What is the cause of Satan’s special attack on the remnant? — “The dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Rev. 12:17.
What is the “testimony of Jesus Christ”? — “The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” Rev. 19:10.
For whom was the spirit of prophecy given? — “Prophecying serveth not for them that believe not, but for them which believe.” 1 Cor. 14:22.
Who will have to answer for the blood of all the prophets? — The church. See Matt. 23:34, 35. “That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.”
Did any prophets ever perish outside of Jerusalem? — “It can not be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee.” Luke 13:33, 34.
Who will have to answer for all the persecution of God’s people? — “With violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down. . . . And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.” Rev. 18:21, 24.
Where shall we find the most dangerous snares? — “Do not forget that the most dangerous snares which Satan has prepared for the church will come through its own members who do not love God supremely or their neighbor as themselves. Satan is continually striving to wedge himself in between brethren. . . . There are some who are deceived in themselves. While flattering themselves that they are doing God’s work, they are playing into the hands of the great deceiver, and rendering him effectual service. Beware of these deceptions.” — “Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. V, page 477. “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock. . . . For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.” Acts 20:28–30.
What will we soon find in the church? — “The days are fast approaching when there will be great perplexity and confusion. Satan, clothed in angel robes, will deceive, if possible, the very elect. There will be gods many and lords many. Every wind of doctrine will be blowing.” — Vol. V, page 80.
What will be the bond of union of God’s people? — “All who take the word of God as their rule of life are brought into close relationship with one another. The Bible is their bond of union.” — Id., page 389.
What will those who think they have special light do? — “He is not a man who will entertain what he believes to be special light without imparting it to others; therefore it is not safe to give him influence that will enable him to unsettle other minds.” — Id., page 292.
Of what are we warned? — “It is opening a door through which Satan will rush in many errors to divert the mind from the importance of the truth for this time. Brethren, as an ambassador of Christ I warn you to beware of these side-issues, whose tendency is to divert the mind from the truth. Error is never harmless. It never sanctifies, but always brings confusion and dissension. It is always dangerous.” — Id.
What course should those pursue who think they have special light? — “The only safety for any of us is in receiving no new doctrine, no new interpretation of the Scriptures, without first submitting it to brethren of experience. Lay it before them in a humble, teachable spirit, with earnest prayer; and if they see no light in it, yield to their judgment; for ‘in the multitude of counselors there is safety.’” — Id., page 293.
What subject should be given especial attention at the present time? — “But such subjects as the sanctuary, in connection with the twenty-three hundred days, the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus, are perfectly calculated to explain the past Advent movement and show what our present position is, establish the faith of the doubting and give certainty to the glorious future. These, I have frequently seen, were the principal subjects on which the messengers should dwell.” — “Early Writings,” Experience and Views, pages 53, 54.
Can one escape the perils before us without this knowledge? — “The subject of the sanctuary and the investigative judgment should be clearly understood by the people of God. All need a knowledge for themselves of the position and work of their great High Priest. Otherwise, it will be impossible for them to exercise the faith which is essential at this time, or to occupy the position which God designs them to fill. . . . All who have received the light upon these subjects are to bear testimony of the great truths which God has committed to them. The sanctuary in heaven is the very center of Christ’s work in behalf of men. It concerns every soul living upon the earth. It opens to view the plan of redemption, bringing us down to the very close of time, and revealing the triumphant issue of the contest between righteousness and sin. It is of the utmost importance that all should thoroughly investigate these subjects, and be able to give an answer to every one that asketh them a reason of the hope that is in them.” — “Great Controversy,” pages 488, 489.
How will the Third Angel’s Message close? — “The third angel closes his message thus: ‘Here is the patience of the saints; here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.’ As he repeated these words, he pointed to the heavenly sanctuary. The minds of all who embrace this message are directed to the most holy place, where Jesus stands before the ark, making his final intercession for all those for whom mercy still lingers, and for those who have ignorantly broken the law of God. This atonement is made for the righteous dead as well as for the righteous living.” — “Early Writings,” Spiritual Gifts, page 117.
