CHRISTIANITY

in the 18th century, religion was taken to be a body of intellectual conclusions mainly about god, providence and immortality. revelation was regarded as supernatural information supernaturally guaranteed. religions were classified, with the utmost simplicity and definiteness, as true and false. unless it were to be admitted that, where all others must be false, one alone could not be true, christianity had to be defined as the one true religion with the one authen- ticated supernatural revelation, and defended as such. the historical studies of the roth century tended to obliterate such a distinction as true and false, and to reduce all religions to a process in which everything was linked together and all was temporal and relative. much of this was due to the idea, which dominated the science as well as the history of the cen- tury, that if you could put things in a series you had explained their origin and guaranteed their progress. but there was also the discovery that the religions are not theorics or information, and that, therefore, no question regarding them could be re- duced to mere logical truth or falsehood. but this has not meant that there is no distinction in value between religions, or that value is determined by something different from corre- spondence with reality. every classification which is not merely geographical is an attempt to arrange religions according to value. in a general way most recent classifications follow siebeck’s: (a) the beginnings of religion, (b) religions of morality, (c) religions of redemption. the last is taken to be the highest class, and christianity the highest in it, because, while buddhism and neo-platonism are negative religions of redemption, christianity 1s the sole positive. if redemption is the highest re- ligious need and there is real provision for it, christianity would still be the one true religion, only this would be understood in less intellectual terms. religion and redemption.—but all religions are religions of redemption; and, only when we see this, do we understand how a religion differs from a body of intellectual opinions. all religions, even the lowest of what are called nature religions, are pessi- christianity mistic about the world on its face value, and in some way wish to find in it a better meaning, a greater security, a greater good. the problem of god is in a sense subordinate to this problem of the world. god is never a mere inference from the world, but he is the power needed to redeem the world, and is found according to the quality of the redemption sought, and verified according to the kind of victory it gives. in that case, religions are to be classified according to the kind of redemption they offer, though there goes with it the kind of god who so redeems. thus the religion which is concerned only with the re- demption of the natural life from trouble cannot reach beyond an animistic force, vaguely many and indefinitely one; yet even this is a power by which redemption is sought from the mere world of the senses. when the stage is reached that law is con- ceived as the exact equivalent of material good to moral good regarded as obedience to rules, a negative redemption like buddhism, which seeks only escape from the world, means prac- tically no god; whereas, a positive one like zoroastrianism or ecclesiastical judaism, which seeks victory over it, means a god much concerned about the clean and the unclean and a succourer of the good understood as the clean. christianity and redemption—in its general conception of redemption christianity had a forerunner in the hebrew proph- ets. the pessimism of both goes far deeper than buddha's. buddha’s pessimism of the superior, sensitive class would have seemed a very thin-skinned affair to the robust jewish peasant. the prophets faced a doomed civilisation and inconceivable ruin and calamity, and jesus faced a people who would crush them- selves by the evil spirit with which they would crush him. and the moral judgment was also deeper. the prophets saw far be- yond rules, and the virtues of buddha are for jesus mere respectable hypocrisies. history as progressive revelation.—in the sense of something from which there can be no advance, history does not admit anything absolute, and if history is a necessary way of the pa- tient working of god with his children, religion cannot admit it any more than history. the difficulty with infallible, final reve- lations is that, if-at any point there were finality, history, as a progressive revelation, would be meaningless. yet there is no meaning in progress were we not discovering absolute standards as well as applying them better; and it has been held that this alone remains when time which built is finished with destroying. moreover, there are final methods which make other methods merely of antiquarian interest, and which, being right, do not themselves become antiquated. the question of the absoluteness of the christian religion thus concerns the kind of redemption it has manifested, and the relation of jesus to it. if this is at once our true dependence on our mortal experience and victory over it, and if jesus manifested, in his perfect and creative deal- ing with it, god as the father to whose rule we can be reconciled in spite of all the evil in the world, there is therefore an im- portant sense in which we can speak, if not of the absoluteness of christianity, yet of a finality of revelation arid method, which as it works in all the historical forms of christianity, can be distinguished as its true leaven from all it has absorbed in its journey through time. the personality of jesus.