Earlier text: SPIRITUALISM A SATANIC DELUSION(Condensed from Review and Herald.) NEVADA.—From April 4 to 10, Eld. R. M. Kilgore, who has since gone to Texas, was with the church in this place. Although the days were occupied by packing their goods and preparing for their journey, the Lord blessed in the meetings held in the evening. Sabbath and Sunday were profitable days to all. Nine willing souls were baptized, and ten were added to the church. WASHINGTON.—April 14 and 15 Eld. Kilgore spent in this place, which had been his home for more than thirty years. It was here, since the war, that he gained most of his religious experience. And while he leaves many dear friends and goes South again “to fight in battle, with weapons that are not carnal,” he may be comforted to know that not only the prayers of these dear brethren, but hundreds of others will follow him. DICKINSON CO.—Although spring is a very busy time of the year, the attendance at the meetings being held in this county by Bro. F. W. Morse, is steadily increasing. Some twelve or sixteen adults have voted to keep all the commandments. The people are mostly from York State. Opposition discourses are advertised, but the Lord will defend his truth. PARMA.—New ones are taking hold of the truth here every week, and those who have embraced it are still firm. The interest to hear is so great that prominent citizens have requested Eld. S. B. Whitney to repeat the lectures he has been giving. This he has concluded to do, in a condensed form, however. SAUK RAPIDS.—Six honest souls have commenced to keep the commandments of God, as the result of the labors of Brn. Dimmick and Battin in this place. Several others are interested. UNION POINT.—About one year ago, Bro. J. G. Wood gave a course of lectures in Union Point, and eight then covenanted together to keep all the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Last June he again visited them, organized systematic benevolence, and left 14 members. Since that time they have had but one visit from our preaching brethren, until the recent visit of Bro. Wood. He reports that he then baptized eight and that eleven had recently been added to the church, making in all a membership of thirty. This, in view of the small amount of ministerial labor bestowed, is a very encouraging report, and shows what can be accomplished by a church if its members are united, zealous and active in the cause they profess to love. SWAN LAKE.—The S. D. A. church in this place has grown up in the past three years. It started from a package of tracts sent to the post-mistress and handed by her to a Dane, a Mr. Nelson, because they chanced to be printed in his own language, to amuse himself with in the long Dakota winter. The reading of these aroused a curiosity in his mind to know of their teachings, which caused him to send to the Office for more; and soon he began keeping the Sabbath day. It was a matter of jest and ridicule to his friends and neighbors; but he kept on till he succeeded in inducing Eld. Hansen to come here, when himself and wife, and brother-in-law and wife were baptized (they had been Lutherans), and thus started a church, with this brother-in-law, Andrew Fredricson, as elder. Eld. E. W. Farnsworth has just closed the meetings he has been holding here. As the result of these meetings six have been baptized and have united with the church, which gives the church a membership of forty-five. May they all continue in the love of the truth till the end. GRIMES’ SETTLEMENT.—This is to be the headquarters of the Port Allegheny church. Bro. Chas. B. Reynolds held a meeting here Sabbath, April 21, of which he says: “At this meeting there were two large classes of youth in Sabbath-school and thirty adults in Bible class. This was a meeting long to be remembered in this section. Fifteen were added to the church. Five were baptized. About $50 were added to S. B. Ordained Bro. Wm. Wetmore, deacon. On first-day I laid before them the claims of the T. and M. Society. We did not organize, desiring to consult the president of the Conference. I hope he may attend personally, and make this a distinct Pennsylvania district.” “Oh, you dear little Flossy!” said Miss Adelia, picking up her sky terrier, “nobody has given you a crumb to eat to-day, nor brushed out your pretty curls. You are always neglected when Adelia is away. But you shall not be any more, pretty pet. She will take you with her the next time she makes a visit. Oh! run away, Freddy, don’t plague me with your lesson. I must go down and broil a mutton chop for Flossy; the little dear is almost starved.” So she pushed away her little brother, and made Flossy a snug bed on the sofa cushion, patting him softly as she left him, and then went down to the kitchen to burn her fingers, and disarrange Bridget’s tidy apartment, in the preparation of a breakfast fit for her “treasure.” Miss Adelia would have considered herself most unjustly treated if she had been obliged