THE interest at Lausanne is rather increasing. As the Germans were among our best hearers, Brethren Ertzenberger and Conradi, and Sister Robert, lately from America, have come as a reinforcement, while my brother, after having made a profitable stay of four weeks with us, has returned to Italy to push on the work in the valleys of Piedmont.
The aid of colporters comes to us as a blessing from Heaven, and will be a great relief to some who have been placed where they have had to do far too much work. At Lausanne we have four colporters, and the increase of our audience is largely due to their faithful and systematic labors. We are about to take up the Sabbath question. Of course it remains to be seen how many will obey; but we will have the satisfaction of having done all we could.
One new feature is to have our sermons published, and scattered by the thousand. This refreshes the memory of those who have heard, deepens the impressions received, and helps those who have not attended all the lectures, while it saves the speakers the unpleasantness of repeating so much. We are thankful that our facilities for publishing can now prove so serviceable in this and in other respects.
To-morrow, Brother Comte, who has now spent five months with us, will go to Southern France to obtain subscribers for our French paper, sell tracts, and prepare the way for public efforts. He will be accompanied by an Englishman who embraced the truth at Geneva. This brother speaks French, and has spent most of his life in France.
D. T. BOURDEAU.
Geneva, March 16, 1886.
Faith and Obedience
By World's Crisis
FAITH cannot be divorced from obedience. The promises are all conditional and given only to those who “love and keep his commandments.” Love inspires, faith claims, and obedience receives.—World’s Crisis.
THE LAW OF GOD.
The Ten Commandments Delivered to the People.
(Lesson 2.—Sabbath, May 1.)
1. WHAT preparations were required to be made before the Lord came down on Mount Sinai? Read Ex. 19:10-25.
2. Describe the appearance of the mount when the Lord descended upon it.
"And Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire; and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly." Ex. 19:18.
3. By whom was the Lord accompanied?
"And he said, The Lord came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from Mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of his saints; from his right hand went a fiery law for them." Deut. 33:2.
4. For what purpose did he come?
As stated in the verse last quoted, he came for the purpose of giving a law to the people. The preparations which the people were required to make, and the awful majesty attending the giving of the law, were designed to impress the people with a sense of its importance.
5. How did the Lord make known this law to the people?
"And God spake all these words." Ex. 20:1. "And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire; ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice." Deut. 4:12.
6. When the people begged that they might not hear the voice of God any more, how did they afterward receive instruction?
7. Soon afterward what did the Lord say to Moses?
"And the Lord said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there; and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them." Ex. 24:12.
8. How long was Moses in the mount?
"And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount; and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights." Ex. 24:18.
9. When the Lord had finished the instructions which he gave to the people through Moses, what did he give to Moses?
"And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon Mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God." Ex. 31:18.
10. Whose workmanship were the tables?
"And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand; the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written. And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables." Ex. 32:15, 16.
11. How and by whom was the law written on these tables?
12. When Moses saw the people dancing around a golden calf, what did he do with the tables of stone?
"And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing; and Moses's anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount." Ex. 32:19.
13. After the people had been punished for their wickedness, what command did the Lord give Moses?
"At that time the Lord said unto me, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first, and come up unto me into the mount, and make thee an ark of wood." Deut. 10:1.
14. What did the Lord say he would write on these two new tables?
"And I will write on the tables the words that were in the first tables which thou brakest, and thou shalt put them in the ark." Deut. 10:2.
15. Did Moses do as he was commanded?
"And I made an ark of shittim wood, and hewed two tables of stone like unto the first, and went up into the mount, having the two tables in mine hand." Deut. 10:3.
16. What did the Lord then do?
"And he wrote on the tables, according to the first writing, the ten commandments, which the Lord spake unto you in the mount, out of the midst of the fire, in the day of the assembly; and the Lord gave them unto me." Deut. 10:4.
