p. 107 | Review and Herald, Vol. 77, No. 7. (2/13/1900)

THE ROYAL SEED IS PLANTED IN BABYLON.

By William W. Prescott

Jesus, in his reply to the definite question from his disciples, “What shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” said, “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” It is therefore both the sign of the Lord’s coming and of the preparation for that glorious event, that it should be proclaimed everywhere that God in Christ is “the King eternal, immortal,” and that “the Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all.” Ps. 103:19.

When this truth shall have been fully made known throughout all the world, and all shall have either yielded themselves as obedient servants to the rightful King, or have rejected him, and said, “We will not have this man to reign over us,” then will be heard the “great voices in heaven,” saying, “The kingdom of the world is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ: and he shall reign forever and ever.” Rev. 11:15, R. V. “Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” Those who have rejected the gospel of the kingdom, and have persisted in their allegiance to “the god of this world,” will perish with their chosen king, in the downfall of his kingdom.

Every person in the world ought therefore to give earnest attention to this announcement of the gospel of the kingdom. It is not a question of creed or church, a mere subject of theological controversy; it is not a question of weight of argument in the settlement of some religious dispute, which may well be left to those who enjoy such soul-destroying pastime; it is an intensely real and practical question, which affects the whole tenor of our lives. By this announcement of the gospel of the kingdom we are informed of the true state of affairs in this world; we learn of the original rebellion against the authority of “the King of heaven;” how Lucifer, the light-bearer, became Satan, the adversary; how through deception he turned man away from his allegiance to God, and by usurping his dominion became “god of this world;” how God in his great love has made provision through the gift of Jesus—his life, his death, his resurrection, and his priesthood—that we should be rescued from the power of darkness, and translated into the kingdom of his dear Son; how in Jesus Christ, the Son of man, the Son of God, who “loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings” (Rev. 1:5, 6), the dominion will be restored, “and the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High.” Dan. 7:27.

This gospel of the kingdom is the one topic of the Scriptures. It is set forth in precept, prayer, and praise; it is the teaching of the prophecy, the history, and the biography of the Bible; it is the keynote of the life and teaching of Jesus, who began his ministry by “preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.” Mark 1:14, 15. It covers the working out of God’s eternal purpose concerning man, from the first chapter of Genesis, where we find him made in the image and likeness of God, and in dominion over the works of his hands, through the experience of sin, when “we see not yet all things put under him,” until we find him, in the last chapter of Revelation, again a faithful servant of the rightful King, having God’s name in his forehead, once more a king, who “shall reign forever.”

The gospel message goes forth “with a loud voice,” saying, “Behold your God;” “Fear God, and give glory to him; . . . and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” Isa. 40:9; Rev. 14:7. Thus each one is brought to face and to settle the question, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice?” What is the nature of this kingdom of God? Is there any clear evidence that “it shall stand forever”? Upon what principles is it established that it should be “an everlasting kingdom”? The history of the world, read in the light shining from the Scriptures, will give a clear and decided answer to all these questions. It is not a matter of theory or of philosophical speculation, but an experience that has been wrought out in the centuries of human history. But in order to trace with profit the lessons taught in the apparently tangled course of events of these centuries, we must read the history from God’s standpoint, opening this storehouse of knowledge with the key that he has placed in our hands. And it is especially important that this should be done in this generation, because the history of the past is being repeated in the history of to-day; and the true interpretation of present history is given to us in the Lord’s own interpretation of past history as the guide in the correct understanding of his prophecies concerning this time just before the coming of the King.

W. W. P.

MEETING THE DEMAND.

By B. O. Wade

THE demoralizing effect that the change from the old to the new has had upon Japan, as seen both in public and in private life, is awakening the national conscience to thought and action. Men in every walk of life think nothing of betraying their trust, if only the idols of their affection, the gods of gold, will bless them.

The leaders of thought are agreed that without some panacea the life of Japan is short. Realizing something of the gravity of the situation, they have set forth the question, “What is the remedy?” In this cry for help, they stated the nature of their need. It must be something that “appeals to the intellectual and emotional nature of man.” They seek a new departure in religion.

“The days of Buddhism,” they say, “are long since passed.” Shintoism is dismissed without consideration. Christianity is recognized as a religion that has a lofty morality. The elevating effect it has had upon the Occident draws forth some praise. “But,” they add, “it can never take hold of the educated Japanese. His science leads him away from it.”

