DEAR SIGNS OF THE TIMES: The steam-ship on which the missionaries for Africa have taken passage left London last Wednesday, July 6. We had a pleasant run to Dartmouth, England, which we left Friday noon. We are now off Lisbon, Portugal, which we are to leave sometime this afternoon. This is the last stop which we are supposed to make before arriving at Cape Town, Africa.
From Dartmouth the sea has been quite rough, as we are told it is apt to be across the Bay of Biscay, and all of our company have been seasick. We are told that from here onward it will be likely to be much more smooth; but be this as it may, we trust in God that our trip will be a safe and prosperous one, and that he in whose vineyard we go to labor, will guard us from all danger and harm.
We go with good courage, believing there are many honest souls in "benighted Africa" who will gladly receive Christ as their Saviour, under the proclamation of the Third Angel's Message; and that as God and the church have called us to this work, he will strengthen us for the work, if we will only be so closely connected with the Vine as to constantly draw strength and nourishment therefrom. We ask the prayers and co-operation of those who love Christ and his truth.
CHAS. L. BOYD.
On Board S. S. Harwarden Castle, July 11.
ADMONITIONS TO PRAYER.
(Sabbath, August 27.)
1. WHAT seems to be the essential element of prayer?—The yearning of the heart for God.
2. What did David say, when filled with this yearning?
"As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God." Ps. 42:1.
"O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee; my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is."
4. What does this yearning lead him to do?
"Thus will I bless thee while I live; I will lift up my hands in thy name." Verse 4.
5. How does Job express the same strong desire?
"Oh that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat!" Job 23:3.
6. For what purpose does he desire to come so near to God?
"I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments." Verse 4.
7. How does he express a desire to know the will of God concerning him?
"I would know the words which he would answer me, and understand what he would say unto me." Verse 5.
8. By what words does the prophet Hosea give a sweet invitation to prayer?—"Take with you words, and turn to the Lord." Hosea 14:2.
9. How is the invitation repeated through the apostle Paul?—"In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God." Phil. 4:6.
10. How general is this invitation?—"I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting." 1 Tim. 2:8.
11. How are we warned against putting off the work of seeking God by prayer?—"Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near." Isa. 55:6.
12. What danger is implied in this scripture?—That the time may come when our prayers will not be heard.Prov. 1:28.
13. When David had brought up the ark from the house of Obed-edom, how did he admonish the people to pray?—"Give thanks unto the Lord, call upon his name." 1 Chron. 16:8.
14. How did he exhort to faithfulness and constancy in this exercise?—"Seek the Lord and his strength, seek his face continually." Verse 11.
15. How is the same thing urged through the apostle Paul?—"Continue in prayer" (Col. 4:2); "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thess. 5:17).
16. To what end did our Lord give a parable on one occasion?
"And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint." Luke 18:1.
17. Relate the parable.
"Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man; and there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man, yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me." Verses 2-5.
18. What lesson may be learned from this?—That if the unjust judge would yield to the importunity of one whom he did not love, the compassionate Father of all will answer the prayers of his children, though for their good the answer may be delayed.
19. Against what is prayer recommended as a safeguard?—Against falling under temptation.Matt. 26:41.
20. How did the Saviour especially enforce this thought during the hour of trial just before he was betrayed?
"And said unto them, Why sleep ye? rise and pray, lest ye enter into temptation." Luke 22:46.
21. What strong motive to prayer is urged by our Saviour upon those who are to witness the signs of the last days?
"Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man." Luke 21:36.
22. What admonition does he give to those who shall see heaven and earth pass away?
"Take ye heed, watch and pray; for ye know not when the time is." Mark 13:33.
23. Since the end of all things is at hand, what exhortation is especially applicable to us?
"But the end of all things is at hand; be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer." 1 Pet. 4:7.
24. Upon whom is the wrath of God to be finally poured out?—Upon the families that call not upon the name of the Lord.Jer. 10:25.
FAMILY WORSHIP.