to take half the trouble for the accommodation of any one else in the family, but for her Flossy she could do anything. Just in proportion as her attachment for this senseless creature increased, her regard for every thing else appeared to diminish. She grew cross and fretful when asked to perform the simplest service for any one. But she could spend hours over her dog, bathing him, curling his hair in little rings, and sprinkling him with fragrant perfume. The pet endured it as well as he could, but would have been a far happier dog if he had been permitted to pick his bones in the court-yard, and go to sleep in the sun. “O mother, I can’t take that tiresome baby, he is so cross. I never could endure a baby just big enough to tear every thing to atoms. Besides, I want to curl up poor Flossy; he looks as shaggy as a street dog.” “I wish he was a street dog with all my heart,” said her mother. “It was a very unlucky thing for us all when your cousin made you the present of that dog. It takes up altogether too much of your time, and is making you very selfish, my child. Your father and I have decided that, unless you make a decided change in the matter, Flossy must be disposed of.” “Send away poor Flossy? O mother,” and Adelia burst into tears as she spoke. “Don’t you know, mother, he is worth his weight in silver. Cousin Charley said some of these terriers are worth their weight in gold. A gentleman refused a thousand-dollar span of horses for a pair he owned.” “I think the old Quaker’s remark on a parallel case would hold good then, that two fools met that time, one to make such an offer, and the other to refuse it. Pets are very well in their place, but when they take up so much time and attention they become a positive injury. It is always a pleasant sight to me to go into old Margaret’s little cottage, and see her great tortoise-shell cat purring away so contentedly on the hearth-rug, for I know how much company she is for the lonely woman. But poor Miss Hobson exposes herself to a great deal of ridicule by her attachment to her poll parrot. You know how much time she spends over him, trying to teach him new words, talking with him, and petting him like a spoiled child. It makes her seem very silly to other people who have far more important pursuits in life than tending a bird. I understand that she has bequeathed him a thousand dollars in her will, and a hundred dollars a year to a person who is to take care of him after her death. So it will be for the woman’s interest to prolong his life as long as possible. The poor old lady is very ill now, but screeching Polly is seldom out of her room; she seems unhappy if he is out of her sight. Now, if Miss Hobson had only taken into her home and heart some poor motherless child years ago, what a blessing it might be to her now! Instead of being dependent for every comfort on hirelings, she might have a child’s loving attentions in her old age.” “God never intended us to lavish so much time and attention upon a mere animal. He wishes us to be kind to even the humblest of his creatures, but he has given every one a higher work to do than curling and perfuming a dog. I have observed with great anxiety and pain how this attachment is growing upon you, and how it is injuring your mind and heart; and now, Adelia, you must give up devoting so much time to it, or I shall give Flossy away to any one who will take him. It would be better, indeed, to have him killed, than to have him the means of making my daughter selfish and ridiculous. You may think of this seriously, Adelia, and to-morrow morning you may tell me your decision. If you think you can keep him, and not have him interfere with one other duty, you may do so. Another thing I shall insist on. There are to be no more meals cooked expressly for him. It took Bridget half an hour to clean up after your breakfast-making this morning, and that must not occur again. He can eat scraps from the table like any other dog, or he cannot stay with us.” “O mother,” said Adelia, “I cannot think what Henrietta Bradshaw will say to that. She always cooks something nice for her King Charles, and feeds him on a china plate.” “Is it to imitate Henrietta you have been led into all this folly, my dear?” asked her mother, smiling. “I thought it was pure affection for your pet. But here comes aunt Sophia, perhaps she can help us solve the knotty question of what shall be done with Flossy.” Aunt Sophia listened to an account of the matter, and at length proposed to take Flossy to board. Not that she was particularly fond of pets, but she was anxious that so fine a girl as her niece might make, should not be spoiled for a little terrier dog no bigger than your fist. As school commenced the next week, Adelia at length consented to the arrangement. It would be a good excuse to offer to Miss Henrietta, and it would sound well, too, to say that she had sent him into the country to board for awhile. Floss seemed to enjoy country