News and Notes by Editor

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Jun 10, 1889

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 15, No. 22.

News and Notes.

By Editor

RELIGIOUS.

—On Tagu Landang and Sijauw, the southernmost islands of the Saugir and Talaut groups northeast of Celebes, the number of Christians has increased from 15 in 1870 to 6,000 in 1886, and now includes a fifth of the population. One hundred and fifty-two persons were baptized in 1886, and 450 in 1887.

—There are about 1,000 Chinamen connected with the Congregational Churches of California and Oregon. They contribute about $2,500 for home mission work, and have organized a foreign missionary society, and with $1,400 as a starter, have sent two missionaries, one a Chinaman, back to China to do work there.

—Rev. John Jasper, the famous colored preacher, who advocates that "de sun do move," has just closed a remarkable series of meetings in Richmond, Va. Two hundred converts were baptized in the James River, at that place recently. It is estimated that ten thousand persons witnessed the service, which continued two hours.

—"We have much reason," says the Evangelist, "to believe that it is a matter of widespread regret that the contemplated union between the Presbyterian and Congregational Churches in Japan, which was expected to take place last January, was for a time postponed. Of course this delay may in the end have its advantages. But notwithstanding this, it has been a disappointment to many."

—The statistics of the Roman Catholic Church in this country show that there are about one-fifth of the nation belonging to that branch of Christianity. The Catholic hierarchy has existed on our shores just one hundred years. The chancellors of the various dioceses furnish figures which show that of the 12,000,000 who acknowledge the supremacy of the Pope, New England and the Middle States have 5,822,831, the Western States 5,117,565, and the Southern States 1,215,576.

—The religieuses called Presentation nuns are the only cloistered order of the Catholic Church on the Pacific Coast. It is a rule of their society to never go outside the convent walls after their reception of the black veil. Nuns with relatives living in the same city have been refused even the presence of their mothers while in their dying hours. There is now a convent in San Francisco in which are several inmates who have not been outside the institution for twenty years. Archbishop Riordan is thinking of changing this custom and making it possible for the nuns of this class to visit the sick and poor like the other orders.

—The Mid-Continent says: "Much interest has been taken in the movement for union between the Presbyterian and Congregational Churches in Japan. The missions of the Northern and Southern churches are already united. An agreement among themselves was reached last November, but the Congregationalists were restrained from action by formal objection of their brethren in this country. This opposition came especially from the American Board of Missions, into whose treasury thousands of dollars from Presbyterians have been poured annually for many years. The subject is to be taken up again in Japan this month, with some modifications of the proposed plan of union. It seems highly probable that the union will be accomplished."

—The Rev. John Liggins states in his great work on "Foreign Missions" that in Madagascar, where, as late as 1857, nearly 2,000 people were put to death for adhering to the Christian faith, there are 1,200 churches and 71,586 communicants. The native churches during the past ten years have given nearly $1,000,000 for the spread of the gospel. No nation, with perhaps the exception of the Japanese, has made so much progress and has shown so much vigor for development in Christianity and civilization as the people of Madagascar during the last twenty years. The societies laboring there, in the order of the number of their missionaries and converts, are the London Missionary Society, the Norwegian Missionary Society, the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, and the English Friends' Mission.

—Of religious instruction in the public schools the Journal of Education says: "In Belgium religious teaching is usually given at the commencement or at the end of school hours, but children are excused if parents request it. In Austria the religious teaching is under the supervision of the church; in Bavaria it is a part of the curriculum, and is given by the parish priest. In Holland the school-house may be used by the priests only out of school hours. In Hungary arrangements are made for every denomination to provide some religious instruction in the schools. In Norway the Lutheran religion is taught. In Prussia religious instruction is compulsory. In Saxony the master teaches the Protestant religion, the priest also teaching, where the pupils are Catholics. Religion is taught in Sweden, but pupils are excused upon the request of parents. In Wurtemberg one-third of the school time is given to religious instruction."