THE advantages of regular family worship cannot be overestimated. God's blessing is promised upon the families that call upon his name, and to have this is to be rich, whatever be the other circumstances. Apart from this chief good there are also blessings that come upon the household that daily gathers to worship God. The members of the family are bound together as they would not otherwise be, and the precious memories of the family altar linger while life lasts. There is here brought into the life that sense of eternal things and of an eternal Father which is necessary to make living in this world of material things safe. There is an elevation of tone that would not otherwise come into the family. There is a spirit of obedience that would not otherwise be engendered. There are no drawbacks whatever to the influences for good that come in the training of devout, regular family worship. The best image of Heaven which this earth can afford is found when a household is gathered to learn God's will from his holy word, to raise the song of praise in honor of this name, and to hold communion with him in prayer. Every family can thus breathe the air of Heaven every day.—Illustrated Christian Weekly.
The Nature of Reformation
REFORMATION does not consist in an exchange of one sin for another, but in the renunciation of all sins.
The Wages of Sin
It is undoubtedly true that the gospel of Christ is a gospel of love and good-will to man. And yet it is not the less true that "the wages of sin is death," that "sin when it is finished bringeth forth death," and that "the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness." God still remains "a consuming fire" to all who disobey his law and reject his grace.—Selected.
ABOVE THE TIMBER.
Just at the upper edge of timber is situated the horse camp, where the tired and hungry animals are picketed, like their human comrades, for a shivery and uncomfortable night. This point is usually reached about 4 P. M. The time till dark goes in preparation for the night, which is generally spent in sleeplessness and discomfort. As a combined result of the novelty of the situation, the attendant excitement, the cold, the tonic effect of the high altitude (here about 9,000 feet), and the supernatural brilliancy of the open heavens above his pillow, the average person is not likely to sleep at all. It is best to rise as early as 2 o'clock, and to get off on the long morning's climb not later than 3. The wise mountaineer will put a check upon his morning appetite, if he happens to have one, and take nothing more solid for breakfast than a cup of coffee and a bowl of beef tea. The unwise one will do as he sees fit, and most likely suffer for it all day long. It is prudent, also, to carry along a canteen of beef tea and a spirit lamp. Also ordinary cold tea or coffee and crackers will be found helpful. Under no circumstances do any kind of spirits help at all. They hinder. Apart from all questions of what these articles are capable of doing on the lower levels, it is a well-demonstrated fact that at an altitude of 10,000 feet and upwards they contribute only weakness and unsteadiness. The man who can't get up without them can't go up at all.
For the swiftest climbers the time from the horse camp to the summit will be about four and a half hours. For others, all the way from six hours to eight and eighteen. The distance to be covered is about five miles; the elevation to be ascended, 5,000 feet. The start is always exhilarating. The morning is clear and cool. There is no wind. The mercury stands at thirty-two degrees. The atmosphere is sharp, crisp, and bracing. The fever of the past night is calmed. The loss of sleep is not noticed yet, although it will be exceedingly noticeable before the day is ended. The pulse is stirred, with the unaccustomed climber, into something of that same feeling with which soldiers go into battle. The challenge of a great undertaking is upon him.
ON THE LAVA.
Over loose blocks of lava, with guide in advance, the dusky cavalcade takes its way. The stones ring out under the feet, in the frosty air, with a sharp, metallic clang. Like long white arms the down-reaching fields of snow beckon the climber, their upper portion lost in the darkness. Silence holds all the company for a time. Then, in a kind of spontaneous reaction from the oppressiveness of the situation, all hands begin to shout and sing. Jokes and quips set in. As soon as the first long serpentine tongue of snow is reached there is a shout and scamper along the line. Of brief duration, however, is such hilarity. The brisk exercise in this rare and rapidly rarefying atmosphere is beginning to tell upon heart and lungs. These organs labor furiously. Pretty soon the man ahead or behind is discovered sitting down with but slender regard to the nature of the seat he occupies. We are now at an altitude of some 11,000 or 12,000 feet.