air, and romped and frolicked with the kittens just as any plebeian puppy might have done, but one day he fell into a fit. It did not last long, however, yet aunt Sophia thought it of enough importance to mention when she came into town one day with her butter. “O auntie, do get the doctor for him if it ever happens again. He lives just next door to you, so it would not be a bit of trouble. Henrietta often has Dr. Allen look at her King Charles when he does not seem as well as usual. Once he gave him some medicine in a little vial, which Henrietta had the hardest work to get him to take. I suppose it was very bitter, for Charley did make such a face, and cry, and rub his nose. Dr. Allen, and Henrietta’s sister Laura, sat on the sofa, laughing till they cried, and poor Hetty cried, too, for the poor dog’s sufferings.” “By all means get Dr. King to attend Floss if he needs it,” said father, who began to see a glimmering hope of some day getting clear of “the plague.” “I will write a line to him I think.” Adelia almost thought her father was jesting, but he did send a line by aunt Sophia. It might not have added to her happiness if she had seen its contents, however. Perhaps the doctor had attended ladies’ lap-dogs before. At least he made no hesitation in pouring a little crystallized powder down his throat, which soon relieved him of all the ills of life. Aunt Sophia sent in a line to say that poor Flossy was dead, and the children had buried him at the foot of the apple tree. There were a good many tears shed that evening by one member of the family, and Adelia thought her father quite hard-hearted to turn to his newspaper with so much interest, right after she had told him of her affliction. She wished to run over at once to her friend Henrietta for consolation, and her mother permitted her to go for awhile. She found that young lady deeply immersed in dress-fitting anxieties, her dress-makers happening not to please her, so she had no eyes or ears for her friend’s sorrows. She listened with the greatest indifference to her account of poor Flossy’s untimely end, and only offered the consoling remark:— “It was only what you might have expected, sending him away from home, and sending him to the care of another. I never permit any one else to have the charge of my little darling,” and she stopped in the midst of her employment to give him a caress. Adelia speedily drew her visit to a close, and when she returned was ready to accompany her mother on a walk. She began to realize the truth which her mother had sought to impress upon her, that mere fashionable friendships were very unsubstantial affairs. They were worth but little at times when we felt we needed them most. But where was her mother taking her? This was a portion of the town she had never visited before. She almost shrank back with dismay from the narrow alley they entered, where they were obliged to pick their way very carefully through the rubbish which littered the sidewalk. But her mother knew the way, and stopped at last before a crumbling doorway, which Adelia almost feared to enter. Knocking softly at a door, it was speedily opened, and the two entered an apartment which, with all its poverty, was a pleasant contrast to all without. The bare walls were whitewashed, and the floor was clean, and so was the little pallet in the corner where lay a form as white as the little dress it wore. A bowed and heart-broken mother went back to her station at the foot of the little bed as soon as her guests were seated. No word could she utter, but she folded back the white covering from the little waxen form, and then her sobs and moans broke forth afresh. Adelia’s ready tears flowed forth in sympathy, and her mother’s eyes were dim even while she gently strove to lift the poor woman’s thoughts up to that blessed land where Jesus will gather all the tender lambs into his bosom. “I know, ma’am, it is much better for her, the beautiful rose-bud; but, Oh! the weary nights and days for me that’s to come. She’ll never nestle up to her poor mother’s bosom in the dark night again, when the noises in the house and street frighten her. Poor lamb! I was forced to leave her the day she was taken sick to take home some work to a lady. She kept me waiting in the hall for an hour before I could see her, and then, ma’am, she would give me no money. ‘She hadn’t it by her,’ she said, ‘and I must call again.’ O ma’am, it made my blood run cold in me to hear her say that. She, with her wealth and plenty, didn’t know what a death-stroke it was to me, with my darling sick, and me not a penny to buy her a sup of milk, or a thing to refresh her. I came back to the room, though I was blind and dizzy with famine, but I could have found my child, I believe, if I had been blindfolded. I carried her up and down the room, rocked her in my arms till she fell asleep, and then I stole out with my shawl on my arm to the pawnbroker’s shop. It was the last thing I had that was worth their looking at, and it brought me enough to buy some things for her and a stale loaf for myself. There’s some of it left there still. It seems as if I could never taste food again. But I must make haste with my work, or I shall not get the money to pay for my baby’s burial, and I can’t bear to see her rattled off over the stones in a pine coffin like a poor beggar child.” She reached out her hand, and took up a paper which contained her work, a beautiful piece of braiding on a jacket of violet merino. “Why, that is just like Henrietta Bradshaw’s new dress,” said Adelia. “She has it made with a jacket just like that, and it was to be braided in just such a pattern. We selected it from a magazine.” “It is for that same young lady, Miss, and I only hope I may please her—though she might have let me wait, when my baby lay dead in the house,” she said, almost bitterly. “Oh, Henrietta will not ask you to do it now?” said Adelia earnestly. “She could not do such a thing. I am sure she would pay you beforehand, and allow you to finish it afterward.” “If she will pay me when it is done, Miss, I shall be thankful; but it was of her I begged the money that was due me, so I could buy food for my dying child, but it was refused me.” It seemed incredible to the warm-hearted Adelia that any one could be so hard-hearted; but she did not reflect how rapidly she was drifting in the same direction. After her mother had given the woman a sum sufficient for present necessity, and left the contents of the little basket she carried, she took Adelia’s hand and walked away toward their own pleasant home again. Oh, how different the world seemed when they were out once more in the broad sunny street, away from that dismal alley! Yet Adelia’s thoughts went constantly back to the poor woman alone with her great sorrow. There was no escape for her into the bright sunshine of life again. “Oh, mother, I do not know how she can bear it,” she said at last. “This is one of the real sorrows of life, my child. There is nothing like meeting such a grief as this face to face, to cure us of a great many fanciful sorrows.” “You will never see me cry for Flossy again, mother. It may do very well for a plaything, but I see it was nothing to love and mourn for when there are such sorrows as this in the world.” The mother’s heart rose up in a prayer of thanksgiving, to find that the lesson she had sought to teach had been learned; and she also prayed that it might be lasting. “But can Henrietta know the truth of the case, mother, and yet insist on having her work done at once?” “I suppose she does not realize the poor mother’s grief as you do, Adelia. But when the heart is so given up to the frivolities of fashion, and the love of what should be only an occasional diversion, it grows hard very fast. Can you not realize that, my dear?” Adelia blushed and held down her head, for she remembered how pettish she had grown of late, when the baby or little Fred required her attention. She thought, with a shiver, what it would be to see those little meddlesome fingers, that often tried her so, lying cold and waxen white like those of the little one she had just left. In her heart she felt that she could never be so impatient with them again. The lesson which she learned in that dreary alley was one of life-long service to her. From that hour she took a more intelligent151 interest in the sorrows and sufferings of the poor and needy, and even learned to deny herself that she might relieve their wants. She had, it is true, a succession of pets, and was seldom without one. Mother was glad to see these marks of a tender and loving spirit toward the little creatures God had given to be with us, and that never again was one permitted to steal away the time and service which belonged to parents, brothers, and friends, or to the Lord’s poor and suffering ones. Who are sowing? who are sowing?
These young children now at play;
And the scattered seeds are growing,
Night by night and day by day;
Some with fruitful grain are shooting;
Some will only weeds produce,
Which, alas, will need uprooting,
Ere the soil be fit for use. Who are sowing? Those just leaving
Childhood and its sports behind;
Hearts with golden visions heaving,
Are they sowing to the wind?
If they toil, on Christ relying;
If his glory be their aim;
They may hope, with hope undying,
They shall reap immortal fame. Who are sowing? Those expending
Manhood's years for objects vain;
Earth beyond no thought extending,
What shall be their future gain?
Who are sowing? Those still clinging
To the dregs of life misspent;
Tares around their footsteps springing,
Earnest of their doom present. Who are sowing? who are sowing?
Children, manhood, youth, and age,
And the scattered seeds are growing,
Putting forth at every stage;
Soon will dawn the day of reaping—
Soon the gathering time will come;
When, each seed its promise keeping,
All shall bear their harvest home. Use of Wine by Bible Characters.