17. What does Moses call that which the Lord wrote on these tables?
18. Then what was it the Lord spoke out of the midst of the fire on the mount?
19. After Moses had rehearsed the ten commandments to the people (Deut. 5:7-21), what did he say to them?
"These words the Lord spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice; and he added no more. And he wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me." Deut. 5:22.
20. If the Lord "added no more," then could anything else than what was on the tables be any part of the ten commandments?
When Moses was in the mount, God gave him two tables of stone made by himself, on which he had graven the "testimony" (Ex. 31:18; 32:15, 16); after these tables had been broken, Moses, at the command of God, went up into the mount, having in his hand two tables like the first (Deut. 10:1-3); on these two tables the Lord wrote the same matter that was on the first two tables, and that was the "ten commandments" (Deut. 10:4). These words, says Moses, "the Lord spake" "in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly;" therefore that which was spoken from Mount Sinai and written on the tables of stone was the ten commandments. Further: Moses, after rehearsing in substance (Deut. 5:7-21) that which is given in full in Ex. 20:1-17, said: "These words the Lord spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice, and he added no more. And he wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me." Deut. 5:22. Therefore we must conclude that nothing that was not written on the tables of stone can form any part of the ten commandments. In other words, the law of God, or ten commandments, is limited to that which God spoke with his own voice, and wrote with his own finger, and which is found, as so spoken and written, in Ex. 20:3-17.
21. Repeat the ten commandments. Repeat the fifth, the second, the eighth, the third, the sixth, the ninth, the fourth.
Worship in Spirit and Truth
OUR worship must correspond to the reality of God's nature; it must be in spirit and in truth. Otherwise it cannot reach him; otherwise it cannot satisfy us.—Half Hours.
Renouncing Sin
By T. Adams
I AM often thinking whether I renounce sin upon right grounds. Do I renounce it upon any? —Rev. T. Adams.
A Troublesome Boy.
"Ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath; but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." Eph. 6:4.
"LANE has been making us trouble again. I dislike to tell you, but what can we do with him?"
Mrs. Houston stood by the gate, with the tears running down her cheeks, as her husband, after an absence of a day and a night, drove up to his house.
"What is it now?" he asked, alighting from his wagon, and going to his wife's side, with a dark, discouraged look settling down upon his face.
"Oh, that poor boy sold his watch that his grandfather gave him, to procure one of those little pocket revolvers that are so temptingly advertised in our papers. He got angry at his sisters this morning, and presently hearing him say in a loud voice, 'Take care there, or I will draw my seven-shooter on you!' I entered the room to find him standing on one of the chairs, brandishing a loaded revolver, and pointing it at the girls' heads. I commanded him as calmly as I could to go to his room; but the scene gave my nerves such a shock that I have been in a tremble ever since!"
"He obeyed you, did he not?"
"He refused to give up the murderous little weapon, but left the parlor for his room, saying that he had got the best of this family now, and would bring them all to terms before he got through with this quarrel. I have been momentarily expecting that he would shoot himself, or some one of the family, and have listened for the report of the revolver till I am quite unnerved. I am thankful that you have come; but do not, I entreat you, go near the desperate boy until his paroxysm of temper has had time to subside."
"We shall have to send him to the Reform School," said Mr. Houston decidedly. "His offenses heretofore have been grave enough to send him to a worse place. I will have lunch, and then immediately start for M—— on the twelve o'clock train. Oh, it is hard, it is humiliating beyond measure, to be obliged to acknowledge to the world that I have a son whose conduct is such as to bring him within the statutory provisions concerning commitments to the Reform School."
Mr. Houston returned from his mournful errand just in time for the six o'clock dinner. When he went to his room to make his toilet, his wife followed him.
"What is the result of your journey?" she asked, as soon as they were alone.
Her husband looked so distressed that she began to tremble again; and when he attempted to reply, it was some moments before he could command his voice, or find words to make himself intelligible.