By daylight the broad snow-field is reached and the real business of the day begins. At an angle ranging from thirty to forty-five degrees the hard, crisp, glittering snow stretches upward for two miles or more. It is ice rather than snow. Yesterday afternoon at 2 o'clock the surface was somewhat soft and will be so again under the full rays of the sun this afternoon. But at this present moment it is so hard as to make the footing difficult. Our company made a solemn compact yesterday to keep together. They are beginning already to break the compact. The swifter-footed are growing impatient with this snail's pace. The sittings down occur at briefer intervals, the halts grow more and more protracted. The weaker-kneed are growing less sanguine of success. Then comes the inevitable crisis when some member shall give out. It is almost always a man who does this and not a woman. This event occurs usually about an hour or so after sunrise. The warm rays bring a delicious sense of comfort first to the benumbed fingers, as if bags of eider-down had been bound around them, then gradually diffuses itself through the whole system. To this succeeds an almost irresistible drowsiness. Apart from the awfulness of being left alone on this desolate height, one could easily choose to sink down upon the hard snow and sleep. And the horrible thirst! Lips are parched, and jaws and tongue and throat. Now is the time for a few swallows of cold tea and a slowly munched cracker to start again the checked salivary secretions. But woe to the unfortunate wight who yields to the temptation of snow-eating. However, almost everyone does yield to it. All cautions to the contrary go for nothing. One is sure he'll die if he don't slake this consuming thirst; he can only die if he does eat snow to slake it with. And so he fevers his burning mouth and throat still more. With some a serious nausea like seasickness begins to be experienced. With others the lips turn a black purple, and the nostrils and the ears. It fairly seems as though the blood would spurt through them. A man can know now to a dead certainty what condition of lungs and heart he is in. Some have learned it to their serious and life-long cost.
From various causes, one after another, to a third of our party of a dozen, succumb. A few, with revived courage, presently come on; others descend ignominiously to the horse camp, where at noon we shall find them, all prepared to demonstrate that they could easily enough have done the thing if they had chosen, but that it was out of this or that highly prudential consideration purely they forbore.
A HARD PULL.
Meantime the sturdy ones are beginning to encounter the only really formidable objective part of the whole ascent. The path leads across a steeply-inclined ravine of snow and ice, topped a half mile higher by a cliff of loose concrete. The water trickles over the face of this cliff at midday, slacking somewhat the cement which binds the small mass together. The next night's freeze presses many small bowlders and other stones out of their bed. Then when next morning's sun shines bright upon them the frost's hold is broken and the stones come tumbling off the face of the cliff and go rolling and bouncing at a furious rate down the mountain. It is for half an hour or so, at some times in the summer, a really sharp bombardment. Some of the stones are of quite good size and attain a fearful velocity in their descent. Some which are thinnish and flat go whizzing edge-wise past the dismayed pilgrim with a noise like a big buzz-saw, fairly fanning his face with their wind and sending off upon him showers of fragments like to inky hailstones. It is for only a few moments that one is exposed to the enfilading bombardment, however. But those few moments, it is needless to remark, are devoted strictly to business and not at all to either sight-seeing or making notes.
After some three hours' sharp work the advance climbers have—while the rest are straggling all the way along for a mile below—reached a huge protuberance of rock which stands out on the sky-line of the mountain, and is called the Thumb. This point is the Rubicon of the trip. This being reached and passed most persons get courage to push on to the final peak, 1,500 feet higher in altitude and about a mile and a half in distance. The views begin now to be superb. They are, in fact, better from the lower points like this than from the summit. From that great height everything is flattened under the eyes. All detail is largely lost. The vast width of view is indeed most impressive at the top; but from the Thumb the details of river, hill, mountain, and valley, are very clear cut and well defined. The view takes in Lassen's butte, eighty miles to the south, the Marysville butte, still further away, with glimpses of the tawny Sacramento Valley beyond. Scott Mountains stand in front, with the Salmon, Castle Rock, and various minor ranges. At the far east loom the Sierra Nevadas, and a wide vista opens over Eastern Oregon away into Washington Territory. Captain Jack's old stamping-ground, the lava beds, lies not very far away in the foreground, while Lake Klamath, Goose, and Tule Lakes gleam like silver509shields in the fair morning light. Closer still at hand are glimpses of the beautiful McCloud and Strawberry Valleys. The latter nestles green, warm, and lovely 10,000 feet below us; while beyond, casting their shadow over the emerald lobe which they nourish, rise the picturesque Castle Rocks. It is a prospect never to be forgotten, and amply rewards all the labor and inconvenience involved in gaining it.
