periodic conquest and oppression. Nor has India to thank her conqueror only for the wisdom and benignity of her rule. To-day, two millions of dollars, raised in England in the past few months for the faminestricken hordes of the distant dependency of the Crown, are at the disposal of her almoners on the spot; while the government of India is taxing its resources to the utmost to assist those stricken with the plague, and, by its expenditures on an elaborate system of irrigation, to prevent a recurrence of the famine.

Nor is English philanthropy less grudging at home in responding to the calls of suffering need, or less unstinting in the doling out of large charity systematically and recurrently. The present Jubilee Year- the sixtieth of the Queen's reign -is to be made a red-letter one for the London hospitals and charities through the princely gifts of her people, to supplement the endowments of every one of the city's charitable institutions. In no country or age, indeed, has more been done for charity's sake than is now being done, and done on a colossal scale, by the British nation for the alleviation of suffering and the satisfying of other claims in humanity's name. Such deeds may well be placed to her credit when "the mother of nations" is arraigned for her territorial aggressions.

MR. ILES ON "THE ART OF LARGE GIVING"

Into the Millennium of practical Christianity we can no more leap than we can leap into that which the Socialists hold before our visions as the goal of their hopes in the sphere of politics. The process of educating wealth up to the ideal state when the richer brother shall share with the poorer one, and the man with two coats shall give to him who has none, is necessarily, and perforce, a slow one. Much faster, however, must be the change in the social conditions of the world did our millionaires take home the lesson which Mr. George Iles enforces in his valuable paper in the current Century Magazine, on "The Art of Large Giving.' The lesson is that, in a thousand ways, many of which are pointed out by Mr. Iles, superfluity to-day can do more for mankind than ever before, and that the fields for the exercise of beneficence were never so inviting as they are now, or more full of the promise of helpful and gratifying results. The article referred to is worthy of the widest circulation, since rarely have we met a writer with the faculty of compiling statistics who possesses Mr. Iles's ability and knack in utilizing and applying them.

The purpose the writer has had in view is not only to stimulate intelligently the art of munificent giving, but to show, in the history of institutions in this country that have been organized or largely developed by benevolent founders, the resultant practical and beneficent effects. He therefore enumerates, besides the universities, colleges, libraries, hospitals and other eleemosynary and educational institutions, those that have made ample return to their donors for the benefactions received by them, in the varied fields of discovery and research, as well as those that have given technical training to the artisan and the means of education, art culture, and recreation to the masses. The article is rich in material for thought, while its statistics must plead powerfully for extending the area and making more general the habit of large giving. "In promoting the culture of the sense of social right and duty, the large giver," aptly observes Mr. Iles, "strikes at the root of both want and surplusage, and wins for himself the worthiest remembrance among men."

MR. GLADSTONE ON THE EASTERN CRISIS

Greece, the little but gallant kingdom, has at last an ally in her spirited refusal to stand by and see the Christian communities of Crete, who are her kin, butchered by the Moslem fanatics who do the bidding of the "Assassin" of the East. The ally is not one of the Great Powers that had impatiently detached itself from the paltering "European Concert," but the redoubtable Mr. Gladstone, who has once more put his visor down and ridden forth, lance in hand, to do battle for a humane and righteous cause. Since penning the article on the affairs of Crete with which this department opens in the present number of SELF CULTURE, the text is cabled of Mr. Gladstone's letter to the Duke of Westminster, in which the Grand Old Man" addresses his countrymen in defense of the attitude taken by the Hellenic Kingdom and vigorously champions her cause against the "Concert of Europe." Anew is the voice of the great Liberal chieftain uplifted that had thundered at Bulgarian atrocities and waxed indignant over the massacre of the Armenians. Once more does its note ring out, calling for action. against the Turk and denouncing the folly of England's trailing at the heels of the Concert of the Powers, which does nothing but talk, subdued to inaction and helplessness by jealousy of each other.