"The superintendent of the school, a very pleasant, agreeable man, and a Christian, to whom I had confided, some time since, my anxiety in regard to Lane, listened to this new trouble with a grave sympathy which quite won my heart. When I had finished speaking, he said, 'Yes, Mr. Houston, you must have him sent here by all means. He needs the discipline of this institution. But before definite arrangements are made, I want to ask you one question. You say he has always been a hard case to manage; that you have tried every way to effect his reformation; that love, fear, and force have all been employed in the premises; and that you have even tried to hire him to alter his behavior, paying him a certain sum of money per day so long as he should commit no misdeed; but all these measures have failed. Now I want to know whether you have tried praying with him?'"
"No," said I, very much taken by surprise. "I have never thought of doing that."
"Well," said the superintendent, "you must go home and pray with him. I don't feel as if I could receive him here, or have anything to do with the case, until the power of prayer at his home, and that in his presence, has been tried."
"I cannot pray before my family," I said.
"What! you a church-member, and do not have family prayer?" he replied.
"No, sir," was my answer, very deeply humiliated by the confession.
"Go home and set up a family altar tonight," he said.
"I cannot," I pleaded. "I have not the courage to broach the matter, even to my wife. We never speak upon the subject of religion."
"It is high time you take up this cross, if a cross it is," he urged. "How can you expect that son to submit his will to yours when you do not submit your will to the Master? To-night at nine o'clock, call your family together, read a chapter from the word of God, and lead in prayer. At that time my wife and I will go into our closets and pray for you all, especially for Lane. Let us now take the Lord Jesus into our council."
"I came away upon that. But what am I to do about it? I don't know. I can never pray aloud in the presence of my family."
"Dear husband," replied Mrs. Houston, sobbing, "I have been thinking for a long time that we are shirking our duty in this direction. Do not have any more misgivings about it, do not hesitate another moment. I will arrange everything this evening—never fear. The Lord will pardon us, let us hope, and give us strength when the hour arrives."
"Has Lane been down-stairs since?" asked the father, himself moved to tears.
"No; and he has had nothing to eat, and no one has spoken to him since breakfast."
"What if he should start to go down town to spend the evening?"
"I have a plan which I think will keep him at home to-night."
On his way down-stairs Mr. Houston went to his son's door and called in a pleasant voice, "Come, my son, dinner is waiting." Lane quickly opened the door, with his hair freshly brushed, and neatly attired. He had dressed for dinner, although expecting, should he try the door, he would find it still locked upon the outside, and not doubting that he was to be again put upon a protracted diet of bread and water.
He came down-stairs, wondering on the way if it were possible that his father, in this controversy, had espoused his cause against his mother; or whether, as it seemed most likely to him, the possession of the vicious little fire-arm had indeed brought them all to "terms."
Lane was given to stealing out of the house in the evenings, and frequenting questionable resorts in company with boys who were nearly as wayward as himself; but to-night Mrs. Houston forestalled any such course by saying, as soon as dinner was over: "I wish, children, you would make two or three panfuls of pop-corn balls, to carry to the charity festival to-morrow. The materials are all ready, and, Lane, you must superintend the popping of the corn, and the preparation of the molasses and sugar."
This was one of the lad's favorite pastimes, and he went about the business in hand with alacrity, his brothers and sisters obeying his many orders, glad to have this new outbreak blow over without developing into a regular warfare between him and his father.
When eight and a half o'clock came, Mrs. Houston was called out into the kitchen to see the result of the evening's labors.
"Thank you, my good children," she said. "They are as nice, and white, and round, as any that could be made by the confectioners themselves. Now wash up, so as to be in the parlor when the clock strikes nine; there is something else pleasant in store for you."
The young people obeyed, wondering and eager. At nine o'clock, precisely, their mother folded up the day's newspapers, put them in the large wall-pocket, and brought a Bible and placed it upon the reading-table.