If the study of the work in the heavenly sanctuary is neglected, in what condition may the worshipers be found? — “I turned to look at the company who were still bowed before the throne; they did not know that Jesus had left it. Satan appeared to be by the throne, trying to carry on the work of God. I saw them look up to the throne, and pray, ‘Father, give us thy Spirit.’ Satan would then breathe upon them an unholy influence; in it there was light and much power, but no sweet love, joy, and peace. Satan’s object was to keep them deceived, and to draw back and deceive God’s children.” — Id., Experience and Views, pages 46, 47. “Many who embraced the third message had not had an experience in the two former messages. Satan understood this, and his evil eye was upon them to overthrow them; but the third angel was pointing them to the most holy place, and those who had had an experience in the past messages were pointing them the way to the heavenly sanctuary. Many saw the perfect chain of truth in the angels’ messages, and gladly received them in their order, and followed Jesus by faith into the heavenly sanctuary. These messages were represented to me as an anchor to the people of God. Those651who understand and receive them will be kept from being swept away by the many delusions of Satan.” — Id., Spiritual Gifts, page 119.
The subject of the sanctuary should be kept before our people. We should study the special work of our High Priest as he intercedes before the ark of God in the heavenly sanctuary. It is not enough for our people simply to acknowledge the fact; but we should understand our relation to Christ’s work, and its relation to us. We may have a theory of this, and not be benefited by the work itself. When this is the case, it is the same as if we had no knowledge even of the theory. An understanding of this work of the atonement will prevent any extreme moves, or the making of the hearts of God’s people sad, whom “he has not made sad.”
S. N. H.
AS A BUILDING.
By John Norton Loughborough
Christ is presented in the Scriptures as the foundation stone upon which all true faith and hope are built. His church is called a building, erected upon this solid basis. In these words we read the Lord’s prediction concerning the security of the work: “Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation.” Isa. 28: 16. One reason assigned for the surety of the stone is that it has been tested, as seen by reading the following stirring words:—
“Our Redeemer is a ‘Tried Stone.’ The experiment has been made, the great test has been applied, and with perfect success. In him is fulfilled all the purpose of God for the saving of a lost world. Never was a foundation subject to so severe a trial and test as was this ‘Tried Stone.’ The Lord Jehovah knew what this foundation stone could sustain. The sins of the whole world could be piled upon it. The Lord’s chosen were to be revealed, heaven’s gates to be thrown open to all who would believe; its untold glories were to be given to the overcomers.
“‘A Tried Stone is Christ,’ tried by the perversity of man. Thou, O our Saviour, hast taken the burden; thou hast given peace and rest; thou hast been tried, proved, by believers who have taken their trials to thy sympathy, their sorrows to thy love, their wounds to thy healing, their weakness to thy strength, their emptiness to thy fullness; and never, never, has one soul been disappointed. Jesus, my Tried Stone, to thee will I come, moment by moment. In thy presence I am lifted above pain. ‘When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the Rock that is higher than I.’ . . .
“‘We are to be sons and daughters of God, growing into a holy temple in the Lord. ‘No more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God. . . . Built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone.’ This is our privilege. How is Heaven amazed at the present condition of the church that could be so much to the world were every stone in its proper place, a living stone to emit light. The stone that does not shine is worthless. That which constitutes the value of our churches is not dead, lustreless stones; but living stones, stones that catch the bright beams from the chief corner stone, even from the Sun of righteousness,—the bright glory in which are combined the beams of mercy and truth that have met together, of righteousness and peace that have kissed each other.”—Mrs. E. G. White, in Review of March 19, 1895.
The apostle Peter, in speaking of the Lord’s church as a building, says: “If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. To whom coming as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 2: 3-5. These sacrifices are not animal flesh, as in the Levitical priesthood; but, as expressed by Paul: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” Rom. 12: 1. David plainly states the sacrifice that is acceptable with God, when he says: “Thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.” Ps. 51: 16, 17.
In the building of this spiritual house mentioned by Peter, the people of God composing the structure are represented as lively stones. What a work to be accomplished in these stones, quarried from the rock of the enemy, before they can be fitly called the lively stones in God’s house. We are exhorted to “look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged.” Isa. 51: 1. The Lord says of his dealing with these rough stones: “Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth.” Hosea 6: 5. Like the tried stone in the foundation, those placed in the building must be tried stones. “Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried.” Dan. 12: 10.