The Home Circle.
By Editor
CLIMBING SHASTA.
THE following description of the ascent of Mount Shasta, California's most famous, though not highest, mountain, is by Rev. J. K. McLean, D. D., pastor of the First Congregational Church, Oakland, and is copied from the Oakland Tribune. We are sure that it will be read with pleasure and profit:—
The ascent of Mount Shasta is attended, ordinarily, with no extreme difficulty, nor any special amount of peril, but a prodigious amount of fatigue awaits the ordinary climber. And the tax is large, in fact, upon even the greatest powers of endurance. Many ladies have made the ascent. But, upon the other hand, a full half of all who attempt it fail, both of men and women. Sisson is the common point of departure, on the western side of the mountain. It is probably inaccessible on any other side. For some ten to twelve miles a pleasant bridle path winds about, well shaded by a beautiful forest of oak, yellow pine, sugar pine, and fir. The ascent is for seven or eight miles very gradual. Presently, however, the incline sharply increases. The trees become smaller, underbrush disappears, the sugar pines run out, and only red fir is left. A little farther, and that tree gives place to an exceedingly beautiful growth of silver firs. Shapely are these, with their tapering trunks, and symmetrically arranged branches, delicately decorated with pretty, yellow moss. The final ending of the forest is abrupt. The last trees are squat of stature, with painfully contorted trunks, and tops which bear witness to their fierce warfare with storm and wind. They have been crushed and choked out of all shape by the vast drifts of overlying winter snow. The wood of these trees is very resinous and affords a great amount of flame and heat. The snow is all gone at timber-line, however, by the middle of July, and to a long distance above that line. Some scattered stools of bunch grass and a few delicate flowers have found courage to occupy the ground. Above this, nothing but lichens, and in some spots, banks of that curious, single-celled vegetable which propagates itself among the drifts and is commonly called red snow. Between the higher edge of vegetation and the lower snow-line in later July and August, there lies a two or three-mile stretch of loose, clanking stones, which, like the eternal snows above them, have to be crossed only on foot.
SOME SALOON ARGUMENTS.
THE fight against the saloon is a conflict of one set of ideas with another set of ideas, in which right is on one side and wrong on the other. This must necessarily be so, for the two sets of ideas are in positive antagonism, and right is unmistakably involved. It follows, therefore, that the proper weapons of the conflict, and the only proper weapons, are such as belong to discussion, full and free discussion. Prohibition can win only by so propagating its ideas as to secure intelligent and conscientious conviction. The saloon can only establish its claim of right to an uninterrupted pursuit of its business by a similar appeal to the intellect and conscience.
Of course in such a conflict prejudice may prevent a fair consideration of an opponent's arguments. There is undeniably a strong prejudice in this country against the saloon business. It is not considered respectable. Those who engage in it are frowned upon in good society; they are, for the most part, excluded from the churches; they are regarded as disqualified for positions of public trust and responsibility, and they are charged with conducting schools of vice, crime, and misery. This feeling is quite general, and to call a man a rum-seller is equivalent in the general estimation to the application of an opprobrious epithet. May it not be, in the face of this general prejudice against saloon-keepers, even among those who use intoxicants more or less, that the arguments they have to offer in self-defense have not received due consideration? As campaigns on the question at issue are in progress in several of the States it will be opportune to inquire what is the nature of the arguments offered in defense of the saloon business.
1. In Iowa, a minister by the name of Haddock, who was active in securing the enforcement of law against the saloons, and became an embodied argument against saloonism, was met and overcome by assassination in the night. This is argument No. 1, or the argument of assassination.
