Religious News and Notes.
By Editor
—A bill before the Legislature of Vermont prohibits gambling even in churches! —The Illinois Legislature is favorably considering a bill to tax church property. —Pope Leo XIII. proposes to make important changes in the government of the Catholic church in the United States. —A lady visitor of the First Congregational Church in Chicago recently reported having made 3,607 calls during the year 1878. —Sensationalism is running wild in the pulpit. "The first prayer-meeting in Hell," was the subject of a recent discourse in Providence. —The American Baptist mission in India numbered twenty-three converts in the first ten years; after that they increased rapidly. —Dr. Budington resigned the pastorate of the Clinton avenue Congregational church in Brooklyn. He was appointed pastor "emeritus" at a salary to be fixed at the annual meeting. —The Oakland Times is sharp on Beecher's church. It says if half his congregation was starved out by those other heathen across the Ocean he would not be in favor of the Chinese. —The Independent, answering a question takes occasion to say, "We do not care to defend infant baptism, which is at best a comparatively unimportant, if not questionable rite." —The Saxe-Meiningen (Germany) Legislature has passed a law that persons of full age may leave the State Church by certain formalities. They may form dissenting churches under certain conditions. —The following is worth a credit—it is from the Christian at Work: "The most obstinate malady to cure among church and society workers is that of the man who can't do anything now, because he wasn't consulted before." —The Christian Examiner says that "baptism is a part of regeneration; it is the finishing act of the regeneration." To which the Religious Herald (also Baptist) says, "Hold to that, brother, and not many regenerated people will hold to you." —Elder S. Logan of the Christian church recently died in Scott's Valley, Lake Co., Cal., in a manner which led to suspicion of foul play. A postmortem examination revealed the presence of strychnine in his stomach. His widow and a son are under arrest. —A preacher in Kentucky who was annoyed by the turning of heads to the door, said, "Ladies, if you will give me your close attention I will keep a lookout on that door, and if anything worse than a man enters I will warn you in time to make your escape." —The Baptist Weekly, noticing that a clerical imposter had been arrested in Wales, and sent to prison, says, "If that rogue had pursued the same course here the deacons would have advised him to leave town immediately, and before six weeks he would be preaching in some new field." —The Christian Statesman says there is a wide-spread desire on the part of railroad managers to stop Sunday passenger trains, but they are compelled to continue them by competing lines; especially by those lines which carry through mails. It thinks legislation by the General Government will soon put a stop to this. —It is reported that Pope Leo is considering whether it is advisable to call an Ecumenical Council. Also that he has admonished various prelates for the company they keep, others for their private life, and published a prohibition to priests not to dress as laymen at night, or frequent the theatres. Rather "a new departure." —There are in the German Empire 14,900,000 Catholics; in Austria-Hungary, 23,900,000; in France, 35,390,000; in Great Britain and Ireland, 6,000,000; in Italy, 26,660,000; in Spain, 16,500,000; in European Russia, 7,500,000; in Belgium, 4,920,000; and in the Netherlands, 1,235,000. Making 137,005,000. So says the New York Tablet. —The Independent says, "Look out next week for an irruption of Seventh-day arguments from the Sabbath Recorder and other seventh-day journals. A Sunday-school lesson on Sabbath-keeping is close at hand." The Independent seems to understand where their vulnerable point is. In advance of the "arguments" we will thank it for distinguishing between Sunday and the Sabbath. —Mr. Kalloch's sermon in San Francisco last Sunday was on the "school frauds." He said:—"The whole investigation was cruel and unjust, and the result exceedingly unsatisfactory. It is this conundrum-question that should be investigated. These catch-questions propounded by men incompetent to answer them themselves naturally leads to bargain and sale; the system is wrong and tends to corruption." —There was great excitement at Yreka, Cal., over a funeral which took place February 2. The deceased, a young man, had neglected the confessional, and the priest objected to his being buried in the ground of the Catholic church. The firemen and citizens, including many Catholics were determined that he should be buried there, though the priest protested, and tried to get the aid of the sheriff to prevent it. The procession was the largest had as strong backing as in the Laborde case in Canada there would doubtless have been trouble. Californians would hardly endure priestly dictation as patiently as the Canadians.