Isaac loved Esau better than Jacob, because Esau provided him venison. He was pleased with his bold, courageous spirit manifested in hunting wild beasts. Jacob was the favorite son of his mother, because his disposition was mild, and better calculated to make his mother happy. Jacob had learned from his mother what God had taught her, that the elder should serve the younger, and his youthful reasoning led him to conclude that this promise could not be fulfilled while Esau had the privileges which were conferred on the first-born. And when Esau came in from the field, faint with hunger, Jacob improved the opportunity to turn Esau's necessity to his own advantage, and proposed to feed him with pottage if he would renounce all claim to his birthright; and Esau sold his birthright to Jacob.
Esau took two idolatrous wives, which was a great grief to Isaac and Rebekah. Notwithstanding this, Isaac loved Esau better than Jacob. And when he thought that he was about to die, he requested Esau to prepare him meat that he might bless him before he died. Esau did not tell his father that he had sold his birthright to Jacob, and confirmed it with an oath. Rebekah heard the words of Isaac, and she remembered the words of the Lord, "The elder shall serve the younger," and she knew that Esau had lightly regarded his birthright and sold it to Jacob. She persuaded Jacob to deceive his father, and by fraud receive the blessing of his father, which she thought could not be obtained in any other way. Jacob was at first unwilling to practice this deception, but finally consented to his mother's plans.
Rebekah was acquainted with Isaac's partiality for Esau, and was satisfied that reasoning would not change his purpose. Instead of trusting in God, the disposer of events, she manifested her lack of faith by persuading Jacob to deceive his father. Jacob's course in this was not approbated by God. Rebekah and Jacob should have waited for God to bring about his own purposes, in his own way, and in his own time, instead of trying to bring about the foretold events by the aid of deception.
If Esau had received the blessing of his father, which was bestowed upon the first-born, his prosperity could have come from God alone; and he would have blessed him with prosperity, or brought upon him adversity, according to his course of action. If he should love and reverence God, like righteous Abel, he would be accepted and blessed of God. If, like wicked Cain, he had no respect for God nor for his commandments, but followed his own corrupt course, he would not receive a blessing from God, but would be rejected of God, as was Cain. If Jacob's course should be righteous, if he should love and fear God, he would be blessed of God, and the prospering hand of God would be with him, even if he did not obtain the blessings and privileges generally bestowed upon the first-born.
Rebekah repented in bitterness for the wrong counsel which she gave to Jacob, for it was the means of separating him from her forever. He was compelled to flee for his life from the wrath of Esau, and his mother never saw his face again.
Jacob had by a sinful act obtained the blessing which he knew had been promised him by the sure word of God. In doing this he showed great lack of faith in God's power to carry out his purposes, however discouraging present appearances might be. Instead of placing himself in the position he coveted, he was obliged to flee for his life from the wrath of Esau. With only his staff in his hand, he must travel hundreds of miles through a desolate country. His courage was gone, and he was filled with remorse and timidity, seeking to avoid men lest he should be traced by his angry brother. He had not the peace of God to comfort him, for he was harassed with the thought that he had forfeited divine protection.
The second day of his journey is drawing to a close. He is weary, hungry, and homeless, and he feels that he is forsaken of God. He knows that he has brought this upon himself by his own wrong course. Dark clouds of despair inclose him, and he feels that he is an outcast. His heart is filled with a nameless terror, and he hardly dares to pray. But he is so utterly lonely that he feels the need of protection from God as he has never felt it before. He weeps and confesses his sin before God, and entreats for some evidence that he has not utterly forsaken him. But his burdened heart finds no relief. He has lost all confidence in himself, and he fears that the God of his fathers has cast him off. But God, the merciful God, pities the desolate, sorrow-stricken man, who gathers the stones for his pillow, and has only the canopy of heaven for his covering.