They are too scientific for the “story of creation,” “Joshua and the sun,” the “resurrection,” etc. So they conclude that Japan as a nation is not likely to accept Christianity as an especially revealed religion. Materials are recognized in it that could be “extracted, for the completion of a moral edifice.” “Divested of its antiquated and supernatural incumbrances,” they see “no obstacle in its adoption by the nation.”

So much for the worldlings.

The following extracts from some of the Protestant and Catholic organs of Japan will show how their scientific men are meeting the demand made by the scientific men of Japan:—

It is our object to divest Christianity of its antiquated costume, and to present it to men’s minds arrayed in garments of modern cut; to substitute for the lifeless dogmas of antiquity truths that are replete with life and power, and to get rid of cumbersome ceremonies, rules, and usages of every kind. . . . We are content, though none of the Western forms of Christianity are perpetuated in this country.—Rev. E. Schiller.

Though bigoted Christians and bigoted Buddhists can never join hands, there seems to be no reason whatever why liberal-minded persons among both sects, who invariably hold that every person has the right to choose whatever faith he pleases, should not unite their forces for a common end.—Rikugo Zasshi.

In training Christians, our church attaches great stress to certain cardinal doctrines. Outside of these we deem it best to allow Christians to decide for themselves what they shall believe, and what reject. . . . The events of the past must be extracted from their ancient surroundings, and so explained as to suit the present age.—L’Abbé Legnuel.

These are by no means the only quotations of this kind that are accessible. They represent over sixty per cent of the professed Christians of Japan. This fabulous and “scientific” teaching is painfully common. “The line of distinction between these” writers is “hardly distinguishable.”

The prophecy that these things would come, once stirred the hearts of Seventh-day Adventists. Does the fact that they are here stir the hearts of Seventh-day Adventists now? “These passing moments that seem of so little value to us are weighty with eternal interests.” These movements in Japan may well be watched with interest. The “conflict” has been opened. Pray for us that our preparation may be complete. B. O. WADE.

Kobe, Japan.

FROM INDIA.

By William Ambrose Spicer

THE little company in India, but few of us, in the midst of a large field destitute of workers, feel sorely stricken. We thought it best to telegraph of the death of Elders D. A. Robinson and F. W. Brown, so that our Foreign Board would not be planning on the supposition that all was the same with us here. They died at Karmatar, a station about one hundred and sixty-eight miles from Calcutta, where the orphanage school had just been situated, and where Brother G. P. Edwards and his wife had been doing medical mission work until their return to America several months ago.

Recently the farm had been leased, with a large bungalow and outbuildings, and Elder Brown had settled there to do medical mission work. Brother Robinson and his family were also there for the winter; and he was taking pleasure in planning the farm, and putting up outbuildings on a small scale, to adapt it to the needs of the Orphanage Industrial School. He had intended to hold meetings in one of the large cities this winter; but as financial stringency seemed to forbid any such aggressive campaign, and as his strength was not what it had been, he decided to spend the winter in outdoor work on the farm, where much work needed to be done in order to make the most of the facilities secured.

Brother Brown had his hands full of work, which was increasing, patients coming from villages miles away. Soon after taking the school from Calcutta, one of the children developed symptoms of smallpox, which spread among the children; but it was so slight and unpronounced that the friends there were uncertain about its being anything more than chicken pox. But the sequel showed that it was the more serious disease. Elder Robinson was in Calcutta a fortnight ago, as the accounts and reports for the year were being closed. He felt ill, as if with fever; but we hoped that it was but the fever so common in East Bengal. Returning to Karmatar, he found Brother Brown seriously ill with fever; and Dr. Ingersoll went out to take the dispensary work there. He, however, was fully employed with Brother Brown, who developed very serious symptoms, suddenly dying from hemorrhagic smallpox. At the time of his death, Miss Royer, who had arrived only a day or two before, was with Dr. Ingersoll. Then, as Brother and Sister Robinson, their adopted

daughter, Ethel, and little Lawrence Brown were all ill, Dr. Place went out, accompanied by Miss Burrus, and Noneballa, one of our Bengali girl nurses. All passed through the normal course of the disease, I understand, except Brother Robinson, who had the severest form. His mind was clear nearly all the time, and he fully realized the nature of his malady, and put himself in the hands of the Lord for further service, or for resting if his work was done.