It being often argued that wine of an intoxicating nature was used by some of the most eminent characters of the Bible, we have only to glance at the effects to see the absurdity of making such a course an example to be followed. It will be found that the effects were notably evil whenever any effects whatever are recorded. Noah’s Drunkenness.—“And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard; and he drank of the wine and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent.” Gen. 9 : 20, 21. This is the very first mention of wine in the Bible. Its effect upon Noah show that it was intoxicating. It so muddled the brain of this great and good man that he lost all sense of propriety, and fell into a state of insensibility in his tent, in a condition of indecent exposure. This unfortunate occurrence also became the occasion of national misfortune to one line of Noah’s descendants, through the disrespect of one of his sons. No doubt the first effect of the wine was exhilarating. Doubtless it dispelled from Noah’s mind all anxiety about the future prosperity of his extensive plantation, which was to be repeopled, resubdued, and tilled by himself and his descendants. But that it also blunted those other finer sensibilities of his nature, which should always be acute and active, is quite apparent. Surely, then, there can be nothing here to recommend the use of wine. Lot’s Shame.—The next undisputed mention of wine is in Gen. 19 : 34-36. In this instance, the wine employed was doubtless of the kind called “mixed wine,” which possessed most powerful intoxicating properties. The effects in this case were anything but such as would recommend the use of wine; for they led the righteous Lot—who had dwelt in Sodom so many years, surrounded with wickedness, yet preserving his integrity—to commit a crime even worse than that for perpetrating which the lecherous Sodomites were smitten with blindness. Nadab and Abihu.—These two sons of Aaron, while under the influence of drink, were so presumptuous as to directly disobey the express command of the Almighty by offering strange fire upon the sacred altar. In consequence of this daring act of disobedience, they were suddenly smitten with death by the hand of the Lord, who evidently designed by this summary act of justice to render them an example to succeeding generations. This is a most striking illustration of the influence of alcohol to render the mind incapable of distinguishing between sacred and common things. It has an unmistakable influence to blunt the moral sensibilities of men. It certainly will not be argued that in any of these instances the use of fermented or intoxicating wine was beneficial. While there is no evidence in the Bible that the use of intoxicating wine ever did, or ever could do, any one the slightest possible good, we have the illustrious example of some of the most eminent Bible characters as teetotalers. The Israelites.—During the sojourn of the children of Israel in Egypt, they were, undoubtedly, total abstainers, since their masters, the Egyptians, at that time made no use of any fermented liquor. During their journey in the wilderness, the Israelites were of necessity abstainers, their only drink being the purest water from the rock. To this long discipline of temperance might be largely attributed that hardihood, fortitude, and bravery, which enabled them to sweep out with astonishing rapidity the enervated nations of Palestine, who had wasted their energies by intemperate and riotous living, and were thus easily vanquished, though protected by strong walls and fortresses. The Nazarites.—At the time of the establishment of the ceremonial law, there was also instituted an order of teetotalers. They dedicated themselves wholly to the service of God; and one of the conditions of the dedication was total abstinence from the use of wine. To insure a perfect observance of the pledge, all wine was prohibited, whether fermented or unfermented. Many of the finest personages of the Bible were members of this class. It is quite probable that Daniel and his three Hebrew brethren were Nazarites, since they refused to drink the king’s wine, preferring pulse and water. Samson.—This Hebrew Hercules was a teetotaler from his birth. None of his muscles were weakened by alcoholic degeneration. None of his nerves were paralyzed by stimulants. He was a Nazarite, and is a fair illustration of the incompatibility of alcohol with strength. Milo, the famous Greek who rivaled Samson in his prodigious strength, was likewise a total abstainer, as well as a vegetarian. The Rechabites.—These were a sort of family temperance society. They abstained from the use of wine because commanded to do so by their father; and the Lord commended them for their constancy. If the sons of the present age were as careful to follow the commands of their fathers as were those of ancient times, there would certainly be fewer drunkards. But drink deprives a youth of natural affection. It leads him to trample upon the authority of his father, and treat with contempt the prayers and tears of a loving mother. What a terrible monster is drink! The Essenes.—The class of Jews known by this name were very temperate in all their habits. They were strict teetotalers, carefully avoiding the slightest indulgence in fermented drinks. They were noted for their rigorous piety. It is thought by many that John the Baptist was a member of this class. He was a Nazarite, at least. Timothy must have been a total abstainer, since it was necessary for Paul to advise him to take a little wine (sweet wine) for his “stomach’s sake.” There would have been no propriety in such advice had he been in the habit of using wine. History, as well as the Bible, furnishes numerous examples of temperance. Pythagoras, one of the most renowned philosophers of ancient times, was an advocate of total abstinence. Neither himself nor his followers made use of the wine. Wine was prohibited to those who were training for competition at the national games. It appears evident, indeed, that there have always been societies analogous to temperance societies, or organizations opposed to the use of intoxicating drinks. There are, even at the present day, barbarous tribes, the individuals of which are strict abstainers, the use of wine being prohibited by their religion. The relation of the Bible to temperance may be summed up in the following brief conclusions to which the evidence presented must lead us:—- The use of intoxicating drinks is not commanded in the Bible.