For tried in this text some translations read “thoroughly tested.” Of this testing process we read in the epistle of James, “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.” James 1: 12. The same experience is referred to in Peter’s first epistle, in these words: “But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered awhile, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.” 1 Peter 5: 10. In the letter to the Hebrews the apostle said: “Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.” Heb. 12: 11. This peaceable condition of mind is undoubtedly when they come forth, from the Lord’s training, “as corner stones, polished after the similitude of a palace.” Ps. 144: 12.
There are many scriptures in which the Lord’s people are called a house, but we will refer to a few only: “For every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God. And Moses verily was faithful in all his [God’s] house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after; but Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.” Heb. 3: 4-6. “For we are laborers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.” “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.” 1 Cor. 3: 9, 16, 17. Again we read: “These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly: but if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.” 1 Tim. 3: 14, 15.
In the Ephesian letter Paul speaks of the Lord’s house on this wise: “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: in whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.” Eph. 2: 19-22.
In this connection we quote the following excellent instructions: “The followers of Christ are to be co-workers with their Master; they must be ‘blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom,’ says Paul, ‘ye shine as lights in the world.’ We are to receive the bright beams from the Sun of righteousness, and by our good works let them shine forth to others in clear, steady rays, never fitful, never growing dim. We can not be sure that we are doing no harm to those about us, unless we are exerting a positive influence to lead them heavenward.
“Ye are my witnesses,” said Jesus, and in each act of our lives we should inquire, How will our course affect the interests of the Redeemer’s kingdom? If you are indeed Christ’s disciple, you will choose to walk in his footsteps, however painful this may be to your natural feelings. Said Paul, ‘God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.’ You . . . need to sit at the feet of Jesus, and learn of him, as did Mary of old. God requires of you an entire surrender of your will, your plans and purposes. Jesus is your leader; to him you must look, in him you must trust, and you must permit nothing to deter you from the life of consecration which you owe to God. Your conversation must be in heaven, from whence you look for the Saviour. Your piety must be of a character to make itself felt by all within the sphere of your influence. God requires you in every act of life to shun the very appearance of evil.”—“Testimony for the Church,” No. 32, pages 122, 123.
A church with its members heeding these words will be found “fitly framed together,” with its members “living stones,” emitting the light received from Christ, the Rock of their strength. They are the temple of the living God, the house of God, where his Spirit will delight to take up its continual abode.
J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH.
THE IMAGE OF THE BEAST IN JAPAN.
By B. O. Wade
As with men, so with nations. In the working out of that love which was set on men before the mountains were brought forth or ever the Lord had formed the earth and the world, the dealings of God stand out in bold relief, as in the conflict of truth and error the nations have been ensamples unto succeeding generations. That conflict, during the time of Rome, culminated in the grand victory of the “glorious original of the rights of conscience,” in which the finger of God, being as plain as the hand of man, made the papacy “an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly.” Even in Japan, history has repeated itself in the temporary overthrow of the same error, and the establishment of the Christian idea of the state, and the departure from it, which reveals the working of that science of sin, “the mystery of iniquity;” and which therefore gives to Japan an importance in this “the time of the end.”
When the Protestant missionary reached Japan, he met immediate opposition; for the principles of his government were diametrically opposite to those of the Japanese government. And it was through the abandonment of those principles that Japan gained her position of international intercourse and political equality among the nations, and established constitutional right to liberty of conscience. Other nations achieved the same results through centuries of blood. Here it was accomplished with little discussion, no blood, and in the space of a few years.
The original idea of Japanese ethics was that the state centers in the emperor, “son of the sun,” the conception and embodiment of divinity. This divinity passed from the emperor over to his actions, and still lingers round his picture, which hangs on every public-school wall, before which great and small are compelled to bow once a year, November 3, which is the emperor’s birthday. The emperor’s voice, being the voice of God, and as such to be accepted by the people, is the answer to the question why, at the command from the throne, Japan has thrice changed her religion.