The

The moral force of Mr. Gladstone's Letter will at the present crisis of affairs be felt throughout Christendom; and it is impossible that his ringing words can fail to encourage every heart and stiffen every arm in heroic little Greece. action or rather non-action of the Powers, is due, he affirms, not to a common accord, but to a want of it, and says that the concert of Europe has come to mean "the concealment of dissents, the lapse into generalities, and the settling down upon negations at junctures when duty loudly calls for positive action." In another passage, he speaks of this agreement between the Powers as a concert of miserable poltroonery" and urges an appeal from the official to the personal conscience." Above all, he makes appeal to the people, and pours scorn upon those who would treat Greece as "a criminal and disturber," and tolerate the infliction of punishment upon her for her timely and plucky interference in Crete.

EVENTS OF THE MONTH

Friday, February 5.-The New York legislative committee appointed to investigate trusts began its work by examining officers of the sugar trust and others as witnesses....Sir R. J. Cartwright, Canadian minister of trade, and Mr. L. H. Davies, minister of marine and fisheries, are in Washington in the interest of closer trade relations between the United States and Canada....In the British house of commons Sir Michael Hicks-Beach, chancellor of the exchequer, moved a resolution granting £798,000 to meet the total cost of the Anglo-Egyptian expedition to Dongola.

Saturday, February 6.-The president signed an order reducing the number of pension agencies from eighteen to nine; this will result in a saving of $150,000 per year... Great excitement was caused in France by Sir Michael Hicks-Beach's speech on the Egyptian question. ...Dr. Koch, the German bacteriologist, writes from South Africa that he has discovered a serum which will lessen the ravages of rinderpest.... British warships have been ordered to Crete.

Sunday, February 7.-The Spanish minister at Washington says the reforms granted to Cuba are of the most liberal character....An antitrust law has been passed by the Alabama legislature....The declaration of Sir Michael HicksBeach that England will continue her occupation of Egypt, has produced irritation in France, but is received well in Germany.

Monday, February 8.-Chicago business men, after talking with Major McKinley, report that the president-elect is in favor of a department of commerce and industry with a tariff bureau ... The Royal Geographical Society gave a reception to Dr. Nansen in London; on behalf of the society the Prince of Wales presented a gold medal to the explorer.

Tuesday, February 9.-Congressmen in the States affected protest against the president's order abolishing nine pension agencies.. The National wool growers' association met in Washington and formulated demands for an increased duty on wool....Advices from Cuba indicate that the Cubans have no intention of accepting the reforms offered by Spain....A motion to disestablish and disendow the Church of England was made by a liberal in Parliament; it was rejected by a vote of 204 to 86.

Wednesday, February 10.-The fortifications appropriations bill, completed by the house committee, carries $9,178,325. ...A delegation of farmers of Canada West waited upon the Dominion tariff commission, at Winnipeg, and advocated reciprocity with the United States and free trade.... Prince George of Greece, sailed from Athens with the Greek torpedo flotilla with orders from the King to prevent, by every means possible, the landing of any Turkish troops on the Island of Crete.

Thursday, February 11.-The house committee on appropriations finished the sundry civil appropriation bill for the next fiscal year; the bill carries a total of $50,664,743....President Cleveland's last formal reception at the White House was given to the army, navy, and marine corps The Republican members of the ways and means committee decided to restore the Mc

Kinley rates on lead ore....Greece has notified the powers that ties of race and religion compel her to intervene in behalf of the oppressed and outraged Christians in Crete....The Royal Societies club of London gave a dinner to Mr. Bayard "upon his retirement from the court of St. James "...The Spanish Government has accepted Miss Clara Barton's offer of the services of the Red Cross for relief work in Cuba.

Friday, February 12.-A call has been issued for a preliminary conference of representatives of the boards of agriculture of the several States, to be held in Washington, D. C., March 5, to arrange for a representative convention of the farmers in the spring....The powers have been assured that Turkey will not send reinforcements to Crete; the Christians, after a prolonged fight, have driven the Moslems into Canea, and are now holding the suburbs of the town; thirteen villages have been burned.... Captain-General Weyler has donated 2,000,000 francs out of his private funds toward meeting the expenses of the government in prosecuting the campaign in Cuba.

