RELIGIOUS NEWS AND NOTES.
—An American pilgrimage will reach Rome about June. —Mr. Moody says a Scotchman has counted 31,000 promises in the Bible. —The faculty of Harvard College have finally decided to admit woman to the full privileges of the University. —Rev. E. P. Hammond, with whose labors as an evangelist our California readers are quite well acquainted, is about to begin meetings in Terre Haute, Indiana. —The Romish Cathedral in New York wished to connect their sewerage, without charge, with the street sewers, and thus save $700. The Common Council granted it, and the mayor vetoed the grant, but the council passed the ordinance over the veto. So much for having a Catholic majority in the council. —A Roman Catholic association has been established in Belgium for the purpose of “buying up and destroying copies of the Scriptures and other bad books circulated by Protestants.” “A place has also been established,” coolly remarks a contemporary, “in which to gather and appropriately reward the members of this association after they have filled up the measure of their iniquity.” —“One of the most remarkable temperance revivals in all history” is being held in Pittsburg, by Mr. Francis Murphy, a reformed and converted drunkard. “He was unheralded, and had no support from the churches,” says an exchange, and yet “tens of thousands have signed the pledge, large numbers have been converted, and saloon-keepers are giving up their traffic, and writing ‘To Let,’ on their closed doors.” —An important clause of the Italian Clerical Abuses bill makes it a penal offense to publish writings proceeding from any clerical authority censuring the laws of the State. This evident aim at the speeches of the Pope has infuriated the clerical journals. The Pope ordered the College of Cardinals to examine the bill, which was done, and the College declared that it violates the liberty of the clergy. The Pope will protest—and anathematize. —A whole village of Switzerland has gone over in mass from the Catholic to the Protestant church, because they suspected the Catholic curate of removing a favorite teacher from their school. They could get no help from the Bishop, and the mayor and the whole community have called a Protestant pastor. —Seven hundred and fifty Chinese attend the Mission schools of San Francisco. About one thousand go every Sunday to the Sunday-schools. Three hundred Chinese have been received as members of the Protestant churches of California, and in addition to these church members there are seven hundred Chinese in Christian associations for learning Christian doctrine. —According to Saddler’s Catholic Directory for 1877, there are now 5,292 Roman Catholic churches in the United States, 5,297 priests, exclusive of higher ecclesiastical dignitaries, and an estimated Catholic population of 6,209,000. To serve these more than 1,200 young men are preparing for the priesthood in the theological seminaries, besides the numbers who trained in the discipline of religious orders, will in time receive holy orders. —The German Baptists, or Dunkards, have issued their first weekly paper in Lanark, Ill., entitled The Brethren at Work. The name by which they are commonly known is a nick-name; the acknowledged title of the sect is “Brethren.” They originated in Germany in 1708, and in 1819 came to Pennsylvania, under the leadership of Alexander Mack, and settled at Germantown, now a part of Philadelphia. They are uncompromising peace men, and will not, under any circumstances, take part in war. Litigation among their members is absolutely forbidden, differences being settled by church councils. In dress they resemble the Quakers. Ministers among them receive no salaries, but follow secular callings.