The right of freedom of religious belief is guaranteed to all. This adoption of individualism, a liberal press, and open and easy communications with all parts of the empire, bespeak a rapid spread of the gospel. The existing condition with reference to the separation of religion and state is the same as that enjoyed by the people of the United States, under the Constitution. And as the United States under the Constitution was to all people an example of the Christian idea of civil government, so, in departing from her high privilege, she is no less a guiding spirit to the nations. Since the time when Commodore Perry, with a little gunpowder and a baby’s train of cars, frightened and awed the Japanese government, she has looked, and still continues to look, to the United States as a mother.
That the reader may see the approach of this thing in Japan, and know the certainty of those things wherein he has been instructed, we give a few of the statements of the learned and leading men in these circles, who see the need of, and recognize the12demand for, what they call a “new religion.” The Rev. Minami, discussing, “with his usual broad-mindedness, the subject of Christian education,” is “in favor of publishing an expurgated edition of the Japanese Bible for use in families, like that possessed by Germans. Even with such an edition in use, great care would need to be exercised lest the children carry away wrong notions. Modern science has shown the impossibility of giving traditional interpretation to Genesis 1. The belief in dreams so prominent in the story of Joseph’s life, can not be held up as a type of ordinary life without sowing the seeds of silly superstition in the child’s mind. The story of Adam’s fall needs to be very delicately handled by the teacher. In dealing with the New Testament the same amount of care is required. The story of the miraculous birth of Christ can not be explained as a fact in the light of modern science.”
In view of that, read the following: “Infidelity prevails to an alarming extent not only in the world, but in the church. Many have come to deny the doctrines which are the very pillars of Christian faith. The great facts of creation as presented by the inspired writers, the atonement, and the perpetuity of the law of God are practically rejected, either wholly or in part, by a large share of the professedly Christian world.” “Another strange error is the doctrine that denies the divinity of Christ, claiming that he had no existence before his advent into this world.”—Great Controversy.
The New Man, a monthly journal, which has just made its appearance, under the guidance of Mr. Danjo Ebiva, “one of the best-known leaders of thought among the Japanese Christians,” has for its object the teaching of “those religious and ethical truths which the editor or editors think indispensable for the spiritual guidance of the nation as an active partaker in the drama of human progress, and which, moreover, their countrymen are beginning not only to appreciate the importance of, but to feel a keen appetite for.” Concerning these “spiritual truths,” it speaks thus: “The Japanese have so far succeeded in their efforts to crystallize their religion into a new form as to compel the foreigners to retire to the background;” and “as a result of the new impulse imparted to it by modern science, Christianity has been quite revolutionized.”
Again read: “Now that Satan can no longer withhold the Scriptures, he resorts to other means to accomplish the same objects. To destroy faith in the Bible serves his purpose as well as to destroy the Bible itself.” Thus “it will be demonstrated that a day of great intellectual light is equally favorable for the success of popery as one of intellectual darkness,” and “that the science of the nineteenth century, which undermines the Bible, will prove as successful in preparing the way for the acceptance of the papacy as did the withholding of knowledge in opening the way for its aggrandizement in the Dark Ages.”—Great Controversy.
Count Okuma sums up his views of the present, thus: “What is desirable now is to get rid of the superstructure, and lay bare the foundation. Benevolence, compassion, and love! can not Buddhists, Christians, and Confucianists come together on these principles, and work in harmony? This union may not be witnessed in my day, but it will be some day.”
In a lecture delivered before the Philosophical Society of the Imperial University, Dr. Inoue, who has regarded it his duty as president of the College of Literature, to oppose Christianity, now argues that “a new form of religion is needed,” and that “the best way to obtain this is to determine the points on which the existing religions agree, and construct a new system that shall satisfy all reasonable minds.”