Saturday, February 13.-John Palmer visited the president-elect in General Stewart L. Woodford's interest; Colonel Albert Clark, of Boston, is said to be slated for assistant secretary of the treasury....The Porte declared his intention to attack Greece in Thessaly unless the powers restrained Greece in Crete.

Sunday, February 14.-James Wilson, of Iowa, who will be the next secretary of agriculture, will use his influence to encourage the beet-sugar industry....Hon. John Randolph Tucker of Lexington, Va., is dead.... William P. St. John, the principal champion in the East of the cause of free silver, died in New York....The Christians occupied the heights above Canea, the capital of Crete, and bombarded the town; the Turks replied from the fort.

Monday, February 15.-The United States treasury deficiency for the first half of February is $3,858,500, and for the seven and a half months of the current fiscal year to date, $47,713,300....Spanish troops under General Aldave are reported to have defeated the insurgents in the Province of Santa Clara, Cuba. United States Senator Wolcott arrived in Berlin and conferred with leading German bimetallists.

Tuesday, February 16.-In the Senate Mr. Chandler speaks for the double monetary standard; the bankruptcy bill is taken up.... The House transacts miscellaneous business; sustains the president's veto of a pension bill....The four hundredth anniversary of the birth of Philip Melanchthon is observed by many churches.... Turkey is preparing six vessels of war for sea service... Cecil Rhodes testifies before a parliamentary committee regarding the Transvaal raid.

Wednesday, February 17.-In the Senate the final conference report on the bill to restrict immigration is adopted by a vote of 34 to 31.... In the house a stand in favor of economy in pension legislation is taken....Sharp fighting, with severe losses to both Spaniards and rebels, is reported from Cuba.... It is rumored in Madrid that a ministerial crisis is impending and that Sagasta will succeed Prime Minister Canovas.

Thursday, February 18.-The Senate considers the arbitration treaty, confirms several nominations, and passes a bill providing for a new postal card system. Postmaster-General Wilson accepts the presidency of Washington and Lee University....Two thousand Moslems are reported massacred at Sitia, in the island of Crete; Turkish and Grecian troops are steadily concentrating on the Thessaly frontier, and a serious collision is imminent....John Burns attacks William Waldorf Astor in the House of Commons.

Friday, February 19.-The Senate discusses the arbitration treaty for seven and one-half hours; refuses to postpone consideration until after March 4....The House takes up the deficiency appropriation bill... McKinley's offer of a cabinet portfolio to James A. Gary, of Maryland, is accepted.....Fighting between Christians and Moslems in Crete continues; Lord Salisbury sends a note to the powers favoring the granting of autonomy to Crete; British warships prevent the landing of Greek troops on the island....The Canadian cabinet fixes March 25 for the opening of parliament....A reduction of ten per cent. in miner's wages is reported from the ore mines at Iron Mountain, Mich.

Saturday, February 20.-The President has referred the Mining Bill to Secretary Carlisle for an expression of opinion on the merits of its provisions....The Senate will investigate the Perrine land grant....Dr. Richard Ruiz, a naturalized American citizen, died recently in prison in Cuba....The united squadrons of the Great Powers at Crete bombard an insurgent camp outside of Canea.

Sunday, February 21.-Governor Bushnell, of Ohio, announced that when Senator Sherman resigns to enter President McKinley's Cabinet, he will appoint to succeed him Hon. Marcus A. Hanna. A daughter is born to General and Mrs. Benjamin Harrison.

Monday, February 22.-The President issued thirteen executive orders, establishing as many additional forest reservations, containing an aggregate area of 21,379,840 acres. ... The Continental Congress of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution was opened in Washington, D. C.... Washington's birthday was observed with honors in London, Paris, and Berlin....The British have captured Benin City and the native King is a fugitive.. The bombardment of the insurgents at Canea by the fleets of the European Powers has caused intense excitement and indignation at Athens. The matter was debated in the British House of of Commons and in the German Reichstag, and stocks were unfavorably affected.