It was the week of prayer with our brethren in America, and it was a week of prayer with us here. Toward the last the friends asked me to go out, and so I was with Brother Robinson a portion of the last night and day. As we prayed around his bed, he was able to join us, though for several days unable to see. He seemed to feel the conviction that his work was done. But as long as life was given, we sought the Lord for him; and the Lord blessed him with peace to the last. The purpose of the Lord was evidently to lay him to rest. He said he was so weary that he would be glad to rest, though glad to go on if the Lord had work for him to do.

We buried Brother Robinson beside Brother Brown, under a tree in the fields that they had plowed for the next sowing season. ‘Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone.’ We felt that we were planting here seed that in the Lord’s goodness would bring forth fruit for India. Workers are so much needed, and these were being so fruitfully used in life that it seemed strange to our human ways of doing things that the Lord should allow us to be bereft of two so suddenly; nevertheless we felt to triumph in the Lord, who can lay workers by, and still turn it all to his glory. So we wait to see the glory of God here in India. Near the end, I suggested to Brother Robinson that possibly the sacrifice of life there would do more for India than their lives could do in pleading its needs and working for it in health and strength. He replied, with almost his last clear words, ‘Possibly, possibly.’

Brother Brown had been with us but a short time, but we knew him to be alive with zeal for the Lord, and we know that he is resting in the Lord in his death. When Brother Robinson was last here, he expressed the pleasure he felt at the work Brother Brown was doing in the medical mission there. Brother Robinson’s work in America, in South Africa, and in England is known by many, and the little company of believers here in Calcutta mourn him as a father in the gospel.

Sisters Robinson and Brown have been sustained by the Lord through their special affliction, and can praise his goodness in trial. We shall all look to our brethren for workers to replace those who have fallen; and we in these fields pray that sometime the tide may turn toward the millions in the East. It does workers in the foreign fields good to see the home work spreading, and the publications falling, like the leaves of autumn, it almost seems to us; and we are strengthened by the message of power in the Holy Ghost; but we are sad to see the funds for foreign work smaller than they used to be.

Oh, that God may send in his own way the help needed in fields like India and China, where surely we ought to run through with the message, telling the people what these things mean before the very closing scenes are upon us. Brother Robinson put his strength into the effort in Calcutta, and he had not the strength to keep on the same in all the places in India where work must be done. But the great centers need just such effort, and then there are the many nations and tribes of native India, where at least the sound of the truth ought to go, so that all whose hearts are turning toward the Lord may know the message of preparation for his coming.

W. A. SPICER.

AN APPEAL TO THE FRIENDS OF THE POLYNESIAN MISSION.

By E. H. Gates

Dear Brethren in the Lord: Since coming to Australia, I have more fully studied the large Polynesian field, and I believe the Lord is giving light and wisdom concerning the best way to carry on the work there. On account of the great heat and other unpleasant features of the tropical islands, our missionaries find it difficult to labor there continuously without breaking down in health. How this difficulty can be overcome, and still the work be carried on, has been a perplexing problem to us who have to do with these matters. And not only must industrial schools and other enterprises be established in the missions already opened, but new missions must be opened in more unhealthful and dangerous fields.

In New Guinea, to the north of Australia, and in Melanesia, northeast and east of Australia, are vast fields where savagery and cannibalism still reign, and where the name of Christ is scarcely known. In these islands we have made no beginning, though the Lord has told us to go to every “nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.” Rev. 14:6.

But when we had gone as far as we could, the Lord gave us light concerning our duty to the islands of the sea. At a meeting held in July, in connection with the Australasian Union Conference, at this place, Sister White was led out by the Spirit of the Lord to tell what had been shown her concerning the work for the islands of the sea.

Speaking of the Avondale School, she said: “God designed that here an institution should be established from which workers should go forth to the islands of the sea. Persons of other languages are to be brought here and taught the English language. These will go back to their different countries to educate others.” “We are to have at this school an office of publication. A printing press is to be established here. An education in printing is to be given here to those who shall come from the islands and other places. They are to learn to print in their own languages, and to translate from the English into these languages. Then they are prepared to give valuable help. At the same time they can give instruction in the island languages to those who are fitting themselves to go to the islands. . . . I am talking of what I know. We need to wake up.” See Conference Record, July 28, page 8.