-—this, however, does not mean that any actual form of christianity is more than a relative historical product. this problem begins with jesus himself. criticism of the gospels has been continued in recent years, and it has led farther and farther away from the robertson and drews view of a mythical christ. serious and competent students of the documents recognise some exaltation of miracle, but they are sure of a person of marked individuality in a certain and concrete historical situation. but this has, in recent years, raised sharply the question of the extent to which the idea of the messiah and the kingdom bore the contemporary jewish form. the apoc- alyptic school, of which johannes weiss is perhaps the most original representative, maintains that the kingdom of god was the purely jewish expectation of a visible rule to be introduced by the power of god, and the messiah the head of this rule. ‘the unique spiritual religion and an ethic identified with it cannot 633 be wholly denied, but the attempt has been made to derive the idea of god as father from this rule, with its morality as the high interim requirement in view of the immediacy of the kingdom. that jesus, in all he said and did, was a child of his time is the chief ground for believing in the reality of the nar- ratives concerning him; therefore, only enquiry can determine where this influence ended and his own admitted power and insight and originality began. the fatherhood of god.—yet, however far it may have been clothed in contemporary forms, the fatherhood of god is there, not merely in the abstract, but as interpreting nature, man, society, death and eternal life, and it is not easy to see how this could be a mere corollary of a visible apocalyptic kingdom. in a certain logical sense the kingdom is first. it is the family which is essential to the understanding of god as father. precisely because it was reached in this way of finding in an evil world and evil men a world which is god’s and in mankind his family, the monotheism of jesus is not, like mahomet’s, a mere business of saying god is one, but rests on a victory over evil which does away with all final division in god’s rule of the world, and makes religion and morality identical both in their sphere and in their power. and this is the unique, self-evidencing element, which we are sure came from none but jesus, so that, so far as there may be crude material apocalyptic in early christianity, it may more easily be ascribed to his simple jewish disciples than to him. moreover, the idea of the father cannot reaily be derived from the kingdom, because this is already pre-supposed in it, secing that it is not because of what the world by itself could ever be, however much god changed it, but by the active pur- pose of god now in the world that life is turned from frustrated desire to blessed purpose. universalism in judaism.—a universal conception, moreover, had abundant historical possibility in the jewish outlook at that time, and the titles which connect jesus with the kingdom are very difficult to interpret except universally. they are messiah, son of man, son of god. messiah, the one which had the most narrow jewish association, he most avoided. an explanation of this is given, different from the old one that he wished to avoid the material jewish expectation, but it is roundabout and not convincing. paul at once universalised it asthe “christ,” a thing only possible because of the outlook of judaism as a world relizion at that time. the son of man is only a poetic form for man, and son of god had not the meaning it received in later theology, but surely the names universalise his vocation both toward man and god. paul at least passed easily to this uni- versalised meaning: and there is no hint that it was any part of the difforence which arose between him and the immediate disciples of jesus. tre character of christianity—but the more important ques- tion concerns the abiding apocalyptic character of christianity. this question also the events of recent years have ratsed more definitely than at any time since the rst century. the kingdom of god is not another name for the slow moral progress of the race, and the father is not a mere name for the moral power that watches over this process. the first idea of the church was the fellowship of this rule and not a useful institution to give shelter and continuity. all true morality is interim morality, a morality which lives in another order than the compromising present, and christian morality does not strive or cry, but lives in a rule of god that is both present and to come. it is not a trust in safe- guards, but a venture on the love of god as the power that is above all, valid for all. it is not yet manifested only because it is patient. because god’s rule is of the spirit, it cannot be dis- played till idolatry vanishes from the heart of man and he wor- ships the father in spirit and in truth. but, then, it could come like a descent from heaven. because christianity thus rests everything on the ultimate faith of the heart, it can regard god’s action as a revolution, while still maintaining that the con- ditions of it are spiritual. the evolution of cathelicism.