Mr. Houston's voice trembled a little as he said: "It has been brought very forcibly to my mind to-day, that I have been shamefully neglecting my duty and the highest welfare of you, my children, in not joining with you in the study of this blessed word, and in family prayer. To-night we will begin a different course, and see whether we shall not all be made happier and better by following it." He now read a chapter, and then knelt down. His wife and children followed his example, all except Lane. He sat bolt upright, with a stern, pale face, and perturbed air, now and then casting quick glances toward the door, as if meditating an escape.
The poor father at first could find no words to express his conflicting thoughts, and deep, prayerful desires; but as he called to mind his friends, the superintendent and his wife, on their knees in prayer for him at that very moment, his stammering tongue was unloosed, and his unburdened soul found wonderful freedom at the throne of grace. As he was closing a most tender and pathetic appeal in behalf of his erring son, and that all might submit their rebellious wills to Christ's loving sovereignty, Lane arose from his chair, crossed the room, and, kneeling by his father's side, threw his arm around his father's neck; sobbing: "Pray on, father! pray on! I have tried to ask God to cleanse my wicked heart; but I could not seem to reach him by myself. I know he will hear me now, when you are willing to pray with me."
Lane was completely subdued. The leaven of repentance and faith toward God had worked entire reformation and healing. He stepped up to the table, and laid the loaded revolver upon it near his father's side. "It is I who have been brought to terms," he said. "I don't think you will have any more trouble with Lane. Forgive, oh, forgive me, my father and mother, and brothers and sisters, as I hope in the forgiveness of Jesus Christ!"—American Tract Society.
The Home Circle.
By Marianne Farningham
"THE BURDEN."
To EVERY one on earth
God gives a burden to be carried down
The road that lies between the cross and crown;
No lot is wholly free;
He giveth one to thee.
Some carry it aloft,
Open and visible to any eyes;
And all may see its form and weight and size;
Some hide it in their breast,
And deem it thus unguessed.
Thy burden is God's gift,
And it will make the bearer calm and strong;
Yet, lest it press too heavily and long,
He says, Cast it on me,
And it shall easy be.
And those who heed his voice,
And seek to give it back in trustful prayer,
Have quiet hearts that never can despair;
And hope lights up the way
Upon the darkest day.
Take thou thy burden thus
Into thy hands, and lay it at his feet,
And whether it be sorrow or defeat,
Or pain, or sin, or care,
Upon the darkest day.
It is the lonely load
That crushes out the life and light of Heaven;
But born with him, the soul restored, forgiven,
Sings out through all the days
Her joy, and God's high praise.
—Marianne Farningham.
The Weight of Florida Ironwood
Florida iron-wood, when seasoned, is thirty per cent. heavier than water.
Regularity in Eating.
By Dio Lewis
IF there is one table law about which all persons are agreed it is that our meals should be taken at stated and regular periods. People may differ about vegetarianism, about sweets, about pies and cakes, about tea and coffee, but I have never met a person who would insist that regularity was of no consequence—that it was just as well to take two meals to-day and five to-morrow, to take dinner at one o'clock to-day and three to-morrow and five the next day. Without understanding the physiological law, all are agreed that regularity is important. A long journey by rail does not derange the stomach because of sitting in an unventilated car, for the traveler may occupy a still worse place in the pursuit of his business at home; neither is it because of the character of the food furnished at the railway lunch-rooms, for the food at home is often worse; but the stomach
derangement which nearly always comes with the long railway trip is, in great part, to be traced to irregularity in the times of eating. In a recent trip we took breakfast the first morning at half-past nine o'clock, the next at seven, and so with the other meals; one day we had no dinner at all. When we reached San Francisco, we were all suffering from indigestion; some were conscious of no discomfort in the stomach, but not one of us escaped the dullness and depression of spirits which come of imperfect digestion. Among the table laws, this one of regularity is pre-eminently important.—Dio Lewis.
Pictured Rocks.