In this present state of confessions and concessions, it is safe to predict an immediate council,—and the second one for the Protestant churches is now bulletined,—in which “the discussion of those subjects upon which all are not agreed, however important they may be from a Bible standpoint, must necessarily be waived.” Of the results of such a council but few are better prepared to speak than is the papacy. And thus it speaks of this “unrest” and “desire for union:” “They are ill at ease, and well they may be. It is of the very essence of Protestantism to split up into a hundred sects. This is what the Protestant principle of individual liberty leads to. Protestant converts are allowed to reject what they please, and many of them end by rejecting everything. This is what turning their back on the authority of the church means. Darkness is closing in on such professors of Christianity. We shall soon be summoned to attend their funeral.”
Is not this the time, and are not these the scenes, for which we have been looking? And now that these things are present, who that has been seeing lions in Japan will not say, as Ezra said: “I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way; because we had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him; but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him”? Let us all seek him.
B. O. WADE.
Tokio, Japan.
NEWS AND NOTES
—One hundred thousand tons of apples are raised each year on British soil.
—Between 250,000 and 300,000 pounds of garlic are annually consumed by Italian, French, and other foreign residents of the United States.
—The authorities at the Paris Exposition have averted a strike among the side-show concessionaries by agreeing to arbitrate existing differences.
—General Viljoen has succeeded Louis Botha in supreme command of the Boer forces, and was recently reported to be moving toward Hectorspruit, with 3,000 men and thirty guns.
—It appears that considerable liquor is being sold in the large department stores of the country. In one New York store alone "over 17,000 bottles of beer and liquor were sold in one day, and drunk in rooms on the premises."
—During the South African war the Boers had, up to September 1, captured 281 British officers and 7,288 men, of whom 235 officers and 6,196 men have escaped or been released. One officer and eighty-five men died in captivity.
—September 25 the United States War Department ordered General Chaffee to reduce the American forces in China to a legation guard consisting of a regiment of infantry, four troops of cavalry, with rapid-fire guns and a light battery; the rest of the American troops are to be sent to Manila.
—It is suggested that the United States Federal government "take measures toward raising Commodore Perry's ship ‘Niagara,’ which lies on the bottom of Lake Erie, just north of the harbor of Erie, Pa. The hulk of the ‘Niagara’ is plainly visible when the water is clear, and it would not be a very expensive operation to raise it."
—Dr. Joseph Parker, the famous London pastor of England’s leading Congregational Church, is about to retire from the ministry. Dr. Parker established the City Temple in 1859, and received his degree from the University of Chicago. He inherited great strength and a fine physique, and does not know the meaning of the word “ill.” He will be seventy-one years of age next April.
—One thousand members of the Amalgamated Wood Workers’ Union, of Chicago, have refused to go to work because of the expressed determination of the manufacturers to return to the nine-hour working day. As a result, thirty-seven shops, out of a total of forty-nine, are idle, the other eleven having signed the eight-hour agreement. Any attempt to employ non-union men will, according to the wood workers’ officials, be followed by sympathetic strikes by the engineers of the various factories.
—September 18 we stated in these columns that “railroad trains were stopped nearly two hours, September 11, between Grand Junction and Glenwood Springs, Colo., by herds of deer on their way south.” That is what the newspapers said; but one of our brethren, C. H. Dailey, living at De Beque, Colo., writes: “As I am employed as telegraph operator on this line, [the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad] between Grand Junction and Glenwood Springs, I am in a position to know that this is not correct. My train register shows that nearly all trains were on time the 11th. The deer have not yet started south; they are still up in the hills, and will remain there until snow drives them down. I write this, as I know you do not wish to publish anything that is not the truth.” We are grateful for the correction.
—“The Powers are divided in policy as to how China is to be dealt with,” says the Christian Herald (Detroit), “but they are agreed that she must pay for the destruction and trouble she has caused. Estimates are being made. Italy, it is said, has figured it out that she must be reimbursed for expenses in the amount of $7,500,000. The pope wants $12,000,000 for Roman Catholic missions destroyed. England, it is thought, will demand about $12,000,000 on war and missions account. France, it is said, will be content with less than $5,000,000, and probably the United States will not ask more. Germany’s bill is not to be guessed at, for no one can surmise what amount of money will be demanded on account of her minister’s death; however, $12,000,000 can not be far astray if the figures of other nations are anywhere near the mark. The whole amount is $65,000,000. It looks as if China will be bled to death.”
