Show CURRENT TOPICS IN EUROPE march has come in like a lion there is no mistake about that this year the bitter wind the frozen pools and snowe lad ground makes the landscape bear a more wintry look than it has hao doue done at any bitae ume this winter however it I 1 in setter etter e to have a touch 0 of f winter now than later on the mildness of february had bad caused the buds to start and if the warm weather had continued a few weeks longer and then a bold snap set in the damage would have been incalculable bucal flable the wintry weather seems to ernvall prevail over almost the whole of europe snow has hag fallen as far south as nice and eyen even in mild florence the ground has been covered with the beautiful so far however there seems to have been no injury to the orange groves of the south as there was two years ago nor soreven even any considerable damage to those on the shores of the 1 riviera rome is again fining filling up with strangers though during the past winter the eternal city has been unusually dull very few strangers have visited rome during the past three months because of the prevalence of the influenza this has caused want in thousands of families who as hotel waiters cabeen cabmen guides and vendors of relics contrive to gain their living by their attention to the wants of tourists the attraction of rome borne does not lie exclusively in its artistic marvels its ito monuments ments or its associations with ancient history something of the fascination it has for foreigners Is due to what has been dulke done for their accommodation and comfort rome is an elisi um for both students and idlers the foreign capital which usually flows into rome during the winter mouths months has this year been sadly missing not merely by private parties but likewise by the government italy in her ber ambition to unite her various petty governments and again take her place amun among the great nations of the earth has as made some heroic efforts her alliance with the german empire has been a costly affair and there are many who are looking forward to 1892 when the present arrangements with germany shall terminated he be atud the present I 1 indications ad ica are that italy will seek closer relations with france for years italy and france have held the closest relations with each other it was the first napoleon who gave italy the first idea of unity in these modern times it was napoleon Napo eon ill III who helped her break the austrian yoke and still at the present time there are commercial relations which tend to draw france and italy together the stability which the french republic has shown and the recent elections in germany will not be without their effect on tle the italian people it is evident that two years hence the relations of european powers to each other will be very dil different from what they are today in germany as anticipated the second ballots have only sealed the complete defeat of the government parties out of one hundred and forty constituencies where it was necessary to hold second elections only ninety three have been heard from as yet with certainty of these sixty six have returned liberal candidates of various shades of opinion and forty seven constituencies are yet to be heard from what influence these elections election 4 will have upon prince bismarck it is impossible to tell berlin has declared itself in favor of liberal can di dates dated in every precinct the breach be between teen the emperor and bismarck is gradually widening the sceptre seems falling failing from the hands of the iron chancellor just now paris is all excitement it is not merely that the due dorleans Orleans iP has been removed to clairvaux that ancient abbey prison which was once the residence of the famous st bernard it is evident the government of paris dreads the popularity of the young man the royalists pretend to be in dinnant at the manner in which the due duc was spirited away from paris to the more retired though more comfortable quarters at clairvaux no doubt it was a wise movement to remove the prisoner beyond the influence of tumultuous paris lor for royalist feeling is now in a full revival the resignation of M con the no less lees rapid appointment of M bou bourgeois to succeed him as minister of the interior were almost melodramatic dramatic in their sudden ness but this rapid change has left a bad impression on the public mind A crisis is feared at any moment and consequently that the whole ministry will be obliged to abandon the reins of government it should not be forgotten that M coustant Cou stans was one of of the most re reliable 1 la ble me mea n I 1 in n the french cabinet it was he who presided over the elections in 1889 and Mical by y common consent all shades of pol political parties acknowledge his services in bringing about the triumph of the republic it was he be also who bore the brunt of the abuse lavished upon the cabinet by the a and their allies but it is not alone in paris that there is confusion the british parliament has also been indulging in a thigh high old time mr la boucherie bou chere and lord salisbury have been indulging in some conflicting ideas which resulted in mr la hou bou chere ebere being suspended from act ve service in the house for the period of seven days it is evident the report of the parnell commission has greatly disconcerted the tory party in england the past wea week has been spent in olp debates hates which seem eudyss and which the great majority of the pe ale are thoroughly wearied of but while france england and germany are all busy in political squabbles there are other oilier themes worthy of attention one of these is the report of the native literature of india from this report it is evident that european morals and customs are undergoing an ordeal of at the present time which will sound rather strange to many western ears when a few years ago an oriental writing in an american magazine compared heathenism and su so called christianity to the evident disadvantage of the latter some people were astonished but what will be now said when the magazines periodicals and works of fiction of a vast nation dation comprising more than a hundred millions illions fb of people are filled with lamentations over the demoralizing tendencies of european literature let it be remembered that these magazines are not edited these books are not written by men whose education has been exclusively heathen but on the other hand band these works have been published by persons who have been born in india of european parents and have had the very best opportunities of observing and comparing the relative merits of oriental and western modes of action it should also be remembered that india Js is by no means a land inhabited by savages but on the other hand band boasts of literature equal to most european countries As the world widely celebrated professor max muller lately remarked 1 I have known many indians both men inen and wo I 1 do vot not exaggerate when I 1 tell you that some of them need tear learno no comparison with the best men and women whom it has been my good fortune to know in england france or germany whether for unselfishness or devotion to high ideals truthfulness purity and real living religion I 1 know no greater hero than kashub chun der sed iden no heroine greater than ratnabai Bain Rain abai and I 1 am proud to have been allowed to count both among my best friends this is the class to which the educational report of india refers and which declares that european literature european religions hud and european modes of thought are demoralizing to the native population strange as it may appear the educational report of india for the year 1889 plainly proves that so called christianity must stand on the defensive and eo called heathenism is aggressive another sensation is that mrs mona caird who two years ago wrote the article Is marriage a failure as published in the da daily telegraph has lately published another article in the fortnightly se be view tw showing the wickedness of tu marriage arriage ia an interval now of furious licence It cence if it must be writes this lady lot on the way to freedom would be a kinder potion for this sick world than another century of womanly duty and virtue as these have been provided hitherto Lit herto 11 such is the trash published in so called respectable journals of great britain no wonder that india prok protests ests against their demoralizing influence fluence iti J H WABD EUROPE march 1890 |