A MORGANTOWN, W. Va., letter says: "The famous pictured rocks on the Evansville pike, about four miles from this place, have been a source of wonder and speculation for more than half a century, and have attracted much attention among the learned men of this country and Europe. The cliff upon which these drawings exist is of considerable size and within a short distance of those above mentioned. The rock is a white sandstone, which wears little from the exposure to the weather, and upon its smooth surface are delineated the outlines of at least fifty species of birds, reptiles, and fish, embracing in the number panthers, deer, buffalo, otters, beavers, wildcats, foxes, wolves, raccoons, opossums, bears, elk, crows, eagles, turkeys, eels, various sorts of fish, large and small, snakes, etc. In the midst of this silent menagerie of specimens of the animal kingdom is the full-length outline of a female form, beautiful and perfect in every respect. Interspersed among the drawings of animals, etc., are imitations of the foot-prints of each sort, the whole space occupied being one hundred and fifty feet long by fifty feet wide. To what race the artist belonged, or what his purpose was in making these rude portraits, must ever remain a mystery, but the work was evidently done ages ago."—Baltimore Sun.
Salt Lakes.
IN THE Murghab Valley, Afghanistan, are two lakes of solid salt, which Captain Yate has ridden over and described. One, from which the Tekke-Turkomans of Merv get their supplies of salt, is in a valley about six miles square, which is surrounded by a steep, almost precipitous descent, impassable for baggage-animals except by a single road. The bed of the lake, which is about 1,430 feet above the sea, is one solid mass of hard salt, perfectly level, and covered by only an inch or two of water. To ride over it was like riding over ice or cement. The bottom was covered with a slight sediment, but when that was scraped away, the pure white salt shone out below. No one has ever got to the bottom of the deposit. The second lake is the one from which the Saryks of Penjdeh take their salt, and is about 800 feet above the sea. The salt in this lake is not so smooth as in the other one and does not look so pure. It is dug out in flakes or strata, generally of some four inches in thickness, and is loaded into bags and carried off without further preparation.—Popular Science Monthly.
Health and Temperance.
The Curse of the Home.
A GROCERY pass-book was picked up in Toledo, Ohio, without its cover, and as the owner was unknown, it was carried to the Blade. That paper prints four pages of it, supposed to be two weeks' purchases. It evidently belonged to a working man, and had 69 entries, amounting to $10.69, of which 62 items are whisky, beer, and drinks, amounting to $4.35, and 7 for tobacco, 35 cents. Five dollars out of $10.69 was wasted by this man for drinks and tobacco. The other 30 items are 2 for flour, at $1.63 each, and the others are jelly, syrup, butter, lard, herring, etc., in sums of 5 to 22 cents, and for the child or children a doll, 7 cents, and raisins, 6 cents.
"Is there any argument for the damnable rum traffic that can stand for a moment in the sight of such a showing—one which is simply representative of uncounted others in all the cities and towns of our land? What is there so sacred in rum that it must be allowed to continue its hellish work of making men insensible to the needs of wife and children, deliberately brutalizing and ruining themselves day by day, steadily sinking deeper into the horrid pit which shall sooner or later engulf them? What is there in this damnable business that men should be allowed to follow it? The rum seller is the first lieutenant of the devil. He daily and hourly tempts men to barter their souls for rum. He tempts them to exchange their manhood for the direst and most hopeless form of slavery. He casts over them a spell more terrible than that of Circe; for she only turned men into beasts, but rum turns them into demons. Under its malign influence, a man's duty, a husband's love, a father's care, are all swallowed up in a scorching, burning, God-accursed thirst. To satisfy that red-hot blast from hell, when he feels it, a man will leave his wife to starve and his children to perish. And the rum seller cares not, so long as his victim has money to buy the brewery slop and distillery poison which he sells. He has already mortgaged his soul to the devil a thousand-fold, and the misery, want, and suffering that his accursed trade causes, affect him not, if only he can acquire wealth.
There is one remedy, and only one. There is one way to save the spell-bound victims of the drink demon, and but one. It is not by license, it is not by restriction, but it is by prohibition. Prohibit the manufacture and sale, and wipe out these plague-spots, the rum holes, from the fair face of the earth. Stop the tide of misery, and suffering, and degradation by drying up the fountain whence it flows. Stop the manufacture, destroy the product, close the saloons, punish to the uttermost the men who dare to violate the law in the slightest. This is the remedy. It is the only practical, effective way in which to pulverize the rum power.