—nothing, at least in the history of christianity, has had such vast and manifest effects, especially in europe, as the evolution of catholicism from the religion of 634 jesus. yet there is no part of it about which we have fewer docu- ments, or documents so difficult to interpret. the outside world gave no hecd to the change, being unaware of its importance, and the christians themselves were unconscious that it was change. they merely imported new meanings into old forms, without deliberate intention. hence the great difficulty is to determine when the same terms cease to have the same meaning. the apostle paul—the sharpest difference of learned opinion on this point, in recent years, concerns the apostle paul. that a large part of the process was the meaning given to his words has long been recognised, but this was usually ascribed to mis- understanding, due to the possibility of reinterpreting a phra- seology, necessarily drawn from greek religious expressions, back into its primitive meaning, by imperfectly christianised con- verts who were ignorant of the apostle’s old testament foun- dations and unable to rise to the level of his gospel free from the law. thus legal, mystical, magical, hierarchical ideas and the conception of doctrine as dogma resting on authority, were re- introduced from hellenistic judaism and the mystical cults and greek philosophical and political thought. but the modern school, of which reitzenstein is perhaps the best known repre- sentative, finds the germ of it all in paul, who is taken to have been influenced by those ideas through hellenic judaism. in spite of setting aside the jewish law, paul, it is said, by his christ mysticism, opened the door to substitution and sacrifice, to officials, to mysterious doctrines and mystical sacraments. contacts with heathenism.—that these ideas came in with the converts from heathenism, as they are doing in china to-day, is, in abstract probability, far more likely than that it was originated by this hebrew of the hebrews. his dominant thought is the old testament view of man as made in god’s image, and from it he has christ as the second adam, and the new humanity in him, while the natural interpretation of his favourite phrase “in christ ” is “in this new order,” and no more mystical than “in moses,” while his insistence on all things being ours shows that redemption for him is essentially reconciliation. the church also is a communion, a fellowship of the good news of the kingdom of god, and in no form yet a present hierarchy; while a doctrine which was offered to the heathen, who acknowledged neither ecclesiastical nor biblical authority, could not have been catholic in form. the influence of john.—in john it is easier to, see that legal, sacerdotal, mystical and even imperial ideas were in the air, but it is still difficult to say how far the influence of john was by understanding or misunderstanding, because for him the logos was still the revelation of the mind and purpose, and not of the omnipotence, of god, and eternal life a present and not merely a future possession, while the mixed society had not yet replaced the ideal kingdom of god. this last change we find only in matthew and the pastoral epistles. but it 1s there, so that, even in the new testament, we find the first step from the kingdom as an ideal, prophetic conception, which we enter as we are recon- ciled to the father’s purpose, to the church as an ecclesiastical institution, which we enter as we accept its doctrine and obey its rules. this transferred the interest from a changed world by a changed loyalty, to a future life, into which the only way is the church which possesses the correct doctrinal deposit safeguarded by its hierarchy and which has the proper rites effectively ad- ministered by a guaranteed sacerdotal succession. then, along- side of redemption by reconciliation, we have all the other ways —sacrifice as propitiation, mystic rites, ascetic practices, etc. christianity and other religions —here we come to the crux of our problem, which is the place of christianity among other religions. is it this organised form of it, or something merely working in it that we are to consider? the view that the ecclesi- astical institution itself is not merely relative to human progress, but that jesus founded it, appointed the apostles its rulers, settled its rites, gave it its doctrine, and guaranteed its fidelity, and that what it is it has been and will be, can only be main- tained by making historical inquiry anathema. last century this was modified into the view that what has grown to be the pres- ent catholic doctrine and order, christ planted only in germ. christianity but even this is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain. among those who. differ only in detail about what happened, there are, however, diametrically opposite judgments of the- value of the change. vliberal protestant scholars, on the whole, regard it as the kind of corruption to which religions are always subject as they absorb alien elements with their only imperfectly instructed converts. they find the essential christian element to be a power, shown by no other religion, first of elevating and spiritualising these alien elements and then of eliminating them. this they ascribe to the higher idea of redemption inseparable from the faith in christ, which, however much overlaid, has always wrought like leaven, and to what goes with it—the revelation of the father. thus, for them, an essential quality of christianity is its power to regencrate itself by a return to the jesus of the gospels. they would maintain that all other religions have their place, but it is as preparation, or, if their elements remain in christianity, it is only as a temporary sub- stitute for the true christian redemption. | syncretism in christiantty——the liberal catholic scholars on the other hand regard it as the highest perfection of chris- tianity that it can thus syncretise what_has appealed to human need in any religion, holding that, just by its comprehensiveness, christianity