was, which no doubt was very great, it was made just and right by the atonement of Christ."

The Herndon story and its refutation would hardly be worth recording here were it not for the fact that it has furnished Mr. Rankin with the occasion for a description of a conversation between Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Rankin's mother, which furnishes the clearest exposition of Mr. Lincoln's religious views we have ever seen. Mrs. Rankin was a friend both of Peter Cartwright and of Abraham Lincoln. As the result of the charges of infidelity brought against him in the Congressional campaign, she asked Lincoln as to his religious views. After a few moments of hesitation, he replied by saying that he would make no public denial of the charge preferred against him. "I will not," he said, "discuss the character and religion of Jesus Christ on the stump! That is no place for it, though my opponent, a minister of his Gospel, thinks it is."

But he was willing to give his answer to Mrs. Rankin, with the understanding, that his reply was not to be quoted nor the subject introduced by his friends in the pending Congressional campaign. Mr. Rankin then gives the entire statement of Mr. Lincoln as reported to him by his mother. Mr. Lincoln said:

"At the time you refer to I was having serious questionings about some portions of my former implicit faith in the Bible. The influence that drew me into such doubts were strong ones-men having the widest culture .and strongest minds of any I had known up to that time. In the midst of those shadows and questionings, before I could see my way clear to decide on them, there came into my life sad events and a loss that you were close to and you knew a great deal about how hard they were for me, for you were, at the time, a mutual friend. Those days of trouble found me tossed amidst a sea of questionings. They piled big upon me, experiences that brought with them great strains upon my emotional and mental life. Through all I groped my way until I found a stronger and higher grasp of thought, one that reached beyond this life with a clearness and satisfaction I had never known before. The Scriptures unfolded before me with a deeper and

more logical appeal, through these new experiences, than anything else I could find to turn to, or ever before had found in them. I do not claim that all my doubts were removed then, or since that time have been swept away. They are not. Probably it is to be my lot to go on in a twilight, feeling and reasoning my way through life, as questioning, doubting Thomas did. But in my poor maimed, withered way, I bear with me as I go on a seeking spirit of desire for a faith that was with him of the olden time, who, in his need, as I in mine, exclaimed: 'Help thou my unbelief.'

"I doubt the possibility or propriety of settling the religion of Jesus Christ in the models of man-made creeds and dogmas. It was a spirit in the life that he laid stress on and taught, if I read aright. I know I see it to be so with me.

"The fundamental truths reported in the four Gospels as from the lips of Jesus Christ, and that I first heard from the lips of my mother, are settled and fixed moral precepts with me. I have concluded to dismiss from my mind the debatable wrangles that once perplexed me with distractions that stirred up, but never absolutely settled anything. I have tossed them aside with the doubtful differences which divide denominationssweeping them all out of my mind among the non-essentials. I have ceased to follow such discussions or be interested in them.

"I cannot without mental reservations assent to long and complicated creeds and catechisms. If the Church would ask simply for assent to the Saviour's statement of the substance of the law: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself '-that Church would I gladly unite with.'

If Mr. Rankin had rendered no other service by his book, we should be grateful to him for giving us this information at almost first hand respecting the character and experience of Abraham Lincoln, an experience in which a spiritual faith was combined with an intellectual honesty and a spirit of reverential reticence, a combination which furnished one of the secrets of his power as a leader of men in a great National crisis.

June is the month when by far the largest number of birds of all species are raising their young, "American Forestry 99 tells its readers.

It is also the month when the largest number of birds pérish. The fledglings are killed by storms, by boys with slingshots or guns, and by marauding cats. Their worst enemy is the cat. Every owner of a cat should see that it is kept secluded at this time, and cats without owners should be mercifully exterminated. Only in this way can our native birds be conserved and attracted to our gardens.

Mauna Loa, the greatest active volcano in the world, is again in eruption. Nine years ago this Hawaiian volcano produced what is described as the most remarkable display of molten "fireworks of modern times. Then, as on the present occasion, there was little or no loss of life, Mauna Loa's eruptions in this respect differing notably, from the outbreaks of lesser volcanoes such as Vesuvius and Mont Pelée.