In a vision of the night he sees a mystic ladder, its base resting upon the earth, and its top reaching above the starry host, to the highest heavens. Angel messengers are ascending and descending this ladder of shining brightness, showing him the pathway of communication between earth and Heaven. A voice is heard by him, renewing the promise of mercy and protection and of future blessings. When Jacob awoke from his dream, he said, "Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not." He looked about him as if expecting124to see the heavenly messengers; but only the dim outline of earthly objects, and the heavens above, brilliant with the gems of light, met his earnest, wondering gaze. The ladder and the bright messengers were gone, and the glorious Majesty above it he could see only in imagination.
Jacob was awed with the deep stillness of the night, and with the vivid impression that he was in the immediate presence of God. His heart was full of gratitude that he was not destroyed. There was no more sleep for him that night; gratitude deep and fervent, mingled with holy joy, filled his soul. "And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it." And here he made his solemn vow to God.
Jacob made his vow while refreshed by the dews of grace, and invigorated by the presence and assurance of God. After the divine glory had passed away, he had temptations, like men in our time; but he was faithful to his vow, and would not harbor thoughts as to the possibility of being released from the pledge which he had made. He might have reasoned much as men do now, that this revelation was only a dream, that he was unduly excited when he made his vow, and that therefore it need not be kept; but he did not. Long years intervened before Jacob dared to return to his own country; but when he did he faithfully discharged his debt to his Master.
—Mrs. E. G. White, in Great Controversy.
TRUE TO HIS FLAG.
"GOING? Of course I'm going! wouldn't miss it for a dollar; they say it's going to be the best one that has ever been here," said Hal Seldon in reply to one of the group of boys who had inquired if it were his intention to attend the circus the following day.
"Please don't go, Hal," exclaimed Willie Wentworth, in a pleading tone. "Have you forgotten?"
"That I joined the church three months ago? Not a bit of it; but am happy to say it didn't make a milk-and-water ninny out of me. Simply because I put my name on the church book is no sign that I am going to be caged for the balance of my life. When a fellow gets to be fifteen he feels like having a share in all the fun that's afloat," said Hal.
"You don't see any harm in the circus then?" remarked Gus Lindon, whose father was the most successful merchant in the town, and paid such excellent salaries to his clerks that the boys whom he employed felt that they had reached the acme of success. Hal had applied for a situation, but was told that Mr. Lindon could not give him a definite answer until the following week.
"Harm? No! Where's the harm? But as Parson Wentworth here can dive into subjects more deeply than I, perhaps he can fish out some harm for you. Come, vicar, give Lindon and the balance of us a sermon. You need a little practice anyway before you don the ministerial dignities."
"Wentworth!" shouted several of the boys in a mocking tone.
Willie's face flushed slightly as he said:—
"A circus is either right or wrong. If right, you would not object to seeing your father the manager of one, and your sister riding in the ring. If it is wrong, and has an evil tendency, we should not encourage in others that in which we should not like to see those near and dear to us engaged."
"That's poor logic, and I can't see the point," retorted Hal, impatiently, as Willie turned away from the crowd.
"Of course my father wouldn't run a circus, and the idea of my beautiful sister riding in one. Bah! Will's a whining milksop."
"I think he got the best of you anyway," said Gus Lindon, "and it seems to me your own words have proved it."
"Unspotted from the world," thought Willie, as he walked slowly homewards. "I am glad I heard the sermon from that text last Sabbath. How I wish Hal could have heard it too."
"I have tried and tried to get work, but without success," said Willie Wentworth to his widowed mother, as he entered his humble home, after spending nearly a day in fruitless efforts to obtain employment.
"How do you know?" asked his mother. Willie regarded his mother seriously. She was actually smiling, and his heart was aching so he could with difficulty restrain his tears.
"How do I know? Haven't I been everywhere, and wasn't I informed that all the vacancies were filled?"
"Did you go to Mr. Lindon's?"
"Yes, and he wasn't there, but the head clerk told me that he thought Hal Seldon was employed."