was turned from an enthusiastic movement into a permanent and effective institution, with its bald puritanism enriched in all kinds of profitable ways. if pagan mystical ideas were adopted, did they not meet aneed? if platonism was almost as dominant as tpaulinism, was not plato also inspired? the distinction of christiantiy—as a protest against the position which reduces the essence of christianity to a mere doctrine of the fatherhood, this position has value, for doctrines are life and life is doctrine, if either belong truly to religion. yet we cannot thus deify history with its confusion of opposites and equalising of truth and error. lower kinds of redemption may have to carry on till we are able to venture wholly on a higher, but no two forms are in the end compatible. plato con- cerns himself mainly with safeguards, and jesus wholly with venture: and jesus does not rule where plato does. here is the essential part. all forms of ecclesiastical christianity are largely concerned with safeguards. but the real challenge of the cross is the high venture of living in a world not realised. it is this that distinguishes christianity from all other historical forms of religion, this that is in some sense absolute in method, if not in any particular result. in any case, this seems to be the only aspect of it likely to be adequate to the thought and the enterprise of our time. yet the catholic church is there, with all its large variety, to remind us that this is no mere matter of intellectual conclusion, but is a victory of life only to be won in fellowship, and that there is no aspect of redemption we can abandon till its good is given in a better form by a higher. yet it raises the question whether this fellowship should not be beyond any visible or- ganised society, a question which is being raised acutely by the need of our time for a religious order in the chaos of our age, which, far beyond the political order, shall be able to embrace greater differences in a closer fellowship, for a higher and more permanent good. (see also anglicanism; baptists; criris- tian science; congregationalism; lutherans; methodism; roman catrhoric cuvurcu, ctc.) bibliograpity.—gencral: r. sohm, kirchenrecht (1892); a. harnack, das wesen des christentums (1900) trans. as the essence of christianity (1901); wahrhettsgehalt der religion (1901), trans. as the truth of religion (1g01); kk. p. tiele, kompendium d. religions- geschichte (1912) (revised by n. sederblom); g. f. moore, a izistory of religions, vol. 2 (1920); a. c. bouquet, ls christianity the final religion? (1921), containing an account of fe. ‘troeltsch’s views; a large part of e. trocltsch’s writings in english, christian thought trans. (1923). on the development the literature is too vast to quote, but j. h. newman, kssay on the development of christian dectrine (1845) and a. resch, zur geschichie der altchristl. literatur (1888) are of historical importance, and the most eminent authorities for the modern posilion are r. reitzenstein, die hellentstischen mysterium- religionen (1910); a. schweitzer, vou reimarus su wrede (1906) trans. as the ouest of the itistorical jesus (1910); a. loisy, les muysteres paien set le mystere chretien (1914); chantepie dela saussaye, christian science—churchill, winston lehrbuch der religionsgeschichic, re-ed. by a. bertholet and ef. lehmann (1924-5); eng. trans. of vol. i (1891). che aya qi) christian science (sce 6.291).—in the history of christian science the year 1910 marked the beginning of a new era. until dec. 3 of that year, when she passed away, mary baker eddy, the founder and leader of this religion, had taken the principal part in every step of its progress. nothing had been initiated by anyone but her; nothing of moment had been done without her approval. furthermore, although the organic law of the christian science movement, the church manual, applicable to the mother church and in many respects to its branches, con- ferred full and sufficient powers upon an administrative board, the christian science board of directors, yet until then this board had functioned under mrs. eddy’s immediate supervision. her demise, therefore, tested at once the adequacy of the church manual as an organic law and the loyalty of christian scientists to this law, in the absence of its author. in spite of doubts and predictions, in many instances concomitant with friendly inter- est, both the law of the church and the loyalty of its members have fulfilled the most confident expectations. as developments have actually occurred, the 15 years from the end of 1910 to the beginning of 1926 have been the most fruitful and prosperous in the history of christian science. . legal difficulties —by her last will, mrs. eddy devised the bulk of her estate as a charitable trust to be held and used for the purpose of promoting and extending the religion she taught. thereupon, her next of kin began contests in the courts of massachusetts and new hampshire on the theory that a devise to promote christian science could not be a charity or charitable trust because mrs. eddy’s teachings were so contrary to generally accepted beliefs and legally established practices as to be contrary to public policy. this contention, though argued ingeniously as a consequence from the tenet of christian science that all forms of evil are unreal, failed to impress the highest courts of these states, both of which dismissed the contests. the residuary estate thus devised consisted mainly of mrs. eddy’s copyrights (valued at $2,500,000) which have yielded since her decease an income of even more than this sum (ap- proximately $3,000,000). this income has been expended by the trustees mainly as follows: (a) to put the christian science text-book, science and health with key to the scripiures, and other books by mrs. eddy, into public libraries throughout the united states, canada, great britain and certain other countries; (b) to contribute to- ward the cost of public lectures on christian science in countries or places where this religion has few adherents; (c) to help branch churches of christ, scientist, erect, enlarge or improve their church buildings; and (d) to assist them in their free distribution of christian science literature. the christian science monitor —while the christian sctence monitor dates from 1908, the development of this unique publi- cation belongs essentially to the period 1910-25. for several years largely a boston daily, later it dropped its local character and became, as it is, an international daily newspaper. it is read to some extent wherever english is spoken. its circulation, while not great all told (100,000 or more), 1s almost as large in chicago, san francisco or londonasin boston. never limited to christian scientists, the christian science monitor now has a world-wide vogue among editors and public men. it is also said to have, of all daily publications, the largest number of readers for cach copy, many copies being passed along by the original recipients to other readers. benevolent activities.—duting the period in question, chris- tian science benevolences have been developed and systematised to an extent previously unknown. funds provided by christian scientists have been administered by them for the purpose of relicf in nearly all of the more important instances of great dis- aster or extensive destitution. the explosion at halifax, the flood at dayton, tornadoes in the middle west, famine in the near east, earthquakes in japan and glestitution in europe after the world war, are among the occasions which can be mentioned in this connection. christian scientists also are doing 635 an extensive missionary work among the inmates of penal insti- tutions and among persons released therefrom. this work has been frequently commended, as being of exceptional value, by officers in charge of such institutions and by trained sociologists. akin to this work was the extensive service rendered by chris- tian scientists as chaplains and “ camp welfare workers ” among soldiers and sailors during and after the world war. in rg19 the christian science benevolent assn. opened a sanatorium in a suburb of boston at a cost of $1,500,000, where persons may stay while having christian science treatment. deflections.—as in the earlicr history of christian science, there occurred in the period under review a number of deflec- tions from this movement. as founded by mary baker eddy, the christian science movement consists of the mother church, the first church of christ, scientist, in boston, mass., and of branch churches or local congregations wherever there are the requisite number of adherents. each of them is designated as first church of christ, scientist, of its locality, or as second church of christ, scientist and so on. thus, the words church of christ, scientist, furnish the distinctive part of the name of the christian science denomination as distinguished from several small and unrelated groups, which have adopted titles contain- ing the words christian science. relations to other churches and to afedicine—the successful application of christian science to the cure and prevention of disease has also produced some notable reactions in other com- munions and in the practice of medicine. in public addresses a number of prominent physicians have credited the practice of christian science with remarkable healings, while many others have commended as wholesome the habits of thought inculcated by this religion. on the other hand, many physicians have continued to deny or minimise the power of prayer or thought to effect cures in cases of organic disorder. the reaction to christian science in the anglican, episcopal and jewish communions has been most notable. in each of them, extensive inquiries have been made concerning the power of faith or prayer to cure or prevent disease, and in each of them methodical efforts have been made to employ mental and spiritual practices for this purpose. christian science, neverthe- less, continues to make its distinctive contribution to the systematic application of theology to all human needs, including the cure and prevention of disease. on june 8 1925 the total] number of christian science churches (“branches of the mother church, the first church of christ, scientist, in boston, mass.) was 2,202 (1,913 in the united states, 148 in england, 57 in canada, 84 elsewhere). on jan. 1 1920 the number was 1,804 (1,590 in the united states, 98 in england, 46 in canada, 70 elsewhere). in 1910 the number was 1,201 (1,077 in the united states, 58 in england, 38 in canada, 28 elsewhere). asa christian science church invariably has two readers—one to read the bible, the other to read the text-book (sctence and itealth with key to the scriptures)—the number of readers in 1925 was 4,404; in 1920, 3,608; in 1910, 2,402. on june 8 1925 there were 7,828 recognised practitioners of christian science healing and 216 nurses. statistics of mem- bership are never given officially and estimates vary all the way from 300,000 to upwards of 1,000,000. brstiograriy.