Drink as the Cause of Crime
By Lord Chief Justice Coleridge
JUDGES are weary with calling attention to drink as the principal cause of crime; but I cannot refrain from saying that if they could make England sober, they would shut up nine-tenths of the prisons.—Lord Chief Justice Coleridge.
Do Not Marry a Man Who Drinks.
ONE of the most idle day-dreams a young lady ever indulges, is that she may marry an unprincipled, intemperate young man, and by her influence reform him. Very likely he holds out such promises. But if your influence is not operative before, it will never be afterwards. It is a sufficiently dangerous risk to marry even a reformed man, but to take such reformation "on trust" is almost fatal to all home happiness. The wife of a drinking man leads a life of wretchedness, whether in a palace or a hut. How anxiously Mrs. L—, from her princely home in the next block, watches for her husband's return each day! With what solicitude she questions his office boy if he has been at the hotel that morning, or if such and such brother lawyers have been in; for that she knows would be the signal for a social glass together. She trembles for life and limb when he goes out to ride with his spirited horse, for past hair-breadth escapes have given sufficient warning.
It is the same worry that goes on in many poorer houses about, which are cursed by the same fiend. No matter how charming the manner or how fair are the promises of a young man, he will deceive and blight your heart if he is only a moderate drinker. Love throws a glamour over your eyes, and you can never believe that the one you trust could become harsh and repulsive in manner; still, consult with prudence, and calmly review the history of many you have known. Listen patiently to the counsel of parents, for you will live long before you will find any who have so sincere a regard for your best interests. It is a risk, indeed, to marry one against whom such a friend as a mother has warned you.
Minnie C— was a willful girl, who would accept the attentions of dashing Fred W—, no matter what her parents said. She would marry him, too, "if only in spite." She had been married a year or two when I knew her, and she was then living in a little old carpenter's shop, supporting herself and husband by sewing. I awoke one night to hear a loud, angry voice on the street, and on looking from the window, saw two forms in the light. The woman's figure was wrapped in a long waterproof, but the man's voice was easily distinguished. He was bitterly cursing his wife, who was following him back from the rum shop, quite beyond the village limits. As I looked, he hurled a brick savagely at her. She stepped aside and avoided the blow. The next missile was a billet of wood, which she also avoided. The bitter words were hurled like hailstones, and finally poor Minnie turned away and retraced her steps into the darkness, while Fred shuffled on toward the saloon. So much for marrying a man who drank, though his "style" was attractive and his tongue most glib and plausible.—Sel.
A Word to Boys.
By Horace Mann
You are made to be kind, boys, generous, magnanimous.
If there is a boy in school who has a club-foot, don't let him know you ever saw it.
If there is a poor boy with ragged clothes, don't talk about rags in his hearing.
If there is a lame boy, assign him some part in the game that doesn't require running.
If there is a hungry one, give him part of your dinner.
If there is a dull one, help him learn his lesson.
If there is a bright one, be not envious of him; for if one boy is proud of his talents, and another is envious of them, there are two great wrongs, and no more talent than before.
If a larger or stronger boy has injured you, and is sorry for it, forgive him. All the school will show by their countenances how much better it is than to have a great fuss.—Horace Mann.
A Mother’s Debt
"It is only," said a mother, lately, "since my own children speak to me with rudeness and contempt, that I understand how great was the debt which I owed to my mother, and how poorly I paid it."
SECULAR.
—Small-pox is reported at Longuiville, Canada.
—Seventy-six Apache prisoners have been sent to Fort Marion, Florida.
—Caleb W. West, of Kentucky, has been appointed governor of Utah.
—The emperor of Japan has sent $500 as a contribution to the Grant monument fund.
—The king of Greece and his ministers have issued an order to abandon war preparations.