"I have good news for you, my son. Mr. Lindon was here this afternoon to see you. He said he had been trying to find such a boy as you for a long time."
"Why, what does he know about me?" asked the boy.
"His son repeated to him a conversation which took place between Hal Seldon and yourself upon the subject of the circus. He said that you were fearless enough to speak your honest sentiments even when they were sneered at. He thought as between the boy who mocked at his membership in the church and one who had a tender conscience, the choice was an easy one, and so he said you should have the place."
Often apparently trifling circumstances settle one's condition for life.—Christian Observer.
TRAINING FOR GIRLS.
NOTHING is more significant of the social condition of a people than the training of its girls in domestic life. In Germany the daughter of the nobleman, of a prince, and of the small shop-keeper, learns alike to cook, to sweep, and to keep house. After the training in books is over, Fraulein Lena and her royal highness, Princess Sophia, both begin their home education.
There are establishments where they are taken by the year, as in a boarding-school. In one month they wash dishes and polish glass and silver; in another they cook meats; in another, bake; in the next, "lay down" meat for winter use, or preserve fruit, make jellies and pickles, sweep and dust. Plain sewing, darning, and the care of linen are also taught, and taught thoroughly. The German "betrothed" is thus almost always a thorough housekeeper, and spends the time before marriage in laying in enormous stores of provisions and napery for her future home.
In France a girl begins at twelve years of age to take part in the household interests. Being her mother's constant companion, she learns the system of close, rigid economy, which prevails in all French families. If there be but two sticks of wood burning on the hearth, they are pulled apart when the family leaves the room, even for a half hour, and the brands are saved. The nourishing soup, the exquisite entrées, and the dainty dessert, are made out of fragments, which in many an American kitchen would be thrown away. The French girl thus inhales economy and skill with the air she breathes, and the habit she acquires lasts her through life.
English girls of the educated classes seldom equal the German and French in culinary arts, but they are early taught to share in the care of the poor around them. They teach in the village school, or they have industrial classes; they have some hobby, such as drawing, riding, or animals to occupy their spare time with pleasure or profit. Hence the English girl, though not usually as clever or as well read as her American sister, has that certain poise and a plomb which belong to women who have engrossing occupations outside of society, beaux, and flirting.—Youth's Companion.
The Home Circle.
THE ANGEL OF PATIENCE.
To weary hearts, to mourning homes,
God's meekest angel gently comes;
No power has he to banish pain,
Or give us back our lost again;
And yet in tenderest love, our dear
And heavenly Father sends him here.
There's quiet in that angel's glance;
There's rest in his still countenance;
He mocks no grief with idle cheer,
Nor wounds with words the mourner's ear;
But ills and woes he may not cure
He kindly trains us to endure.
Angel of patience, sent to calm
Our fev'rish brows with cooling palm;
To lay the storm of hope and fear,
And reconcile life's smile and tear;
The throbs of wounded pride to still,
And make us own our Father's will.
O thou who mournest on thy way
With longings for the close of day,
He walks with thee, that angel kind,
And gently whispers, "Be resigned;
Bear up, bear on, the end shall tell
The dear Lord orders all things well!"
—Selected.
HAPPY CHILDREN.
CODDLING, pampering, and gratifying every wish of a child is more the result of selfishness than love. A love that cannot see future good in present discipline, is both narrow and stupid. True love can deprive the present minute of pleasure for future hours of good, and pure happiness.