"Suddenly the awful thing happened! Before my eyes Ravanel, to whom I was roped, was sliding-sliding slowly but surely off the rocks into eternity!" So exclaims Miss Dora Keen in the "Saturday Evening Post" in telling of a perilous ascent of the "Shark's Tooth" in the, Alps. "All at once I saw him wheel about; he gave a mighty heave of his ax as for his life and drove it into the snow above his head. The ax held. He had saved himself and us." Miss Keen found this a deep spiritual experience," but most readers will breathe a sigh of relief when the party gets safely back to the hotel, and wonder why they ever left it to go on such an unnecessarily perilous expedition.

Coolness and resource in danger can be found in industrial life as well as in war. L. H. Beck, of Berkeley, California, as reported, was caught in some revolving machinery. Finding himself being dragged slowly into the cogs, he seized a knife and severed his mangled foot, thus freeing himself. He then applied a tourniquet and directed his transportation by launch and hand-car to a hospital.

Miss Emily McCoy, the daughter of the Governor of Pitcairn Island, is in America studying methods for helping her people, who some time ago were afflicted with the typhus plague. Pitcairn Island, it will be remembered, was settled by the mutineers of the ship Bounty, who, with a number of Tahitian women, went to that remote island in 1789 and remained undiscovered by the British authorities till 1814. Their descendants now number about 170.

Mr. Keene Abbott tells in "Harper's Magazine" some secrets of the Omaha Indian housewife's food supply and her labor-saving methods in getting it. The tubers of the pond-lily are

delicious when roasted; the muskrat likes them raw, and she rifles his hoard; she gets the wood-rat's cache of wild plums, grapes, and choke-cherries, the vole's half-bushel of wild beans and hazel-nuts, and the shrew's store of wild peas and artichokes. All these go into the clay pot of the tepee-dweller, " and also the tuber of a certain sedge, the delectable ground-nut which may eventually become as popular as that other native vegetable, the peanut."

Aunt Polly, the "Ladies' Home Journal " says, did not care to mix politics with business, and her example may be profitable to some per sistent talkers during the coming campaign. She was milking in the cow lot, and her politically excited son found her there. Maw, you're a Democrat, ain't you?" he asked. She made no answer, but he persisted: "Say, Maw, ain't you a good Democrat?" Finally she said, emphatically: "I hain't nothin'. I'm a woman milkin' a cow. You go in the house and shut up!"

A group of thirty prisoners at Sing Sing have been trained by the physical department of the West Side Y. M. C. A. of New York to act as teachers of physical culture to their fellow-convicts. Great benefit is expected from this work, for men who have abundant physical exercise of a wholesome kind are far less likely to become vicious, sullen, or desperate than if they are required to sit inactive in their cells.

Illustrating Russian deliberation in business affairs, R. W. Child in "Everybody's" says that an American business man went to Petrograd to sell war goods which were badly needed. Instead of orders he received invitations to. dinner, first from one high official, then another. After a week of this he said to the bureaucrat whose word was final, "Look here, this may be the Russian way; I will indulge in it if you wish, but the American way is to charge the cost of production and sales to the price. My expenses are large. Each day from now on I will add these charges to the price." He was as good as his word, and charged $400 a day extra till the negotiations were completed, ten days later, when he got his contract.

An English playwright apostrophizes the German admirers of Shakespeare thus: "Oh, well have you chosen 'Macbeth' for your Festival, German playgoers !... Ponder him deeply, now that at last the slow, immitigable might of England has begun to encompass you!" To which an unexpectedly clever German reply compares the English Lion to that of "Midsummer-Night's Dream:"

Smug: Have you the lion's part written? Pray you, if it be, give it me, for I am slow of study.

Quince: You may do it extempore, for it is nothing but roaring.

THE STORY OF THE WAR:
KITCHENER OF KHARTUM

The death of no one man can vitally affect the issues of the vast conflict now going on in Europe. Neither Kaiser, Czar, nor King, neither Hindenburg nor Kitchener, has carried on his shoulders the single responsibility, nor, in all probability, is such a war as this to be settled by one man's genius. Earnestly as the British nation mourns Lord Kitchener's death and acclaims his fame and achievement, it will steadily continue (to use the British soldiers' favorite phrase) to "carry

on.