—It is stated that ninety per cent. of the pre-emption and homestead entries, during the last five years, in New Mexico, are of a fraudulent nature, and by this means hired perjurers, cattle barons, and land-grabbers have secured whole counties.
—The loss by fire in the United States is estimated at $300,000 per day.
—An order has been issued forbidding the circulation of Anarchist publications in the Belgium army.
—April 6 the English steamship Brinkburn was lost off Cape Henlopen. The vessel and cargo were valued at $180,000.
—Senator Dolph's bill for the admission of Washington Territory passed the Senate on the 10th inst. by a vote of 30 to 13.
—The New York Senate has passed by an almost unanimous vote the bill annulling the charter of the Broadway Surface Railway.
—The provisions of the United States land laws have never been extended to Alaska, and no land titles can be acquired in that territory.
—Prince Alexander has yielded to the Powers, and will accept of the governorship of Roumelia for a period of five years, instead of for life.
—Statistics show that insanity is decreasing in California. In 1876 the number of insane persons was 1 in 950 of the population, but in 1885 only 1 in 1,300.
—The view taken by the Mexican Government relative to killing Captain Crawford is that the Mexican soldiers mistook our troops for hostile Apaches.
—April 7 an express train on the Fitchburg Railroad in Massachusetts was thrown down an embankment two hundred feet high, and a number of passengers were killed.
—Ex-alderman W. H. Miller, of New York, was arrested in Florida, April 9, on a charge of bribery in connection with the Broadway Surface Railway franchise.
—Laredo, Mexico, was, on the 8th inst., the scene of a bloody political riot. Revolvers and Winchester rifles were freely used, and a number of persons were killed and others wounded.
—The schooner Bita, from Halifax, was wrecked on the coast of Plum Island, Mass., on the 7th inst. Of her eight passengers two children were lost. The others, though suffering intensely from cold, were saved. The crew escaped.
—The Pemberton Mills, at Lawrence, Mass., caught fire April 10, and a number of firemen stationed themselves on the roof of the mill adjoining. Their weight was too great; the roof gave way, and the firemen went down with it. Ten persons were buried in the ruins, including four firemen. A number of others were badly injured.
—About four o'clock on the morning of the 7th inst. the steamer State of California was run into by the barkentine Portland, a few miles outside of the Golden Gate. A large hole was cut in the steamer's side down to the water line, and the barkentine was also seriously damaged. Neither vessel sunk, however, and no lives were lost. The damage to the steamer is estimated at $15,000.
—In an able speech in the House of Commons, on the 8th inst., Gladstone made a statement of his plan for the future government of Ireland, and introduced a bill to carry the measure into effect. The bill provides for an Irish Parliament at Dublin, to consist of two Houses; the first to have 103 members and the second 206. The Parnelites will support the main features of the bill; but it is meeting with much bitter opposition in England, and it is doubtful if the measure can secure a majority in Parliament.
—The great strike in East St. Louis and on the Missouri Pacific Railroad still continues, and though some trains are moving, but little is really being done in the way of handling and transporting freight. April 9 a serious collision occurred in East St. Louis between the mob and a party of eight deputy sheriffs who were guarding a freight train and were armed with Winchester rifles. The mob assailed the officers with sticks and stones, whereupon the deputies fired two volleys into the crowd, instantly killing four men, and fatally wounding several others, including one woman. Great excitement prevails, and Governor Oglesby has ordered out eleven companies of militia to preserve order. A fight also took place on the same day at Argenta, Ark., between a sheriff's posse and a band of strikers. About a hundred shots were exchanged, and several on both sides were wounded. The night of the 9th a large amount of railroad property, cars, etc., was burned in East St. Louis by the strikers. The situation is very grave.
Widows in India.