"I try so hard to make my children happy!" said a mother, with a sigh, one day, in despair at her efforts. "Stop trying," exclaimed a practical friend at her elbow, "and do as a neighbor of mine does." "And how is that?" she asked dolefully. "Why, she simply lets her children grow and develop naturally, only directing their growth properly. She has always thrown them, as far as practicable, upon their own resources, taught them to wait upon themselves, no matter how many servants she had, and to construct their own playthings. When she returns home from an absence, they await but one thing—their mother's kiss. Whatever is bought for them is bestowed when the needed time comes. Nothing exciting is allowed to them at night, and they go to bed and to sleep in a wholesome mental state, that insures restful slumber. They are taught to love nature, and to feel that there is nothing arrayed so finely as the lily of the field, the bees, and the butterflies; that there is nothing so mean as a lie, nor anything so miserable as disobedience; that it is a disgrace to be sick, and that good health, good teeth, and good temper come from plain food, plenty of sleep, and being good.—Christian Union.
REPETITION.
IN his recent address before the Congregational Club, Rev. W. H. Brodhead, of Wakefield, told quite effectively the following story which has pertinent application to public speakers who tell the same thing over and over: A gentleman, addressing a Sabbath-school in Newark, described a family in distress, and the disposition a little girl made of a half-dollar given to her. He offered twenty-five cents to any child who could guess correctly what she did with her half-dollar. A boy immediately piped up, "Bought a basket with it." "But how did you happen to guess that?" "Give me my quarter, please, sir." "Yes, but first tell me how you could have guessed that." "Give him a quarter if he guessed it right," said other boys in the rear of the room. "I was in Jersey City last Sunday and heard you tell the same story!" was the quick reply on receiving the quarter.—Congregationalist.
PAPER CHURCH.
THERE exists near Bergen, in Norway, a church constituted of paper, which can contain nearly a thousand persons. Its interior is of a circular form, while its exterior is of octagon shape. The reliefs without, and the decorative statues within, as well as the vaulted roof, nave, and Corinthian capitals are made of papier-mache, and have been made water-proof by soaking them in a solution of quicklime, curded milk, and white of egg. It appears to us that this is, up to the present, the boldest use that has ever been made of paper.—French Paper.
HOW TO CONTROL HEMORRHAGE.
By D. N. Patterson, M. D.
THERE are three kinds of hemorrhage—arterial, venous, and internal. Arterial hemorrhage is that which comes from the arteries, and consists of bright red blood which comes in spurts. When this is seen, leave everything else and stop that at once. The safest and surest way of doing this is to make steady, firm, and equal pressure between the wound and the heart. If you do not know where the large arteries are, or their course, then grasp the limb firmly above the wound and continue to do so until help comes. There is no danger of pressing too tight if you use your hands, but if you have long to wait it is better to use a stout bandage, or large handkerchief, wound tightly around the limb; and a pencil, or small piece of wood, slipped through the bandage and turned screw fashion, will enable you to hold it more evenly and securely.
If the hemorrhage comes from the veins, the blood will be of a darker color and flow slower and more sluggishly. From this kind of bleeding there is less danger, although prompt measures should be used to check it. This may usually be done by the use of cold water, ice, sometimes hot water, or by simply applying a firm, strong bandage. The custom which is common among wood-choppers of doing up a cut in its own blood has many points in its favor, nor is it unscientific. It is important to remember that, if the wound be a large one, care should be exercised to keep out the air as much as possible. At the same time be sure to remove from the wound all foreign bodies, such as dirt, glass, shreds of clothing, etc.
Internal hemorrhage may be recognized by the extreme prostration of the patient, partial loss of consciousness, pallor of the face and lips, and a feeble pulse. In such cases send at once for a physician, moisten lips with water, and occasionally give a little to drink if patient calls for it. Do not use stimulants, as they stimulate the heart, and only increase the hemorrhage. Rest and quiet are important things to be remembered. If feet and legs feel cold, bottles or bags of hot water may be put around them.—D. N. Patterson, M. D., in Congregationalist.
MINISTERS' SONS—A GOOD SHOWING.
We should suppose that the old idea that ministers' sons generally turn out badly was an exploded one. If it is not it ought to be. The facts are that ministers' sons so generally turn out creditably that when a son of the manse does go astray the whole town hears of it. The Springfield Republican comes to the rescue of the abused ministers' sons.