Already the Lord has begun to work for us. We have a half-caste woman from the Cook Islands connected with our work here, who is a printer and translator. A native young man from the Tongan Islands is also here; and a young woman from Baratonga is on her way to this place. I am in correspondence with others, who we hope will soon be in the school; and in a few days I expect to take a trip to the islands in the interests of this and other enterprises.

We praise God that as soon as he gives light on our duty, he begins to open the way for us to perform that duty. Now we find that the greatest problem is how to get the funds to pay the fares for these natives to this place, and support them in the school after they get here; for few of them have money to attend school. The Avondale School Board is prepared to co-operate with us by opening the way for a few students from each group, whom our missionaries may select and recommend, to enter the industrial department of the school, and earn one half of their school expenses. The average cost of board and tuition in this school is about fifteen shillings a week ($3.75), or twenty-seven pounds (one hundred and thirty-five dollars) for the thirty-six weeks of the school year. In other words, $67.50, in addition to his work, will pay a student's schooling for one year. This offer, of course, does not apply to every native who may wish to attend school, but only to those who may be selected, after carefully considering their moral and intellectual qualifications. Only those who give promise of becoming workers after a reasonable length of time in school, will be received on these conditions.

A few weeks ago, in private conversation, Sister White told me, as plainly as words could make it, that the plan I have outlined above is the proper one to adopt in carrying the message of truth to the islands. As we have been so plainly instructed on this subject, we expect to arrange at once to bring from each of the different island groups a few native students, trusting that God will put it into the hearts of our brethren in America to aid us by sending money to bear the expense of the enterprise.

The Avondale School is not able to do more in this direction than it has already offered to do, and most of our brethren know the embarrassed condition of the treasury of the Foreign Mission Board. We must look for help to our brethren who have money. I expect to help at least one native student to a year's schooling. We ask all our brethren to whom

this appeal may come, to place it as far as possible before our churches, and those who have money. For a year the Sabbath-schools of Australia have given all their contributions to the islands; but this fund must be used to print books and tracts, which we are getting translated, and is not available for the education of natives.

Those of our brethren who will give to this important and worthy enterprise, may send their contributions to E. R. Palmer, Business Manager of the Avondale School, New South Wales, Australia; or to Miss E. M. Graham, Treasurer of the Union Conference, 25 Sloane St., Summer Hill, New South Wales. Drafts on London or New South Wales banks, and postal notes, can be cashed here at their face value. Drafts on London need not be drawn in duplicate. But if so drawn, send both the first and the second exchange. E. H. GATES, Superintendent of Polynesian Mission, Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia.

HOLLAND AND RHENISH PRUSSIA.

By John Norton Loughborough

The Hague, Elberfeld.— On the evening of December 27 I left London for a month's trip with Brother Conrad on the continent of Europe. A ride of an hour and a half on the train brought me to Harwick. The boat was appointed to leave in one hour, to cross the German Sea to the Hook of Holland; but a heavy fog came down suddenly upon us, so the careful captain waited four hours. Then the fog partially dispersed, and eight hours of slow sailing brought us to the Hook. A half-hour's ride on the train, and I was in The Hague, the capital city of Holland. This is the city where the czar's Peace Congress of last year was held—“saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.”

The trip from the Hook to The Hague took us beside the river Maas, and near to Leyden, whence the “Pilgrim Fathers” embarked for America. We passed through Schiedam, famous for the manufacture of “Schiedam schnapps,” an intoxicating liquor, the use of which will result in the damnation of many thousand souls. There are more than one dozen large factories for making the “schnapps” in Schiedam.

There is one point of special interest to the Advent movement connected with The Hague. That city was the place of residence of Hentzpeter, who there received the light that the twenty-three hundred days of Dan. 8:14 would terminate with our year 1844. It was here that his books were printed, in connection with which he sounded forth to the Hollanders the first angel's message of Rev. 14:6, 7.

At The Hague I met Brethren Conrad and Klingbeil, and the colporteurs and other Holland laborers, and about one half of the Seventh-day Adventists in the kingdom. This gathering was the general meeting for our people in that part of the field. Brother Conrad called the meeting “A true Peace Congress” at The Hague.