- The use of fermented wine is not recommended.
- Its use is not countenanced either as a harmless practice or a necessary evil.
- Total abstinence is nowhere condemned.
- Many texts commend abstinence, and some command it.
- There is nothing in the Scriptures which disagrees with the principles of total abstinence, and nothing which sustains moderate drinking.
- Hence, the Bible agrees with science and common sense in denouncing the use of intoxicating liquors, and commending temperance.
In the face of these facts, can any person who has a particle of faith in the inspiration of the Scriptures, and in man’s accountability to his Creator, continue to indulge in the use of wine in any degree whatever? We cannot see how it would be possible for an individual to do so and still preserve “a conscience void of offense.”—Health Tract. RELIGIOUS NEWS AND NOTES.
—The Y. M. C. A. at Auburn, N. Y., has recently received a legacy of $14,000. —It is stated that for the 915 Baptist churches of Illinois there are only 447 pastors. —Nine Chinamen were recently baptized and received into the Methodist church in San Jose. —Twenty-five counties of Virginia have refused to grant license for the sale of intoxicating liquors. —Mrs. Rebecca Anderson, who is 112 years of age, was recently baptized by immersion in a Brooklyn church. —Mr. Moody has incurred the displeasure of the New York Ledger, by cautioning the public against reading that journal. —Of the thirty-six crowned heads in Europe, ten are Roman Catholic, two are of the Greek separation, and twenty-four are nominally Protestant. —The National Temperance Society has addressed a memorial to the legislature of New York, asking that no additional facilities be given to the liquor traffic. —The charitable legacies from the estate of the late Roxana Childs, Utica, N. Y., have been paid, amounting, with previous legacies, to the princely sum of nearly $300,000. —Two Congregational churches in New England have refused to call two students of the Senior Class of Andover Seminary, on account of their being addicted to the use of tobacco. —Forty years ago the whole population of the Fiji Islands were cannibals. Now forty thousand of the children attend the Sunday-schools, and thousands of the people attend Christian churches. —The English revisers of the Old Testament have held forty-three sessions, and carried their work as far as 2 Kings 14 : 16. The New Testament revisers have reached the eighth chapter of Revelation. —It is affirmed that between three and four thousand members of the established church have joined the free church movement during the past year in different parts of England. This church is in communion with the Reformed Episcopal church of the United States. —There are now some 3,000 orthodox Christians in Japan. The schools in that country are also increasing both in number and size. At Yeddo, a lithographic establishment, under the charge of Father Nicholas, is in operation, and books have already begun to appear. —The British and Foreign Bible Society has made arrangements with Rev. R. Van Eck, who for eleven years has been a missionary of the Utrecht Missionary Society, to translate the gospel of St. Mark into the language spoken by the natives of Bali, an island of 800,000 inhabitants in the Indian Archipelago. If he succeeds, it will lead to the translation of the whole New Testament. —The Christian Union says: “The adoration of the Virgin appears to be no longer confined to the Roman Catholic church. At St. Agnes’ church, London, there are back of the chancel two full-length representations, one of the Virgin and child, the other of the Saviour, placed side by side, and both surrounded by a halo. The Bishop of London at first refused to consecrate the church; the Virgin was then removed and plain glass left in its place. The figure has been since restored, and the church authorities insist that the crown of glory on the head has been removed, but the reporters say that they are not able to distinguish any difference between the treatment of Mary and of Christ.” —France consumed 600 tons of cigarettes in 1876. —In 1870 one-fifth of Egypt was said to belong to the Khedive and his family. —Dr. Schliemann, the explorer of buried Greek cities, will soon re-visit America. —The blackbirds are making a successful war on the grasshoppers in Western Iowa. —More than thirty car-loads of immigrants arrived in San Francisco from April 27 to May 3. —The Legislature of Minnesota has passed a bill authorizing women to practice law in all the courts of that State. —Sage brush, which has hitherto been regarded as valueless, is being gathered and sold, by the cord, for fuel in Nevada. —The extra session of Congress, which for several weeks has been understood would convene on the 4th of June, has been postponed until October 15. —A train of twenty cars containing silks and teas from China and Japan has