That journal has been studying De Candolle, the French scientist and skeptic, and the points made by the Frenchman are worth studying. De Candolle shows that science and learning owe great researches to the sons of the clergy. He builds a strong argument against the celibacy of the clergy on this ground, and says: "In clerical families their manner of life, their quiet regularity, their residence largely in the country, their counsels to their children, the absence of various causes of dissipation, the habitual vigilance of the father, and his domestic example of study, surpassing the advantages of other families, give all the greater force to the transmission of faculties appropriate to the cultivation of the sciences."
De Candolle further says that "the sons of clerical families have actually surpassed during two hundred years, in their contributions to the roll of eminent scientists, the similar contributions of any other class of families, not excepting those that belong to the directly scientific professions—physicians, surgeons, and chemists."
The learned author, says our contemporary, gives lists of distinguished and eminent scientists and scholars who were the sons of pastors—Agassiz, Baselius, Boerhaave, Encke, Euler, Linnæus, Olbers, and a host of others. Among historians and philosophers he names Hallam, Hobbes, Emerson, Sismondi, and others. The dispositions of sons to follow the callings of their fathers makes divinity conspicuously hereditary in such world-wide known theological luminaries and pulpiteers as Jonathan Edwards, Archbishop Whately, Robert Hall, Lightfoot, the Wesleys, Lowth, Stillingfleet, the Beechers and Spurgeons—a list that might be multiplied indefinitely. How many poets have been the fruit of clerical matrimony?—Young, Cowper, Thomson, Coleridge, Montgomery, Heber, Tennyson, Lowell, and many others of note. Look at the clerical contributions to intellectual philosophy in such distinguished sons as Dugald Stewart, Cudworth, Reid, Brown, Boyle, Abercrombie, and Bentham. Literature has been a wide field for ministers' sons to cultivate, as is evidenced by Swift, Lockhart, Macaulay, Sterne, Hazlitt, Thackeray, Bancroft, Emerson, Holmes, Kingsley, and Matthew Arnold. To architecture this class contributed Sir Christopher Wren; to art, Sir Joshua Reynolds; to heroism, Lord Nelson. The daughters of the clergy may not be overlooked—Mme. Trollope, Mrs. Barbauld, Jane Taylor, Elizabeth Carter, the Brontes, and Mrs. Stowe.
All this is true, and in this matter exceptions only serve to prove the rule. When a minister's son does depart from the right way and his ill deeds become town talk, the world is prompt enough in adding, "And he a minister's son, too." And such a remark bears witness to a surprise excited by an unusual event. That the ranks of the Christian ministry are largely recruited from the families of the clergy is well-known to all who are familiar with the statistics of theological education.—Observer.
WHENEVER you can find a man who stands by God, God will stand by him; if you honor him, he will honor you.
Health and Temperance.
TOBACCO CATECHISM.
Question—Is smoking allowed in the United States Government schools?
Answer—No; both smoking and chewing are forbidden in the military academy at West Point and the naval school at Annapolis.
Q.—What action has the State of Vermont taken with regard to the use of tobacco?
A.—The Legislature of Vermont has wisely forbidden both teachers and pupils in public schools to use tobacco.
Q.—What did a philosopher say who came to visit one of our large cities recently?
A.—He said that while the girls and young women were strong and wholesome looking, the boys and young men were stunted and puny, and that if the young men did not stop using tobacco, the next generation would be a weakened and inferior race.
Q.—Does tobacco always dwarf boys who use it?
A.—Almost always. Dr. R. T. Trall says a large proportion of tobacco-using young men are dwarfed in body and mind.
Q.—Would so many different nations become alarmed if tobacco had not proved so injurious to boys?
A.—No; because it is to the interest of every nation to have the youth of their country use whatever tends to strengthen their body or mind.
Q.—Does the use of tobacco weaken the intellect?