Too much cannot be said to arouse Christians in every land to an appreciation of the sad condition of widows in India. The sympathies and prayers of all lovers of their race should be given to this unfortunate class of our fellow-beings. Official statistics show that in all India there are not less than twenty-one millions of widows, a number which is more than five times the population of the New England States. We can have little conception in this Christian land of the sufferings endured by these poor creatures, especially by the child-widows. There are hundreds of thousands of these child-widows, who have never left their father's homes, but who are esteemed cursed, and are saluted with opprobrious epithets, simply because some old man or boy to whom they were betrothed, and whom possibly they never saw, has died. The Hindu belief is that the gods hate these widows, and hence any act of kindness shown to them will be an offense to the malignant deities, who may vent their wrath on the person who does the kindness. Men are expected to hate "the vile things," as the gods have done. They are to be exiles from society, to sit on the ground, to fast twenty-four hours twice a month, never singing, nor laughing, nor joining in any social festivity. Their life is so bitter that it is not to be wondered at that many of them regret that the English have abolished their old custom of suttee, in accordance with which they might be burned on the funeral pyres of their dead husbands. But the Hindus themselves are beginning to appreciate the cruelty of their treatment of widows, and organizations have been formed to favor their remarriage. Some Brahmins and persons of high caste have encouraged the practice by personal example, and have married widows of lower caste than themselves. This change of sentiment will bring relief to myriads of our fellow-beings.—Missionary Herald.
News and Notes.
By Editor
RELIGIOUS.
—Mr. Cook hopes that the time will soon come when Christians will control daily newspapers of their own.
—The German Lutheran congregation of Grüneburg, Prussia, insists that the sermons shall be at least one hour long.
—Within two years, twenty Methodist missions have been planted in Chicago, and eleven new churches have been erected.
—Says Dr. Harper: "Fill a man with a knowledge of Bible events, Bible thoughts, and Bible expression, and he will be well filled." So we say.
—The fact that Sam Jones has recently quit the use of tobacco will do more to convince people of his sincerity as a Christian than will all his sermons.
—The Toronto Presbytery has decided to correspond with the Presbyterian Church in the United States, with a view to international action towards minimizing Sunday railroad work.
—Dr. Howard Crosby says: "Our pulpits are in danger of forgetting the inspired word, and putting in its place the vagaries of pulpit philosophers, and the smart allusions of voluble orators."
—The number of Jews in the world is about 8,000,000. One hundred thousand Jews have accepted Christianity since the beginning of the century, though only about 270 missionaries have been employed among them, and 300 Jews are now ministers of the gospel. The British and Foreign Bible Society has circulated among them more than 1,000,000 copies of Hebrew Scripture since its beginning.
—The decrees of the Plenary Council held in Baltimore, in 1884, have just been published in Latin. We have seen but few extracts from the book, but one strikes us very favorably. The Council directs that all worldly, irreligious, and sensual strains be excluded from divine worship. "Those productions also which mangle the words of the sacred liturgy, and which, by indefinite repetitions, render the hymns and psalms meaningless, are not to be tolerated; but the music must be of such a stamp as to elevate the soul and aid it in its efforts to unite itself with its Creator." That is a sound principle, and Protestant denominations would do well to heed it.
—"The study of Bible history is not a study concerning the Bible, but of the Bible. The Bible is full of history. The study of this history is, in the strictest sense, Bible study. Yet, in many institutions, this work is entirely omitted, it being thought wiser to occupy the time of the student in a careful and exhaustive study of all the schisms and heresies of the early church. The Old Testament is made up largely of prophecy; the New Testament is largely, indeed, the fulfillment of this prophecy. Yet not one student in twenty leaves the seminary with even a respectable knowledge of the facts of prophecy or the principles which regulate these facts; while in the mind of the ordinary minister, there is a dimness and a haziness about this subject which renders it, in their estimation, a far-away thing, and unapproachable. The same, in substance, may be said of other departments. How many students have considered those questions which a Bible interpreter must ask and must answer concerning the age, authorship, general purpose, and particular teachings of even a few of the more important books of the Bible? If the Bible is the minister's hand-book, why is he not taught to handle it?"—Old Testament Student.