Tuesday, February 23.-The leaders of the silver Republicans have issued an address urging organization in every State and Territory and the appointment of a provisional national committee which will meet in June to make arrangements for a national convention....The report of the death of Dr. William Steinitz, the famous chess-player, is without foundation. Cecil Rhodes appeared again before the committee appointed by the British parliament to investigate the Transvaal raid.

Wednesday, February 24.-The President has issued a proclamation convening the senate in

session on March 4 to receive communications from President McKinley....A law making all contracts payable in gold non-collectable and void, passed both branches of the Oklahoma legislature....The powers have ordered Greece to evacuate Crete at once; this is the result of a proposal made by Russia that the powers act promptly in the pacification of Crete.

Thursday, February 25.-The State Bank, of Ewing, Neb., has suspended....Representative wool men from all parts of the country met in New York yesterday....Lord Salisbury announced in the house of lords that Great Britain had proposed autonomy for Crete, the island to remain a portion of the Turkish empire.

Friday, February 26.- A Canton dispatch says that Colonel J. J. McCook, of New York, has refused to accept any place in Mr. McKinley's cabinet but that of attorney-general. The Venezuelan boundary commission held what was probably its last meeting and made arrangements for printing the vast mass of information it has accumulated.....The Missouri House has adopted resolutions denouncing the policy of the Federal administration as to affairs in Cuba....A dispatch received in London yesterday from Athens, Greece, stated that King George has intimated his intention to accept the demands of the powers.

Saturday, February 27.-At the British embassy at Washington, the Spanish draft of the Anglo-Venezuelan treaty was signed by Sir Julian Pauncefote and Señor Andrade... The Venezuela boundary commission made its report to the president, thus formally terminating its existence...It is reported that King George of Greece will abdicate in favor of his eldest son, the Crown Prince Constantine....The governments of Russia and Japan are reported to have signed a treaty practically constituting a joint protectorate over Corea....The consent of France to take part in an international monetary conference is said to have been secured by Senator Wolcott before leaving Europe.

Sunday, February 28.-William J. Bryan was in Washington last night and conferred with a number of the silver senators....The German foreign office has received a telegram from Lord Salisbury conveying the purport of the ultimatum to Greece which has been proposed by the powers, and will be presented by them jointly to the Hellenic government....A number of Cretan deputies presented a memorial to King George stating that they had decided not to accept autonomy, but to continue their struggle to realize union with Greece ...A dispatch from Constantinople says that many officials there declare that Turkey will never give her consent to the scheme of the powers to establish autonomous government in Crete.

Monday, March 1.-President-elect McKinley left Canton for Washington....The receipts of the government during February were $24,400,997, and the disbursements $28,796,056, leaving a deficit of $4,395,059....The British government announced in the house of commons that England would not interfere in Cuba....The town of Condano, on the island of Crete, was captured by the Greeks....The Japanese government has decided to adopt the gold standard at a ratio of 32 1-3 to I....The syndicate appointed by Cambridge (England) university to consider the

question of granting degrees to women recommends that the university be empowered to grant such degrees.

Tuesday, March 2.-The South Carolina legislature passed an income-tax bill.... President Cleveland sent to the house a veto of the immigration bill....The collective note of the powers concerning Crete was presented to the Greek and Turkish governments; it provides that Crete shall be converted into an autonomous state under the suzerainty of Turkey, and demands that the Greek land and naval forces be withdrawn within six days....The lord mayor of London gave a dinner last night in honor of Ambassador Bayard; three hundred leading men of England attended.

Wednesday, March 3.-President-elect McKinley paid a formal visit to the president at the White House in the morning, and the president at noon returned the call.... Many diplomatic officers have already sent in their resignations so as to relieve the incoming president from any embarrassment....The steamer "Laurada" escaped the revenue officers at New York, and sailed for Cuba with munitions of war....It is stated in Havana that orders have been given Spanish authorities in Cuba to try, with all possible haste all Americans now in jail, and to expel from the island those found guilty....Advices received in London from Athens indicate that Greece will refuse to comply with the demand of the powers for the evacuation of Crete.