A.—Yes; especially if a boy begins before his mind is formed. It makes a grown man nervous and ambitionless. It makes a boy almost imbecile in many cases, and it does harm to all.
Q.—Does it not affect all alike?
A.—No; it seizes upon the weakest part of the body usually. One may grow blind, another deaf, a third may have tumors, a fourth may have heart disease, and a fifth no outward sign of the harm it has done except general worthlessness.
Q.—Is this all the harm the use of tobacco brings?
A.—By no means. One of its worst features is that it leads boys to drink alcoholic liquors in nine cases out of ten.—Silver Star Catechism.
SURGICAL SWALLOWS.
DR. W. F. MORGAN, of Leavenworth, Kansas, communicates to the Medical Record a story which would indicate that swallows have considerable surgical skill as well as intelligence. In a nest he found a young swallow much weaker than its mate, which had one of its legs bandaged with horse-hairs. Taking the hairs away he found that the bird's leg was broken. The next time he visited the nest, he found the leg again bandaged. He continued to observe "the case," and in two weeks found that the bird was cautiously removing the hairs, a few each day. The cure was entirely successful.—Christian at Work.
Tobacco Selling and Using a Sin
By Cor. Maine Farmer
It is as much a sin in the sight of God to use tobacco as to use rum or whisky, for it is spending time, money, health, and reputation, and sacrificing the comfort of friends, just for the sake of gratifying a depraved appetite. And it is as much a sin for a person to sell tobacco as to sell rum, for in both cases it is simply making money out of the ruin of others.—Cor. Maine Farmer.
Tobacco Compared With Deadly Poisons
By Dio Lewis
Go to the drug store; begin with the upper shelves and take down every bottle. Then open every drawer, and you cannot find a single poison (except some very rare ones) which, taken into the mouth of that ten-year-old boy, and not swallowed, will produce such deadly effects.
Tobacco as a Powerful Poison
Again, steep a plug of tobacco in a quart of water, and bathe the neck and back of a calf troubled with vermin. You will kill the vermin, and if not very careful, you will kill the calf too. These experiments show that tobacco, in its ordinary state, is an extremely powerful poison.
The Effects of Chewing Tobacco
LET us make an experiment. Here is a boy ten years old who has never used tobacco.
"Charley, will you help us to make an experiment?"
"I will, sir."
"Here is a piece of plug tobacco as large as a pea. Put it into your mouth; chew it. Don't let one drop go down your throat, but spit every drop of juice into that spittoon. Keep on chewing, spitting, chewing, spitting."
Before he is done with that little piece of tobacco, simply squeezing the juice out of it, without swallowing a drop, he will lie here on the platform in a cold, deathlike perspiration. Put your finger upon his wrist. There is no pulse. He will seem for two or three hours to be dying.
News and Notes.
By Editor
RELIGIOUS.
—A bill to prohibit base-ball playing on Sunday is before the Illinois Legislature.
—The Louisiana Supreme Court has declared the new Sunday law of that State constitutional.
—Last year the M. E. Church in Utah received into its communion sixty-one proselytes from the Mormons.
—Statistics show that of the 31,319 births in New York City, in 1886, 22,000, or more than two-thirds, were of Roman Catholic parentage.
—Congregationalism is said to be making rapid progress in the West. Its success is attributed largely to its Sunday-schools, which it is stated, are under excellent management.
—There are in this country 30,544 Indian church members exclusive of those in the five civilized tribes in Indian Territory. Of these 14,550 are males and 15,994 females. They own 155 church buildings.
—According to Dr. Strong, in "Our Country," Chicago had in 1840 one church to every 747 of the population; in 1851 there was one to every 1,009; in 1862, one to 1,301; in 1870, one to 1,599; in 1880, one to 2,081.
—The Presbyterian ministers of Philadelphia have adopted resolutions declaring that the American ballet performances are an injury to public morals, a disgrace to the community, and an outrage on Christian sentiments.