The work of the Third Angel's Message was started in Holland about five years ago. There are now five organized churches, and three new, unorganized companies, comprising, in all, one hundred and forty members. Twelve of these were baptized during the last quarter. Their tithe for the same quarter was three hundred and thirty dollars. Contributions for the German school were made during the meeting, amounting to sixty dollars. Their seven canvassers sold and delivered books, during 1899, to the value of two thousand dollars.

Our three-days' meeting was full of interest. Brother Conrad and I spoke five times each, our talks being interpreted by Brother Klingbeil. Dr. Hoenes was to spend one day there after we left. The meeting was indeed a season of encouragement for the workers in that field.

From Holland we came to Elberfeld, Rhenish Prussia, holding a three-days' meeting there over New Years. It was at Elberfeld that the Third Angel's Message was first presented in Germany, in 1875, by Brethren J. N. Andrews and Erzenberger. They heard, in Basel, Switzerland, of a company of forty persons who, under Brother Linderman, had begun to keep the seventh-day Sabbath from the study of the Bible alone, and who supposed they were perhaps the only Christian Sabbath-keepers in the world. This company accepted the truths of the Advent doctrine when it was presented to them. Brother Linderman and many of that first company are now dead; but several are still living, some of whom were in our general meeting.

This Prussian district of our work has five organized churches, and one unorganized company, numbering, in all, one hundred and sixty believers. About twelve of these have joined us during the last quarter, four of them being baptized during the general meeting. The tithe of the district for the quarter was three hundred and fifty dollars. The ministers laboring in that section are Brethren Mathe and Baumann.

Our meeting was attended by one hundred and twenty-five of the members in that part of the field. They rejoiced to hear of the Lord's leadings in the message from the beginning, and were greatly interested in Brother Conradi's talk on the book of Revelation, and in learning of the situation, prospects, and needs of the cause in the German field. Those present contributed about sixty-five dollars to aid the work on the school farm. This was regarded a good contribution, coming, as it did, in a short time after their liberal contributions in the annual offerings. The work is on the onward move in the German field.

J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH.

News and Notes

For Week Ending February 10, 1900.

—Representatives of the British army are in St. Louis, Mo., buying 1,000 additional mules and several thousand cavalry horses, for use in South Africa.

—The Bohemian coal strike is seriously felt in Berlin and in Dresden, and the Japanese are shipping coal to Germany, hoping thus to gain a foothold in the German market.

—Regarding the seizure of American flour by Britain, in Delagoa Bay, the British government has acknowledged that “it does not hold foodstuffs to be contraband of war,” and that “neutral vessels bound for neutral ports, and carrying goods plainly marked, and not destined for the enemy, will not be subject to seizure.” This was Lord Salisbury’s reply to United States Ambassador Choate’s note of protest.

—In a speech in the United States House of Representatives, February 5, a member laid down the following sound propositions: “A man is not a traitor because he is opposed to doing those things which jeopardize the life of the republic. An American is not a pessimist because he is unwilling to see his country adopt as a settled policy the political principles of Alexander, Cæsar, and Napoleon. I think more, far more, of the liberties of my children than of all the trade of all the earth.”

—A Cincinnati paper says that the proper designation of the present year in Roman numerals is MCM. It says: “In Roman notation, whenever a letter precedes another of greater value, the value of the two is that of their difference instead of their sum;” as, XL is 40, XC is 90, XIV is 14, and CM is 900. Continuing, it states that “in the original system it was customary to repeat the letters, as IIII for 4, VIIII for 9, LXXXX for 90, and MCCCC for 1400, but that cumbersome method was early abandoned. Isn’t it much better to use MCM than MDCCCC?”

—A Russian consulate is soon to be established in Canada.

—The mother of Empress Augusta Victoria, of Germany, died January 26.

—Russia has loaned the bank of Persia 22,500,000 rubles, or about $17,325,000.

—Mr. Thomas Edison, the famous inventor, is seriously ill, at Akron, Ohio, from an attack of acute influenza.

—It will be possible to travel around the world in forty days when the trans-Siberian railroad is completed.

—The output of the Bay City (Mich.) beet-sugar factory from last season’s crop, will be 7,000,000 pounds of white granulated sugar.

—The Chinese emperor appointed the nine-year-old son of Prince Tuan, as his successor. The young emperor ascended the throne the last day of January.

—On January 29 occurred the 57th birthday of President McKinley. The only foreign cablegram received by him on that day was from Chulalongkorn I, emperor of Siam.