"It has been one of the peculiar features of a democracy at war-for England is essentially a democracy-that such a great figure as Kitchener has been subject to bitter and persistent attack. How far he blundered and how far he had to assume the fault of others cannot here be discussed. It certainly became evident that even for his stalwart body and ever-working brain too many responsibilities, or too many kinds of responsibilities, had been put upon one man, and that error was remedied by a distribution of functions. To-day fault-finding has been forgotten in the nation's recognition of the immensity of Great Britain's obligation to her warrior dead at the post of duty.

Lord Kitchener was on his way to Russia to consult with the Russian war leaders as to munitions and war plans. His vessel, the Hampshire, an old-type cruiser of little war value, was blown to pieces either by a torpedo or a mine-probably the latter. Whether the ship was attacked by Germans, or even whether the mine was a German mine, is uncertain as we write. The right to attack such a war-ship by submarine or by a mine laid in its course is beyond question, although there are important restrictions in international law. about the use of mines in the high seas. One consequence of this disaster may be a fuller discussion and disclosure of fact about the use and abuse of mines-each side now charges the other with violations of law, but the nature of mines and mine-laying is such

that it is extremely difficult to prove charges made. The Hampshire went down, almost instantly, at eight o'clock on the night of June 5, off the Orkney Islands (see map on page 335). Not a man is known to have been saved; observers assert that four boats left the ship, but the waves were rough, and up to noon of June 7 only a few bodies and a broken boat were found. Officers and crew are said to have numbered between three and four hundred-a small complement for a ship of the Hampshire's class. With Lord Kitchener were lost his staff, including Hugh James O'Beirne, former counselor of the British Embassy at Petrograd and at one time Minister to Bulgaria; Major Oswald Arthur Gerald Fitzgerald, Lord Kitchener's military secretary and former military attaché in Egypt; Brigadier-General Arthur Ellershaw; Sir Hay Frederick Donaldson, one of the greatest munitions experts in the United Kingdom; and others.

KITCHENER'S SERVICE TO ENGLAND

Kitchener's great achievement in this war was so important, so impossible of execution by any one else, so surprising to the world in its extent and success, that it must not for a second be dimmed by talking about minor matters. Kitchener's Army! By volunteering only, Great Britain enrolled five million men! "For King and Kitchener " was one of the mottoes.

"Kitchener's Mob "" was the familiar name the men of the first army applied to themselves. With all loyal respect to the King, Englishmen know and say that Kitchener's name was the strongest possible rallying cry. King George put a simple fact clearly when he said in his general orders to the army after the disaster:

Field Marshal Lord Kitchener gave forty-five years of distinguished service to the state, and it was largely due to his administrative genius and unwearying energy that the country was able to create and place in the field the

armies which to-day are upholding the traditional glories of our Empire.

We can here only name, not describe, Kitchener's earlier services to his country in India, in the Sudan, in Egypt, and in South Africa. Elsewhere we print an estimate of their value to civilization from a tribute to Kitchener by Theodore Roosevelt.

Personally, Lord Kitchener was stern, indomitable, tireless. He cared nothing for display, he had no mercy on shirkers or incapables; he was dogged and unflinching. His two favorite amusements, some one says, were work and more work. The story is told that at the outbreak of this war, when he entered the War Office to take charge as Secretary of War, he curtly asked, "Is there a bed here?" and, learning there was not, he said, "Well, bring one." For weeks, the story adds, he stuck to his work there, never leaving the office.

Sir William Robertson,. who will probably succeed Lord Kitchener, is a fine soldier of somewhat the same type; he rose from the ranks, and it is said that he started life as a servant.

THE BATTLE OF THE NORTH SEA

Although the long-predicted naval battle between the "grand fleets" of Great Britain and Germany took place on Wednesday, May 31, there was not up to June 7 any yielding by either of the nations involved of its claims as to the destruction of certain enemy war-ships the loss of which the other nation denies. One reason for the persistency with which these claims are made is that probably sailors and officers of attacking ships have honestly believed that they saw these enemy ships in a sinking and desperate condition. For instance, there is no doubt that the great British dreadnought the Warspite is perfectly safe in harbor; and yet even to the date named, June 7, German sailors and officers insist that she was mortally wounded. She was, in fact, disabled by the loss of her steering gear after making one of the most tremendous fights ever made by a war-ship, but she was not put out of action, and she retired safely with the rest of the British fleet. So, too, British authorities have insisted that two German battle-ships (one was said to be the new and superb ship named after General von Hindenburg) and the fine German cruiser Seydlitz were destroyed, and it is at least possible that these claims also became current in the same mistaken way.