—eddy, mary baker, science and tfealth with key fo the scriptures (1910-25); conant, albert f., a complete con- cordance to science and ieaith (1946); wilbur, sibyl, the life of mary baker eddy (1923); hasbrouck, stephen, aliar fires relighted (1912); harris, walter s., chrisitan science and the ordinary man (1917); barrett, sir william and rosa m., the religion of health (1925). (c.pae) churchill, winston (1871~ ), american writer, was born in st. louis nov. 10 1871. he graduated from the united states naval academy in 1894. after bricf service in the navy he resigned, and for a time was connected with 7he clriny and navy journal. in 1895 he became managing editor of the cosmopolitan magazine; but in less than a year he retired in order to devote himself to writing. his first novel, 7fe celebrity, appeared in 1898. his next book, richard carvel (1899), had a 636 sale of nearly 1,000,000 copies. its scene is laid in maryland dur- ing the american revolution. then followed the crisis (1902), the heroine of which is the great-great-granddaughter of his former hero, richard carvel; and the crossing (1904). his other works are: coniston (1906); afr. crewe’s career (1908); a modern chronicle (1910); the inside of the cup (1913); a far country (1915); and the dwelling place of light (1917). all his novels treat of phases of american development, and form a sort of chronological sequence. mr. churchill took an active part in state politics. from 1903 to roos he was a member of the legislature of new hampshire, and in 1912 he was an unsuccessful candidate for the governorship as a progressive. churchill, winston leonard spencer (1874- ), british politician, the elder son of lord randolph churchill and jennie, daughter of mr. leonard jerome, of new york, u.s.a., was born nov. 30 1874. he was educated at harrow and sandhurst. entering the army in 1895, his principal war service was with the malakand field force, 1897, and the nile ex- peditionary force, 1898; and on both campaigns he wrote books distinguished equally by ability and confident criticism. during the south african war, 1899-1902, he was correspondent for the morning post, london. he was taken prisoner by the boers, but escaped. as war correspondent, author, lecturer and politician he was indefatigable, and when elected conservative m.p. for oldham in 1900 his personality, combined with hereditary interest, made him a fascinating figure in the new parliament. his maiden speech attracted unusual attention. a slight defect of utterance was noted, and against this he had to struggle for many years. he excelled in the set speech elaborately prepared on the classic models, but was not at first a ready speaker, which led lord balfour to say of him once that he carried “‘ heavy but not very mobile guns ” and it was only very much later that he achieved distinction in the cut and thrust of debate. he had a filial reverence for the political memory of his father and his life of lord randolph churchill is one of the best political biographies in the language. it was soon discovered that mr. winston churchill was no more inclined than his father before him to tread the path of party docility. in his first session he opposed mr. brodrick’s scheme of army reorganisation mainly on financial grounds and later mr. joseph chamberlain’s tariff reform campaign afforded a great opportunity for his spirit of revolt. he threw himself into the ranks of the free traders with uncompromising vehemence. when he took the plunge and joined the liberals his former political friends were very embittered. returned as a liberal for north-west manchester at the general election of 1906, he became under-secretary for the colonies in sir h. campbell-bannerman’s govt., and the spokesman of his depart- ment in the house of commons. even at the time of the south african war he had held liberal views about the treat- ment of the dutch, and with sir h. campbell-bannerman’s policy of self-government for the transvaal and orange river colonies, leading up to the federation of south africa, he warmly associated himself. in 1908 he entered the cabinet as president of the board of trade, where, and later at the home office, he developed an eager interest in social legislation, coming strongly under the influence of mr. lloyd george, whose na- tional insurance policy he was to champion with great ardour. he himself carried a trade boards act establishing a minimum wage in certain sweated industries, an act setting up labour exchanges, and a shops act. the old age pensions act and other social measures appealed to him as creating the basis of a system that would give gencral security and comfort to the working classes. by 1909 mr. churchill had become a great power in the liberal party. his platform oratory had a vivacity, a boldness and an epigrammatic quality that stirred popular gatherings. into the conflict that followed the rejection of the budget of mr. lloyd george by the house of lords, he threw himself with characteristic impetuosity and almost persuaded those radicals who had been reluctant to believe in his whole-hearted con- churchill, winston l. 8s. version to their principles. as president of the budget league he was a driving force in the campaign against the lords’ veto on finance. on the question of irish home rule he had also made a definite advance. | but events on a larger stage were shaping themselves to give a new direction to mr. churchill’s career. in july 1911 great britain came into dangerous contact with germany over what was known as the agadirincident. a conflict was avoided, but the german menace now presented itself as a reality to responsible british statesmen. churchill was transferred from the home office to the admiralty, with explicit injunctions laid upon him by the prime minister, mr. asquith, to “ put the fleet into a