—A firm of rope manufacturers at Mülheim-on-the-Rhine manufacture steel wire towing ropes 5½ inches in circumference, in one continuous length of nearly nineteen miles, and weighing 210 tons.

—It is reported from London that Sir Edmund J. Monson, the British ambassador to France, “left Paris for the south, on leave of absence,” mainly because of the strong anti-British feeling now running high in that city.

—And now the report is that Captain Leary, governor of Guam, has “abolished the Spanish system of peonage, amounting to slavery, and has deported all the Spanish priests from the island.” Several weeks ago it was reported that he was obliged to deport all the friars but one.

—The new navy bill for Germany “provides for a total expenditure of 769,000,000 marks, to be covered by an imperial loan.” The recent seizures of German vessels by Great Britain are materially helping the German emperor in his schemes to get his people to build a great navy.

—A dispatch from Stockholm, Sweden, says that King Oscar asks that his army be supplied with “forty-six new batteries of artillery by the end of 1903. One hundred thousand new Mauser rifles are to be manufactured, and 50,000,000 cartridges, to be in store within four years.” And thus the peace movement proceeds.

—Cecil Rhodes evidently does not intend to fall into the hands of the Boers, even if Kimberley be taken. He has a first-class balloon at hand, and, should Kimberley fall, the balloon will be seen ascending with four occupants, and sailing away. Those passengers would be Rhodes, Mr. and Mrs. Maguire, and an expert aeronaut.

—The Hamburg-American line are about to make use of a new kind of fuel on their new freight steamers. It will consist of a semifluid petroleum, which is imported from Borneo in large quantities. This material does not ignite spontaneously at a high temperature, will require fewer firemen to handle it, and will economize much space.

—The Lutheran Witness, in a recent editorial upon public schools, says that the only way to train Christian students in the “correct and Biblical way” is by “the establishment of Christian church schools.” Continuing, it says, “The fact that so many people are waking up to the utter failure of the non-religious training of our public schools and the danger threatening our country from this source, is already a hopeful sign.”

—A dispatch from Washington, D. C., dated February 5, says that “one of the most important chapters in the history of American diplomacy was written at the State Department at eleven o’clock to-day. Secretary Hay and Lord Pauncefote, the British ambassador, attached their signatures and seals to a convention by which the celebrated Clayton-Bulwer treaty was so modified as to permit the United States to exercise sole and exclusive control over any isthmian canal that may be built.” However, the United States “agrees that the canal shall be ever neutral water, free to the ships of all nations in time of war as well as peace, and that it shall never be fortified.” Thus, if the Senate ratifies the convention, and the Nicaragua Canal is built at the expense of this country, “that water will be open to the war-ships and merchant marine of the enemies of the United States.”

—The following are a few interesting facts about the Nicaragua Canal, which the United States may cut through the Isthmus of Darien, to connect the Atlantic and Pacific oceans: Of the total distance of 170 miles from coast to coast, only twenty-seven miles of channel need be made by man. Use will be made of Lake Nicaragua and its rivers. Total estimated cost of canal, $125,000,000. Money already spent by Maritime Canal Company, $5,136,428. Length of natural water way, 142 miles. Proposed width of canal, 300 feet. Proposed depth of canal, thirty feet. Quantity of earth to be excavated and dredged, 152,781,270 cubic yards. Excavation proper, 29,907,996 cubic yards. Highest elevation of canal from level of sea, 110 feet. Distance saved for ships going from coast to coast, 8,000 miles. Time saved (at war-ship “Oregon’s” rate of sailing), forty-two days. Distance from New York, 2,000 miles. Distance from San Francisco, 2,700 miles. Distance from Philippine Islands, 9,000. Distance from Honolulu, 4,210 miles. Time required for construction, six years.

—Five thousand men employed on the Paris exposition buildings are on a strike.

—The Commercial Cable Company announces that all private telegrams for South Africa have been stopped.

—General Otis recently shipped to Madrid 1,142 Spanish prisoners, released from the Filipinos by the Americans.

—Japan is greatly excited over the abdication of the Chinese emperor, fearing the hand of Russia in the appointment of the young emperor.

—Mr. Wu, the Chinese minister at Washington, D. C., has purchased an automobile, which he uses for official and social visits and for pleasure riding about the city.

—For the first time in years business of every description was closed in Baltimore, Md., Sunday, January 28. Even drug stores sold nothing without a written prescription.