recently made the trip between San Francisco and New York in ten days. —There are at present 1295 convicts in the State’s prison at San Quentin, of whom only six are females. A new cell building is to be constructed immediately. —Four-ninths of the clerks of the various departments in Washington have been dismissed, or notified of dismissal at an early date. The remainder are reduced in salaries. —Ex-President Grant, wife and daughter, sail for England, May 10. He goes to visit his only daughter who was married to an English gentleman a few years since. —The small-pox and diphtheria epidemics in San Francisco are on the wane, there being but 11 deaths from small-pox and 76 from diphtheria during the month of April, while in March there were 39 deaths from small-pox, and 110 from diphtheria. —Two ladies have received diplomas in the King and Queen’s University, Dublin, and the London University has just decided to admit women to medical diplomas. Women can now receive a whole medical course, preliminary and clinical, in London. —It is positively asserted that ten persons were buried alive by a terrible landslide on the bank of a small stream 100 miles east of Montreal. Over an acre of land moved, burying a saw and grist mill, and a house, and turning the course of the river. Five bodies have been recovered. —The loss of life and property by the St. Louis fire was much less than was first reported, still the accident was of sufficient magnitude to serve as a precaution to provide fire-escapes, and safety shafts for large hotels to furnish the occupants with means of speedy escape in case of fire. —Among several counterfeiters who were recently arrested by the Secret Service, was the Hon. Thomas W. Marion, of Green county, Pa., who formerly represented that county in the legislature. He sold counterfeit money to one of the government officials, and represented that he had frequently addressed the Assembly with his pockets full of counterfeit money. —Brigham Young recently preached a sermon justifying the Mountain Meadows massacre on the ground that the Gentiles had killed the original Mormon Prophet, Joe Smith, and had driven the Mormons from Missouri and other States by force of arms. He concluded by defying any power, “in Heaven or in hell,” to overthrow his church, assuring his hearers that the Mormons would continue their practices and dot the whole of Utah with their temples. It is doubtless in view of this and many other like utterances of the Prophet that the Mormons fear his arrest. —A dispatch from Utah, May 3, says: “Mormons throughout the Territory are secretly arming, equipping and drilling, with a view to resist the arrest of Brigham Young should the present Grand Jury, which is composed of Gentiles, find an indictment against him. The Mormon co-operative store, which concern is controlled by Brigham himself, is receiving and shipping to various settlements in the Territory large quantities of ammunition and breech-loading rifles. Reports confirming these facts are coming in from all quarters, and a feeling of uneasiness among the Gentiles is manifesting itself.” —Hon. John B. Felton, one of San Francisco’s oldest and most famous lawyers, died at his residence in this city, Wednesday, May 2, having suffered about twelve days from a stroke of paralysis which affected his entire right side. John Brooks Felton was born in Saugus, Mass., in 1828, and at the age of nineteen entered Harvard College where his brother, C. C. Felton, was Professor of Greek and afterward became President. In 1851 John Felton graduated and became tutor in the college. He afterward entered law school from which he graduated in 1853 with the degree of LL.B. He then visited France, where he remained between one and two years, engaging in pleasure seeking and the study of French laws, in which latter he became a very fine scholar. After returning from France he came almost immediately to California, located in San Francisco, and became known to fame in many of the heaviest land suits in the State. He it was who persuaded James Lick (deceased) to set aside his first deed of trust, and to supply the second, for which act he received the comfortable sum of $100,000. In politics he was a Union man. At the first election of Grant in 1868, he was one of the Electors, and was also chosen to the same position on the Republican ticket at the last Presidential election. He served one term as Mayor of Oakland, and was twice a candidate for United States Senator, receiving each time only a few votes. The funeral services were held Friday, in the St. John’s Episcopal church, Oakland. A large procession was formed at his late residence and followed him to the church and from thence to the Mountain View Cemetery, where, after the burial rites of the Masonic Order were performed, his body was carefully deposited. Thus closes the life of another of California’s “great men.”