—A new feature in the shape of a "pie-eating match" has been added to the "church social." On a recent occasion of this kind the champion glutton ate fifteen pies and won first prize, consisting of a huge pumpkin pie and an appropriate bottle of medicine. The one who came out second best ate thirteen pies. It is evident that some people are determined that the gospel (?) must be supported even if they have to make hogs of themselves to do it.
—The Independent says: "At last, after so many years, a fine batch of English saints have been added to the Roman Catholic hagiology. Fifty-four English martyrs who suffered death under Henry VIII. and Elizabeth, all whose martyrdom was conclusively proved, have been admitted to the calendar of the beatified. . . . Somehow Rome has neglected the more numerous martyrs under Queen Mary. There is an advantage in being a Catholic martyr."
—Rev. Geo. F. Pentecost, in Words and Weapons, says: "It does not require any argument to demonstrate the need of a general awakening among the churches to the fact that we are not even approximately doing the work for which the church of Christ was organized."
—Speaking of fears which have been expressed that Protestant churches are not keeping pace with the growth of population in the large cities, Rev. W. W. Halloway, writing to the Christian at Work, says: "I have had occasion to investigate the matter so far as the Presbyterian Church is concerned, and that investigation shows that these fears are not altogether groundless." Again, after giving the facts upon which he bases his conclusion relative to New York, he says: "These are not pleasant facts to confront. And they are probably samples of facts of other cities and of other denominations."
SECULAR.
—Coal is selling in Fort Benton, Montana, at $60 a ton.
—The home-rule feeling in England is growing riper every day.
—The wheat crop of South Australia shows a surplus of 175,000 tons.
—On February 15 a sharp shock of earthquake was experienced at Petaluma, Cal.
—A young woman died in Indiana, not long since, after a fast of one hundred days.
—Emin Bey has freed from the slave trade a province containing 10,000,000 inhabitants.
—Some of the streets in Los Angeles are flooded to such an extent that the horse-cars run with difficulty.
—The British army in India will be armed with repeating rifles, and the Martini will be transferred to the Sepoys.
—The jail at Murfreesborough, Tenn., was burned February 13, and three men confined in it perished in the flames.
—The bill to prohibit the manufacture and sale of oleomargarine has passed the Delaware House of Representatives.
—Stanley's expedition for the relief of Emin Bey will comprise 1,200 men, including 80 blacks, and will cost $100,000.
—It is reported that the Emperor William's health is rapidly failing; it is feared that he can live but a few months longer.
—It is computed that there were 3,000 separate strikes during 1886 and that the loss to the country was about $25,000,000.
—Queen Victoria celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of her reign by turning 25,000 criminals loose upon the people in India.
—The British Foreign Office has a dispatch from Cape Town, denying the report that Dr. Holub and his party have been massacred.
—The United States steamer, Thetis, has been ordered to sail from New York on a scientific cruise to Alaska. She will be fitted up at San Francisco.
—Dispatches received at London announced that Russia has notified the Bulgarian delegates at Constantinople that she has decided to occupy Bulgaria.
—Two passenger trains running between Chicago and Milwaukee have been equipped with an apparatus for heating the cars with steam from the locomotive.
—The Socialists in New York have raised means enough to cover the election expenses for twenty-five Socialists, members of the German legislative body.
—General Master Workman Powderly advises the Knights of Labor to use more wisdom and discrimination in declaring boycotts, and to keep the same secret.
—Four boys ranging in age from eight to fourteen years broke into a store in Oakland recently. As might be expected they were habitual readers of the Police Gazette.
—In Omaha an Anarchist plot to murder a newspaper editor has just been exposed. The editor's offense consisted in making fun of Anarchists in general.
—Two sailing vessels were wrecked, February 14, off San Pedro, Cal.: one a large American ship—the Kennebeck—from Liverpool; the other was the barkentine St. Louis from Coos Bay.