2. In Jackson, Miss., there was an editor of a temperance paper, a young man named Gambrell, who led the fight for local option in Hinds County, against Col. J. D. Hamilton, State Senator, and champion of the liquor interests. The Gambrell argument proved to be a very strong one, and it was met just as the Haddock argument had been met, by assassination. This is also argument No. 1.
3. In Haverhill, O., there was a man named Northrup, who, like Haddock, sought to compel the saloons to observe the law. The Northrup argument was answered by assassination. This is argument No. 1 again applied.
4. In Bridgeton, N. J., Frank C. Smith, a lawyer, who was active in prosecuting illegal saloon practices, was waylaid in the night and silenced, it was supposed, for all time. This is argument No. 1 repeated.
5. Tennessee saloonists in Springfield attempted to answer the prohibition speech of the Rev. T. J. Duncan by dynamite. This is argument No. 2, or the argument of murderous assault.
6. San Antonio, Texas, is the seat of several large breweries and of perhaps three hundred saloons. Respectable men undertook to present, in a respectful way, arguments for prohibition, at a meeting in a public square, the public halls having been refused for the purpose. The saloonists gathered and answered the speakers on the spot with rotten eggs and other missiles. A young brewer, Gus Kauffman, assaulted one of the speakers with a brutal physical argument. The speakers were not allowed to be heard. This is argument No. 3, or the argument of suppression of speech.
7. In Amesbury, Mass., the saloonists, resenting the attempt of the police to enforce the law against them, organized a mob, took control of the streets, and smashed the windows of a clergyman. This is argument No. 4, or the argument of violence.
8. Wichita is a town of Kansas in which liquor used to flow freely. When news reached the saloonists of that place that a prohibitory law had been passed, they published the following card:—
TO ALL PROHIBITIONISTS.
The saloon-keepers of Wichita have $300 on deposit in this office
FOR THE BENEFIT
OF THE WIDOW
of the
Son of a Gun who makes
THE FIRST COMPLAINT
against
THE LIQUOR DEALERS OF THIS TOWN.
This is argument No. 5, or the argument of intimidation.
9. In Texas men more or less prominent have met the arguments for prohibition thus:
"We will fill the Brazos River with dead Prohibitionists."—Judge Gerald.
"We will damn them."—The Hon. John Hancock.
"The Prohibitionists go to Kansas for their pattern, to Plymouth Rock for their religion, to John Brown for their morals, and will go to hell for their meanness, unless they quit it."—Judge Gustave Cook.
"I wish to God I could alienate these Prohibitionists."—Col. R. Q. Mills.
"Why can't people attend to their own business and let other people's business alone."—Gov. John Ireland.
These specimens might be divided between arguments Nos. 3, 4, and 5.
But saloonists have an argument that sounds much better to law-abiding ears than any of the foregoing. It is this: Prohibition is an invasion of personal liberty and constitutional right. But the interpretation they give personal liberty is this: Liberty for the saloon, but not for anybody to speak or work against it.—Independent.
A BIG CINDER HEAP.