Ignoring the losses not admitted officially, the British loss in tonnage is 114,100 tons; the admitted German loss 32,515 tons, although it should be added that the British claim that the Germans lost in addition a tonnage of 80,920. Among the British warships admittedly lost were three battlecruisers (Queen Mary, Indefatigable, and Invincible) and the armored cruiser Warrior, while the Germans admit the loss of the battle-ship Pommern and two protected. cruisers. Each side lost. at least half a dozen, and probably more, destroyers, although here again the number is still in dispute.

The British, as we write, still claim that the, German accounts of losses are absurdly low and that altogether Germany lost eighteen, ships, big and little. Probably the exact truth as to the precise number and naval, caliber of the losses will only slowly become adjusted, and the precise number may not be known until the close of the war. Admiral. Hood of the British navy went down with his flagship, the Invincible. The total num

ber of lives lost in the battle is unknownthe English say the Germans lost 7,000; the Germans say the English lost 6,000.

This vast clash between the main sea forces of the two nations began in what the Germans call a special "enterprise." This, it soon became evident, was an attempt by te German fleet to force into battle certain divisions of the British navy which the German Admiralty believed were near the south coast of Norway. German accounts say that their vessels first sighted the British war-ships at four o'clock on May 31, about seventy miles off the Skagerrak (see map). These were undoubtedly small scouting vessels, which at once communicated to the British admirals in command of the main fleet the presence of the enemy in force. is believed that the station of the big British ships was at, or near, the Orkney Islands.

It

Instantly every available British ship, big and little, was despatched to the scene of battle. In such a battle the scout ships and destroyers form the first or skirmish line. Falling back, as was right and necessary, this first line was soon reinforced by the British battlecruiser line, with Vice-Admiral Sir David Beatty in command. Admiral Beatty has a fine reputation as a brave fighter. The instant he saw the enemy ships he attacked them,

ATLANTIG OGLAN

and the fight which followed immediately was of tremendous violence, even although the ships in such a modern naval engagement are firing at an enemy often six or eight miles distant. Whether Admiral Beatty was justified in this attack by professional and strategic reason or not remains to be seen. Of the courage and audacity of his assault there can be no question. It was in the first part of the great battle that much of the British loss and injury was sustained. But within an hour the third battle-line of the British ships, including great dreadnoughts like the Warspite, came into action, and before long the Germans, probably then fighting against a superior force as to numbers and power, retreated to their refuge, leaving the British fleet in possession of the field of action. A retired British admiral sums up the result thus: "The Germans with their whole fleet engaged a portion of the British fleet and made for home as soon as the British dreadnoughts appeared on the scene."

A striking view of the earlier part of the battle is given in a letter written by Admiral Beatty, in which he says:

We drew the enemy into the jaws of our fleet. I have no regrets except for the gallant lives lost, for the pals that have gone and who died gloriously. It would have warmed your heart to have seen how the gallant Hood brought

his squadron into action. Would to God we had been more successful in the general result!

We will be ready for them next time. Please God it will soon come! The battle cruiser fleet is alive and has a big kick in her.

A THRILLING

BATTLE INCIDENT

No episode of the fight was more thrilling or spectacular than the attempted rescue of the British battle-cruiser Warrior by the dreadnought Warspite, as described by an officer of the Warrior. The cruiser, after putting one or more of the German cruisers out of action, had been battered and terribly injured and was expecting the shells that would finish it, when "the Warspite appeared and passed between us and the enemy, engaging the foremost battle-cruiser with deadly effect." The story proceeds:

The first shot from the Warspite lopped off the foremast of the leading enemy cruiser. The next overturned both the fore gun turrets, and in five minutes the enemy vessel was ablaze from end to end, enveloped in a cloud of dense smoke. The second battle-cruiser, which had been concentrating her fire on the Warspite, turned to starboard, smoke belching from her funnels, and endeavored to pick up her main squadron. But it was not to be. Two shells from the Warspite blew every funnel she had to pieces. The third made a great rent in her