—A new island has been discovered in the Pacific, in latitude 1° 25' south, longitude 143° 26' east. It is two and one-half miles long, and is covered with trees. It has been named Allison Island.
—Switzerland, though so small a country, has a thousand hotels, whose revenues considerably exceed those of the Republic.
—The Government at Vienna will ask a credit of 25,000,000 florins to complete military supplies, and also for an extra credit (not exceeding the former) to be used if the situation continues threatening.
—A gentleman was impaled on a splinter while descending a toboggan slide last week in Boston. The giant skewer entered his body at the groin and projected through his back. He lived but a few hours.
—News from Newfoundland represents things in a deplorable condition; the Government has already sent thousands of barrels of flour to keep the people from starving, but the supply is altogether inadequate.
—Positive orders from many of the railroad companies to their dock agents in New York prohibit any strikers being taken back to work. Gangs of strikers are going about from pier to pier in search of work.
—It is reported that many of the Wesleyan native students on the Island of Tonga, Australia, have been accused with being implicated in the Baker outrages and plot to murder the king and make his nephew chief.
—A very severe rain storm prevailed in New York on the night of the 18th inst., accompanied by much lightning. One of the bolts struck a large cotton warehouse, setting the building in flames. Loss, about $350,000, fully insured.
—An explosion occurred, February 18, in a colliery in Rhonda Valley, England, and forty-five men were entombed in the mine. Twenty-nine persons have been rescued unhurt, and sixteen remain in the pit, six of whom are reported dead.
—The closing of the saloons in Leavenworth, Kansas, has engendered the most bitter feelings against the Law and Order League, and bloodshed is feared. On the night of February 12, two gentlemen were set on by roughs, and terribly beaten and maltreated.
—A new line of passenger steamers is to be established between the United States and England. The vessels will be twelve in number, and are to be so constructed that they will make the trip from New York to Liverpool in a little less than four days.
—The British Government has decided on the construction of a military railroad from India across Burmah to Mandalay. The intention is to connect the terminus with a fleet of commercial steamers, thus opening up a trade route direct from India into the heart of China.
—A very severe wind-storm occurred in Colorado, February 16. In Denver many buildings were unroofed, chimneys, telegraph poles, etc., were blown down. Outside of the city several trains were blown from the track, wounding nearly all of their passengers.
Obituary.
By Andrew Brorsen
THORN.—Died, in San Francisco Feb. 15, 1887, of inherited consumption, Gracie Thorn, granddaughter of Sister E. M. Thorn, aged 6 months and 9 days. She was laid by the side of her mother, who died about two months ago in the blessed hope of the first resurrection. Funeral services took place Feb. 16, at the home of Sr. Thorn. Words of comfort were spoken to sympathizing friends by the writer. ANDREW BRORSEN.
Appointments.
OAKLAND.—House of worship, southeast corner of Jefferson and Thirteenth Streets. Sabbath-School every Sabbath at 9:30 A. M. Preaching at 11. Prayer and missionary meeting every Tuesday evening at 7:15. Seats free.
EAST PORTLAND (Or.)—House of worship on G Street, between Tenth and Eleventh. Sabbath-school every Sabbath (Saturday), followed by services. Preaching or Bible-reading Sunday evening. Prayer-meeting Wednesday evening. The public cordially invited. Free public reading-room, corner of L and Fifth Streets.
SAN FRANCISCO.—House of worship, 914 Laguna Street, between McAllister and Tyler. Sabbath-school every Sabbath at 9:45, and preaching at 11 A. M.; also preaching every Sunday evening at 7:30. Sabbath-school classes in the English, German, and Scandinavian languages. Prayer and missionary meeting every Wednesday evening at 7:15. Mission reading-rooms at the church.
Publishers' Department.
By Editor
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CALIFORNIA T. AND M. SOCIETY.—Dist No 2, Libbie Saunders $7.65, J W Ford $25.