Of the remaining 1,500 feet the most part is easy traveling. About 800, however, are occupied by the Black Mountain, which in appearance and consistency reminds one of the cinder heap cast outside a blacksmith's forge. The stuff yields provokingly to the footsteps. And this, coupled with the great rarity of the atmosphere, makes progress to be tediously slow. Only a few steps at a time, in a panting way, with long halts at the end. This 800 feet seems to be full 1,800 before its completion. Then a narrow plateau of snow, and the extreme pinnacle stands before us. On this snow plateau a few years since lay exposed the blanched skeleton of an antelope, which perished at some time in the past while trying to make this lofty pass. The poor creature was most likely overtaken in a snow-storm. The final summit consists of a cleft peak, the two points of which are some 300 or 400 feet apart, severed by a notch of 217 feet. And here, banked in by eternal snows, lie the hot springs of Shasta butte. Over an area of a quarter of an acre they bubble and hiss and snort and snore, and send forth their diabolical fumes of sulphureted hydrogen and all other unimaginable, ill-assorted odors. The temperature of these springs is very high—about 184 degrees. An egg can be cooked or the tea-kettle boiled over them in short order. Uncomfortable as this ground is to the olfactories and all the other senses, it proved a welcome spot a few years ago to an adventurous geologist and his guide. They were caught up here by a heavy snow-storm and obliged to spend the night. Only the hot earth about these springs kept them alive. Literally scalding upon the one side and freezing upon the other, they rolled the heavy hours away, until welcome morning dawned and a clear sun released them from their lofty but foul-aired dungeon. Two hundred feet remain still to be conquered. It is the most nerve-trying part of all. At first it is like climbing up the gutter of a hip-roofed house. Then the gutter abruptly ends, and the climber finds himself on the ridge-pole of the mountain. Down the one side the outlook is not so bad. It is only the height of a church steeple that he has to look down that way; but if he shall crane his neck out in the other direction he will draw himself back aghast. He is looking down a sheer, unbroken descent of 500 to 10,000 feet. He flattens himself to the all too narrow ridge like a lizard, and wishes he could sink his fingers and his toes two inches deep into this crumbling rock. Vicious little puffs of wind whirl themselves up out of the rock eddies beneath. As harmless as playful little kittens are they. But he considers this no suitable place for frivolity of any kind, and responds to their caresses only by clutching still closer to his knife blade of rock. But in a few moments this final difficulty is safely passed, and the shaken climber rears himself in a conservative way alongside of the terminal cliff, exultive over achieved success, but at the same time half under conviction for his folly in having thrust himself into this terrific spot. By and by, however, he grows reassured, and can proceed to take in at his leisure the all but boundless view afforded from the summit of Mount Shasta.
Health and Temperance.
BRIGHT'S DISEASE AND ICED WATER.
A BALTIMORE druggist of experience and ample opportunity for observation, has advanced the idea that Bright's disease is attributable to the immoderate use of iced water and cold drinks. He cites the fact that the people of this country use ninety per cent. more ice in their drinks than the people of any other country, Greenlanders not excepted. We have seventy-five per cent. more of Bright's disease. He cites the fact that the wine-drinking countries of Europe are comparatively free from the malady.
Travelers have observed and commented upon the prejudice which seems to exist against iced water and iced drinks in all countries outside of the United States. The Englishman and the German fairly shun ice, though placed in easy reach of boundless quantities of it, and the Frenchman who sips the light wines would as soon think of taking an emetic as of chilling his stomach with an iced draught. Our drug friend points to the fact that Bright's disease has kept pace in this country with the increased consumption of ice, and claims that before ice became a common household necessity the malady was scarcely known among physicians. There may be something in this theory.—Baltimore Gazette.
SECULAR.
By Editor
—Chicago has eighteen solid miles of saloons.
—A $500,000 fire occurred at Dublin, Ireland, August 8.
—The French Senate has passed a bill adding twenty regiments to the army.
—At Malta on the 8th inst. there were fourteen new cases of cholera and six deaths.
—Great damage is being done to the crops in Kansas, by the drought and chinch-bug.
—The total value of mineral productions in the United States for 1886 was $465,000,000.
—The Paris papers declare that the new Panama loan has already been subscribed in full.
—At a fire in St. Louis, August 10, three firemen were killed and four others severely hurt.
—Nineteen men were killed by the explosion of a shell at the Wakhalm Fort, Stockholm, August 11.
—The aggregate strength of the State militia throughout the United States is 97,267, of which 7,839 are commissioned officers.
—Signor Bove, the explorer, who was an associate of Nordenskjold in the latter's Arctic expedition, committed suicide last week.
—The Government of Ecuador has determined to give $2,500 to the Pope on the occasion of his jubilee, as an offering from Ecuador.
—The west-bound express was stopped by thieves, thirty miles east of Tucson, A. T., on the night of August 10. About $3,500 was stolen.