—Rev. Newell Dwight Hillis is authority for the statement that “to-day there are 13,000,000 children in the United States who never crossed the doorstep of a church of Christ, Catholic or Protestant.”

—Dispatches say that the Boers have received photographs of the principal British generals, and that copies have been made and distributed so that the sharpshooters can single them out in action, even when they are carrying rifles.

—The Utah Gospel Mission has been incorporated, for the purpose of fighting Mormonism all over the country. Anti-Mormon literature will be circulated in abundance and the plan is to send out 2,000 missionaries to counteract the efforts of Mormon missionaries, who have become numerous and active.

—The frigate “Constitution,” so well known for its exploits early in the present century, is to be put into condition for service again, at a cost of $500,000. In this connection the American Sentinel significantly remarks: “But it will cost much more than that to put the Constitution itself again into serviceable condition.”

—Father Cyprian, in his book, “Inner Mission Work of the Protestants in Germany,” says: “We lose, every year, about 100,000 children to the Protestants. Even in Bavaria the Protestant numbers are constantly growing, while Catholics are becoming fewer. In this century one million Catholics have been lost to the church in Germany.”

—And now it is said that “the czar has issued a rescript in which he announces that it is Russia’s intention to rule the Pacific, or at least that portion of it in proximity to the coast of Asia.” On the other hand, a prominent American recently said, in Congress, that “the Pacific is our ocean.” Quite a similarity in these claims, indeed.

—Some time ago the British Admiralty ordered 450 big guns, to be made of 12-inch caliber, and constructed of steel wire. It is said that “one of these guns, if mounted at Dover Castle, in England, would be able to throw a shell across the Straits of Dover, to Calais, in France, a distance of twenty-one and a half miles.” Each gun cost $50,000.

—Col. Richard W. Thompson, Indiana’s “old man eloquent,” died the 9th inst., in his ninety-second year. He was the oldest living ex-member of Congress, and was Secretary of the Navy in President Hayes’s cabinet. He saw, and was on intimate terms with, every president this nation has had, except George Washington. John Adams, second president, died in his arms.

—Mr. Goebel, democratic governor of Kentucky, died of his gunshot wound, February 3. Immediately thereafter the democratic Lieutenant-Governor Beckham was sworn in as governor of Kentucky by his party. Thus Kentucky still has two governors. It appears that the man who shot Mr. Goebel was avenging the death of a friend of his who had been shot by Goebel.

—The United States Senate, according to latest dispatches, will refuse to ratify the recent Hay-Pauncefote Nicaragua Canal agreement. It is said that “when the proposition was made that the United States surrender all advantages in the Nicaragua Canal for the glorious privilege of bearing the expense and responsibility alone, a storm of opposition was aroused in Washington. This storm appears to be gathering force with each passing day.” Naval officers especially are opposed to the pact.

—A dispatch from Buenos Ayres, Argentina, dated February 7, says that “the terrible heat continues. There were 267 sunstrokes on Monday, and 187 yesterday. The temperature was 120° in the shade. The fatal cases show a diminution, but numerous bodies are decomposing at the cemetery, owing to the strike of the grave diggers for higher wages. The maize crops are scorched, and promise only a small yield.” Numerous sunstrokes are also reported from Montevideo, many proving fatal. The maize crop there is “almost totally lost.”

—A bill in the present Congress provides that February 12, the birthday of Lincoln, and April 2, the birthday of Jefferson, be made holidays. As it is, there are twenty-nine holidays in the United States. Counting the holidays in each State, there are ninety in all—practically one fourth of the year. Commenting upon this, a writer in the Saturday Evening Post wisely remarks: “It may be well not to rush toward the conditions that exist in Russia and some other countries, where there are so many holidays that the people who want to work have scarcely time or the opportunity to get up in the world.”

—General Buller has begun his third attempt to go to the relief of Ladysmith. By making several simultaneous attacks upon the Boers, he has succeeded in gaining a footing once more on the plateau north of the Tugela River. The British are trying to turn the Boer flank. General Gatacre is being attacked by the Boers. So far, General Buller has taken one hill, repulsed a Boer counter-attack, and is holding his position “against an enfilading fire from Spion Kop and Doorn Kloof. His losses in this instance are only 250. He is only fifteen miles distant from Ladysmith.

Continue reading: A PEACEFUL CONQUEST