Thursday, March 4.-Hon. William McKinley, of Ohio, was inaugurated as President of the United States.... President Cleveland in the morning signed the fortifications, post-office, naval, and District of Columbia appropriations, but did not approve the sundry civil, Indian, and agricultural appropriation bills, which thus failed....Vice-president Hobart took the oath of office in the senate and delivered an address.

Senator Wolcott arrived in New York....J. Addison Porter took the oath of office as secretary to the President, to succeed Henry G. Thurber....The Spanish cabinet has decided to ask for an extra credit for the purpose of fitting out six additional warships....The reserves of 1891, 1890, 1889, and 1888 have been summoned to join the colors by the Greek government.. Fighting is reported in the vicinity of all the coast towns in Crete....The total number of cases of bubonic plague in Bombay up to date is 8,383, of which 6,979 proved fatal.

Friday, March 5.-President McKinley sent his cabinet nominations to the senate and they were promptly confirmed... President McKinley spent his first day in the White House principally in receiving callers, many prominent people coming to offer their congratulations; exCongressman Bellamy Storer, of Ohio, has been appointed first assistant secretary of state... There is no sign of King George or the Greek government receding from the position they have taken, and warlike preparations are being carried on with feverish activity.

Saturday, March 6.-President McKinley has issued a proclamation convening the Fifty-fifth congress in extra session on March 15....The members of President McKinley's cabinet were sworn in and took charge of their respective departments....War preparations in Greece continue on an undiminished scale....Emperor Wil

liam's declaration that socialism, which he described as "that pest which infects our whole nation," must be uprooted, has caused a sensation throughout Germany and elicited defiant utterances from the socialist press.

Sunday, March 7.-A caucus of house Democrats has been called for March 13....Ballington Booth's Volunteers of America began a celebration of the first anniversary of their organization....A meeting in Hyde Park, London, to express sympathy for Greece and Crete was attended by fifteen thousand people; the weather was unfavorable.... President McKinley's utterances on foreign affairs in his inaugural address are well received in Russia.

Monday, March 8.-Mrs. Henry Ward Beecher died at Stamford, Conn., aged 85... Greece is prepared to recognize the temporary suzerainty of the sultan, to withdraw her fleet completely, and to place the Greek army in command of any military representative of the powers senior in rank to Colonel Vassos, for restoring order in the island, if the powers are willing ultimately to leave the decision as to the fate of Crete in the hands of the people.

Tuesday, March 9.-President McKinley, it is said, will make an effort to promote international bimetallism through our diplomatic representatives abroad....The first regular cabinet meeting of the new administration was held....The ways and means committee is said to have agreed upon a new sugar schedule fixing the duty at 15% cents a pound maximum, and 11⁄2 cents minimum. . . . Dispatches from Rio de Janeiro say the outbreak in Bahia, Brazil, is becoming more serious.

Wednesday, March 10.-The Democratic State convention of Rhode Island nominated Daniel T. Church for governor....The state department is informed that the Persian government has prohibited the exportation of rice, wheat, barley, and other cereals ...The great strike of the mine workers of Leadville, Col., in progress since June 19 last, has been called off unconditionally by the miners' union.. The leading London bankers now express their belief that there will be no war in the East, and a general feeling of confidence is returning.

Thursday, March 11.-H. Clay Evans, a prominent Tennessee politician, has been tendered and accepted the office of commissioner of pensions....Wm. J. Bryan made a speech to the Tennessee legislature at Nashville...The McKinley schedule on wools and woolens was substantially adopted by the Republican majority of the ways and means committee....The funeral of Mrs. Henry Ward Beecher took place from Plymouth Church, Brooklyn....Greece has informed France and Great Britain that she is willing to place the Greek troops in Crete under the direction of the powers, and also to abandon her proposal for a Cretan plebiscite and leave the Cretan chamber of deputies to pronounce in favor of autonomy or union with Greece as that body may elect....The University of Cambridge conferred the degree of LL.D. upon Ambassador Bayard.

Friday, March 12.-There has been a decrease of immigration during the past seven months, compared with the same period of last year, of 45,525....The navy department has invited bids for supplying armor for the three new battleships.