state of instant and constant readiness for war in case we were attacked by germany ’—a disclosure made at dundee by churchill in june 1915. the reason for mr. churchill’s appoint- ment to the admiralty was that a serious disagreement had arisen between the war office and the admiralty concerning the strategy to be adopted in the event of war and mr. haldane had told mr. asquith that he would resign from the war office unless the admiralty worked in accordance with the war office plans and a naval war staff was created. to that the existing admiralty board and mr. mckenna were opposed and it was therefore one of mr. churchill’s first duties to make a new board. ** he is knocking over the admirals like ninepins,” it was said at the time. the formation of a naval war staff was less easy and years were necessary before it could do its work adequately. later mr. churchill used to wonder whether, at the time of his own appointment, he would not have done well to bring lord fisher back to the admiralty; he was, however, at this time, in constant though not always obedient consultation with the admiral, it was now that the rift between churchill and lloyd george began, for churchill was convinced that war was coming, whereas lloyd george, despite his speech at the mansion house on the agadir crisis, was not. when war did come it found the fleet, owing to the coincidence of the manoeuvres, on a war footing. churchill had done important work in preparing the fleet for war, but the operations of the navy in the first few months of the struggle suffered from the lack of clear and consistent direc- tion which a naval war staff would have supplied. mr. churchill presently found himself the leader of a minority and opposition school of war strategy of which the antwerp expedition and the dardanelles enterprise were the main products. in both cases the strategical conception was not only sound but brilliant, but the forces against their success were too strong, and churchill’s own impatience contributed to their failure. lord fisher in particular, who had been recalled to the admiralty, disliked the dardanelles enterprise and his resignation in may 1915 was one of the causes of the downfall of the liberal govt., including churchill who was succeeded at the admiralty by mr. bal- four. for a few months he remained in office as chancellor of the duchy of lancaster, but resigned on nov. 13 on the ground of his non-inclusion in the new war committee of the cabinet. this step was followed by a lengthy and vigorous speech of personal explanation and vindication in the house of commons, which was a performance of real power and made a great im- pression. denying an improper usurpation of authority while at the admiralty, mr. churchill described the dardanelles ad- venture as a legitimate war gamble. he blamed lord iisher for not speaking out in the war council if he did not approve the operation, declaring at the same time that he had not received from the first sea lord either the clear guidance before the event or the firm support after that he was entitled to expect. after this mr. churchill went on active service. in 1917, on a ministerial reconstruction, he was again on the treasury bench as minister of munitions and became succes- sively secretary for war and air minister. he was secretary for the colonies when peace came. he directed the return of the army to a voluntary basis, but apart from his conspicuous part in the irish settlement he was not in the inner counsels of mr. lloyd george’s second coalition and the close touch with lloyd george, lost when churchill went to the admiralty, was church of england—circus never afterwards renewed. lloyd george disliked his russian policy and the expensive campaigns conducted against the bolshevists under his inspiration. the outward sign of this estrangement was the appointment of sir robert horne instead of mr. churchill to the chancellorship of the exchequer left vacant by the retirement of mr. bonar law. this was probably one of the greatest disappointments of churchill’s career. out of favour with lloyd george and still unpopular with the con- servatives, he was rapidly drifting into extreme insecurity and isolation. the downfall of the coalition which seemed likely to com- plete his political ruin was in fact his salvation. after his rejec- tion by dundee, mr. churchill had a period of retirement, during which he devoted himself to writing, painting and other pursuits. he now published the first volume of the world crisis, a work which did much to dispel popular prejudices against his part in the war. in march 1924 churchill challenged attention by presenting himself as an independent anti-socialist candidate at a by- election in the westminster abbey division. backed by powerful conservative support he polled heavily, but was defeated by the official nominee. the idea of a strong centre party, combin- ing conservatives and liberals against socialism, had appealed strongly to him, but in the following september he was adopted as conservative candidate for the epping division. elected to the house of commons he took his place as chancellor of the ex- chequer in the second baldwin administration. on april 28 1925 he presented his first budget, his proposals including a return to the gold standard, a new duty on silks, a reimposition of the mckenna dutics, provision for pensions for widows and a reduction of the tax on earned incomes, but his ingenuity in the debate was more distinguished than the budget itself. in 19c8 mr. churchill married clementine, daughter of sir ii. m. hozier, k.c.b. (he sr) church of england: see anclicanism.