—The outlook for the farmers of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, and Wisconsin, is very gloomy owing to the damage done by fire and drought.
—The San Francisco Chronicle wisely and truthfully remarks, "It is becoming clearer day by day that the average police court is a law unto itself."
—The small-pox and yellow fever are raging in Havana, Cuba. During the month of July there were 104 deaths from yellow fever and 112 from small-pox.
—A collision between the British steamer Norbiton and the Greek steamer Andrea Vagliano off Lizard Point, Eng., August 13, resulted in the drowning of seven persons.
—Locusts have done a great deal of damage in Salvador and Guatemala, and both Governments are adopting measures to alleviate the suffering and distress which have been caused.
—Over 200,000 powerful guns have been furnished by Herr Krupp to a dozen different Governments. His cannons were actually used by both sides in the struggle between Russia and Turkey.
—An explosion occurred August 11 at the Giant Powder Works, at Fleming's Point, near Oakland, Cal. One Chinaman was killed, six employees injured, and property to the value of $10,000 destroyed.
—Willis McDearmon, a school-teacher near Gambetta, Tenn., found his school-house guarded by a mob on the morning of the 9th inst., who refused him admission on the ground that he was a prohibitionist.
—The War Department at Washington has received a telegram from the governor of Colorado announcing the uprising of the White River Utes near Meeker, Col., and asking the assistance of the United States troops in suppressing it.
—Andrew Walker, the colored Texas prohibitionist speaker, who was set upon and badly beaten after a recent speech, died at Galveston, on the 7th inst., from the effect of his injuries. His assailants are supposed to have been anti-prohibitionists.
—It is stated that several British war ships will assist in the work of protecting the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Atlantic Coast fisheries from American poachers. These vessels will not only act as patrols for the purpose of keeping Americans outside the forbidden waters, but will be prepared to make seizures whenever the opportunity offers. Many look upon this as an omen of coming trouble.
—One of the worst railway horrors known in the history of this country occurred the night of August 11, three miles east of Chatsworth, Ill. A train, loaded with 960 excursionists, bound for Niagara Falls, fell through a burning bridge. Over 75 passengers were instantly killed and about 100 wounded. No sooner had the wreck occurred than a band of men commenced robbing the dead and dying. The suspicion exists that the accident is a deliberate case of train-wrecking.
—A table recently prepared shows the royal salaries paid in Europe, and it forms interesting reading for those who have an idea that our own Government is conducted on an extravagant plan. The Emperor of Russia receives $8,250,000 per annum; the Sultan of Turkey, $6,000,000; the Emperor of Austria, $4,000,000; the King of Prussia, $3,000,000; the King of Italy, $2,400,000; the Queen of England, $2,000,000; the Queen of Spain, $1,800,000; and the King of Belgium, $5,000. That is, eight persons receive each year $28,150,000 for doing nothing. What a sermon against monarchial government.
Obituary.
By E. F. Canfield
CANFIELD.—Died, near Belleville, Kan., July 4, 1887, my dear wife, Carrie H. Canfield. The deceased was born in Poughkeepsie, N. Y., Oct. 30, 1841, from which place she removed with her parents to Parma, Mich., when about twelve years of age. She was converted when about sixteen or eighteen years of age, and united with the Wesleyan Methodist Church, with which church she lived a consistent Christian for a number of years. She was married to the writer of this memoir March 21, 1867, taking the place of a mother to five motherless children. How well she filled that place, let the testimony of those five bear record, as evinced by their uniform kindness and affection to her. She was also the mother of five children, three of whom still live to cherish her memory as a kind and loving mother. About seven years ago she became convinced of the truth of the Advent faith and the Third Angel's Message. She then obtained a letter from the church of which she was a member, and united with the S. D. A. denomination at Spring Arbor, Mich. She was transferred from there to the Norway church, Kansas.
