Religious and European News
By Editor
Commenting upon the European war cloud and the recent visit of the Duke of Cambridge to Spain, the London Post dwells upon the necessity of keeping Gibraltar and Malta impregnable, and hints at the sending of heavier and better guns to those strongholds. “For the second time in the history of the world,” says the Standard, “a bishopric has been declined. The first instance, so far as known, was that of John Hooper, in England, about three hundred years ago. The second is that of Dr. Henry Satterlee, of New York, who declines the Episcopal bishopric of Michigan.” March 2 was the Pope’s seventy-ninth birthday, which he celebrated by receiving a number of Cardinals, who tendered their congratulations. In reply the Pope said that it was impossible for him in the present position of the Papacy to perform his duties as the head of the church in an independent manner. He complained of the delay in the granting of royal exequaturs to the Italian bishops, and said his appointments were subjected to scrutiny. He referred to the oppressions of the new Penal Code, and the suppression of the funds of fraternities. The Standard (Baptist) complains that in Washington City “the first day of the week is not the day of repose required by the fourth commandment.” If by this the Standard means that the first day of the week is not the seventh (for that is the one specified in the commandment), the statement certainly cannot be disputed; but if by it the Standard means that Sunday is not observed as required by the fourth commandment, it only remains to say that the fourth command says nothing of Sunday observance.