—The Western Union Telegraph Company has 21,000 offices in America.
—October 18 is to be celebrated as Thanksgiving day throughout Canada.
—Owing to lack of salary, the Turkish minister to Spain has resigned.
—Prince George, of Greece, has resigned as governor of the Island of Crete.
—Lord Roberts has succeeded Lord Wolseley as commander-in-chief of the British army.
—Sixto Lopez, Aguinaldo’s agent, arrived in New York, September 30, on his way to Boston, Mass.
—The sultan of Turkey recently received the shah of Persia at Constantinople, with elaborate ceremonies.
—The Japanese cabinet has resigned, and it is quite likely that Marquis Ito has succeeded to the premiership.
—The stockholders of the Illinois Central Railroad have decided to buy the St. Louis, Peoria, and Northern Railroad.
—Hon. S. N. Parent has accepted the premiership of the Province of Quebec, succeeding the late Premier Marchand.
—James Howard, declared to be guilty of the murder of Wm. Goebel, of Kentucky, is sentenced to be hanged December 7.
—Over $10,000,000 in gold bars is said to have been shipped by Kruger and his officials, to European banks, within the last few weeks.
—Governor Roosevelt and his campaigning party were attacked by a mob at Victor, Colo., September 26, but no one was seriously hurt.
—Lady Randolph Churchill’s son, Winston Churchill, of South African fame, has been elected Conservative Member of Parliament, from Oldham, England.
—Chas. T. Yerkes, of Chicago, recently bought the underground railway in London, England, paying $200,000 for the charter and $300,000 to the old company.
—Dr. David P. Barrows, of the San Diego, Cal., State Normal School, has been appointed assistant superintendent of public instruction for the Philippines.
—The first American coal ever purchased by the British Admiralty for war-ships, was unloaded at Halifax, Nova Scotia, October 3, and consisted of 2,500 tons.
—President Charles Kendall Adams, of the University of Wisconsin, has a year’s leave of absence, for his health’s sake, during which time he will receive half-pay.
—The secretary of the State of Texas has decided that “no corporation organized under the laws of another State can build, construct, or operate a railroad in Texas.”
—It is said that the Catholic church at Shamokin, Pa., has decided to mortgage all its property, if necessary, to relieve suffering among the striking anthracite coal miners.
—Great Britain has warned the Dutch government that if Mr. Kruger is allowed to carry bullion or state archives on board the Dutch war-ship, it will be regarded as a breach of neutrality.
—The steamer “Tacoma,” just from Cape Nome, with 525 passengers and $300,000 in gold dust, reports that the property loss from the recent storm will reach $1,000,000 in the Cape Nome district.
—September 27 the county treasurer at Merced, Cal., was forced to give $1,500 to robbers, who immediately locked him up in the vault. It is expected that he will live, though he was unconscious when found.
—Nearly 20,000 men are engaged in clearing the streets of Galveston, Tex. State troops will remain in the city until the work of rebuilding begins. Governor Sayers says that “the loss of life occasioned by the storm in Galveston and elsewhere on the Southern coast can not be less than 12,000, while the loss of property will probably aggregate $20,000,000.”
—It appears that “the emperor of China, which probably means the empress dowager, has sent a message to the German emperor, expressing regret for the murder of Von Ketteler, asserting that the deed was done by those whom the government could not control, saying that orders have been given for special sacrifices and libations in behalf of the deceased, and hoping that the German emperor will not cherish resentment. Emperor William has replied, demanding, as an evidence of good faith and as a necessary preliminary to further negotiations, that the perpetrators of the murder and the leaders of the uprising be punished.”
—Italy and Austria are the only Powers that have replied favorably and unconditionally to Germany’s note regarding the method of settling the Chinese trouble. The replies of France and Russia advocate the punishment of the originators of the anti-foreign assaults, but do not make their surrender to the Powers of Europe an absolute condition of the peace preliminaries, as Germany would have it. Japan takes a middle course, leaning toward Germany, while Great Britain declines to agree with Germany. Because of the attitude of the other great Powers, Germany has now modified her first demand; and this gives some prospect of a general agreement being reached.