The deceased had been in very feeble health for the past two years, and became much emaciated and very weak, from diabetes, and, to add to her affliction, became nearly blind from cataract for several months before her death; but she still held firmly to the faith as seeing Him who is invisible. She prayed much that others, especially her three dear sisters and one brother, might yet be led into the truth. She had been able to walk about most of the time, and had entertained some hope of final recovery. On the Friday preceding her death she was taken much worse, with what appeared like cholera morbus, and she continued to fail rapidly, until Monday, July 4, when at 3 P. M. she fell peacefully asleep, to await the coming of Him who said, "Behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me." Words of comfort were spoken by Rev. Allen, of the M. E. Church, from Job. 19:25–27. Thus the light of our home has gone out, a dear mother is gone, a loving companion is taken away. But we sorrow not as others who have no hope. E. F. CANFIELD.
News and Notes.
RELIGIOUS.
—There are in the United States 4,532,658 Methodists of all branches.
—The Vatican authorities have received $800,000 with which to celebrate the Pope's jubilee.
—A commission of the French Assembly has formally approved of disestablishment by a large majority.
—The Protestant Episcopal Church in Virginia claims to have 6,000 colored communicants, who have thirty places of worship exclusively their own.
—The Pope has decided that there is no ground for Papal interference with the Knights of Labor question. He has conveyed the decision to Cardinal Gibbons.
—There are about 130,000 Mormons in Utah. Of these 80,000 are under the age of eighteen. One-third of the remainder are in polygamy and are said to have the brains of the whole.
—Roman Catholic schools in England; so it is said, teach their pupils to argue controversially in favor of their religion, and so well that the average Protestant laymen find it difficult to answer them.
—The King of Siam has given $1,500 to the Presbyterian missionaries for a hospital at Bangkok, while the Queen has given $1,000 to the schools and Old Ladies' Home established by the missionaries.
—A recent Chronicle dispatch gives an account of a man named Weston, who was arrested in Fresno, Cal., for robbing the post-office. The dispatch closes thus: "Weston was a church member, and very pious."
—Of the 408 members of the last Congress, 72 were Methodists, 63 Baptists, 41 Episcopalians, 37 Presbyterians, 36 Catholics, 15 Unitarians, 8 Lutherans, 10 Campbellites, and 2 Quakers, making a total of 284 who are actively connected with some church organization.
—An appeal is made for funds to secure the construction of a steel boat, to be named the James Hannington, in memory of the murdered Bishop of Uganda. The boat is to be placed on the Victoria Nyanza, to be used as a means of communication between the different missionary stations.
—A centennial service to commemorate the establishment of the first Episcopate in America was given in Westminster Abbey August 12. The sermon was given by the Bishop of Iowa, who revealed himself more English than the English themselves. He fought over once again the war for American independence, terming the patriots "rebels," and Lord Howe's army "the loyal forces," a style of nomenclature which much disgusted the Americans present. This is a good sample of ministerial toadyism, and the chances are that in America the worthy bishop would just reverse his style of preaching and become once more an American.
CAMP-MEETING AT TACOMA, W. T.
By North Pacific Conference Committee
This meeting will be held at Tacoma, W. T., commencing August 30 and continuing one week. Instruction will be given in canvassing and other branches of the work. We hope to see a large attendance of our people from the northern part of the Conference, and as many friends as can be induced to come. Those wishing to rent tents should write to G. W. Davis, box 787, Seattle, W. T.
N. P. CONF. COM.
NEVADA CAMP-MEETING.
By Editor
THE camp-meeting for the Seventh-day Adventists of the State of Nevada will be held in Reno, commencing Thursday evening, September 1, and closing on Monday morning, September 12. A restaurant will be conducted on the mutual benefit plan the same as last year. We hope to see a full attendance of all our people in the State. Come praying that the Lord may meet with us. Come bringing your friends with you to enjoy this feast of tabernacles.
Those wishing to rent tents, or those who have tents of their own to pitch, are requested to write at once to Elder J. N. Loughborough, Pacific Press, Oakland, Cal. The price of tents is the same as last year. The rent of 10x12 tents for the meeting, $4.00 and of 12x16, $6.00. All money received for tent rents goes into the tent fund, and is used for the purchase of meeting and camping tents.